Freelancing is really great – freedom, independence and i don’t have to ask the manager to take vacation No one stands above our heads and tells us what we sholud do today – and believe me this is also a weakness. Freelancer must learn to organize his time, to arrange projects in time, learn self-discipline and motivation tactics. Organizing is especially difficult when working on a immersive projects, when time simply just slips away. Below are the results of the experiences I  have gathered over the years of looking for tools and ways to organize my work properly.

Organize yourself

There are many programs, Web-apps and devices to help in organizing the work process, but in my own expierience nothig is more effective then a simple sheet of paper. Yep – no iphones, blackberries or harvests – simply cellulose + graphite. I have developed my own template with a task list for every day of the week. The simpler the solution, the more likely it will pass in every day life (for instance – different pencil colors for various priorities dosn’t work).

Motivation

Motivation moves our freelance-engine. Sure, cash is by far the best motivator, but it loses its power when it comes to boring and/or longtimed projects. Below is a list of motivators that work best for me:

• The way to get up the morning – after waking up I get through my to-do list for today in my mind – and I get to a conclusion that I have to get up to get everything done,
• Goal of the week – I designate on Monday a target to complete by the end of the week,
• Take five – with extremely boring projects I begin to work on them with an attitude that I try them for few minutes only – usually I manage to finish them within one approach,
• Big Brother – I tell my wife about my work and deadlines i must keep – the responsibility in front of another person gives me additional motivation (of course this can be also a family member or friend)
• Smashing motivation – I set a small prize by finishing a task from my list – like few minutes on smashingmagazine or youtubes,
• Kick Start – (I don’t practice, but it certainly works) power in the morning, getting up early, make some kind of sport, cup of coffee, and get to work.

In search of lost inspiration

There is nothing worse when you need something to do, but it’s not going forward. I have some tricks for that too:

• Ffffind inspiration – I’m often looking for inspiration in galleries and sites like Flickr or fffound,
• Get moving – when nothing else helps, just walk away from your Mac and go get some fresh air, move around and catch some sunlight (some may catch some smoke)
• When you work best? - There are people who operate better at night (like myself) – adjust your work hours to your biological clock.

A shoo diffusers!

These small monsters hount us down in the least expected moment and with a blink of an eye you’ve lost two hours. I must admit that I haven’t conquered this problem yet, but in theory you have to:

• Minimize the number of distractions – cell phone rings all the time? – switch it off, checking twitter or facebook every five minutes? – turn them off (there’s a Mac app called Concentrate for this job – but it don’t work for me)
• Create a workspace – if you have the comfort of working in your own office it’s easier, but when you work at home you should designate a special workroom or at least a desk, get dressed in your working clothes or slippers – it’s important to feel that youre at work and not at home.
• Avoid escapes – when Im bored i look for escapes – failblogs, facbook etc. the point is to be able to resist, but I have no idea how:)

How do you deal with these problems?

These are my ways to oraganize work and discipline myself. Please tell me how do you deal with this problem? Leave me a reply.

Posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 @11:33