Freelance Design Time Management
Time management is crucial to the success of a freelance business.
I’ll be posting some links and software solutions, but in the meantime – let’s talk nuts n’ bolts of time management.
I sit in front of the computer far too much, and being sort of old-school, the analog time management system (read: pieces of paper) work best for me. And that’s the first key to time management – you have to find what works for you. If you don’t keep it updated and actually use it, the most expensive, killer piece of time-management or project management software is just taking up precious hard drive space. I’ve found that out the hard way. Crash in all your info and then forget to use it. It can take more time than it’s worth. So, for me – pen and legal pad and Post-it Notes.
So, find what you’re comfortable with – and stick with it. I’ve tried just about everything out there, and each one of them has highs and lows. But, the most important bit is that it works for YOU. Everyone is different, and you’ll have to do some research and trial-and-failure time to find what works for your particular needs and style. Don’t expect anything to be perfect – and don’t try to force yourself to use something just because it’s the “latest and greatest.”
I won’t get into the commercial packages because they’re ubiquitous and too numerous. But there are some great free tools.
A couple cool, free online time-and-project-mangement tools:
30 Boxes – Fast, easy calendar with a lot of features. Highly acclaimed and very usable. You can tag, search and link sites, emails, etc. Slick!
ToDoIst – a simple to-do list manager. Very, very intuitive and easy to use.
There are tons more – and I’ll be posting a lot more in the “Resources” section as soon as I’m able.
The other issue I’ve found in my own business is not keeping records of what I’m actually doing with my time. It’s all well and good to plan your day – but you have to keep track of your billable hours. Plus, it’s very, very interesting to see how much of your time you actually bill. It can help you plan and be realistic with your expectations of your time.
The easiest way I’ve found (for me – again, I’m an analog kinda guy) is to have a clipboard on a peg next to my workstation, and whenever I complete a task (or portion of a task,) I write down the client, the time, the rate, and other info on a simple form. Then, I go through once a week or so and bill out all those hours. I do a lot of pay-per-project jobs, so they don’t get billed from this sheet, but I write down time spent anyway. It’s a really useful tool to keep an inventory of my productivity – or lack thereof.
It’s a simple form – feel free to use it or manipulate it to your needs.
Created in Freehand about a million years ago – saved for you as an Illustrator file and PDF.
Enjoy! Up next? Sleep. After that – I’ll ramble on a little about project management and juggling.
