Getting your productivity and organization right is probably one of the fastest ways to increase your earning and improve your life satisfaction as a freelancer.
A few simple tweaks to your Production Engine can make the difference between getting by and making more than you ever were while employed.
(That’s what happened with me. A trip forced me to get $750 worth of work done each day, and that completely changed the way I saw my daily earning potential.) Use the resources below to refine your production and organization.
Measurement
It’s hard to know what to fix and how to refine your approach if you aren’t measuring.
To get started, try putting together rough averages for each one (you don’t have to be exact) to find out where your starting off.
To refine (usually through improving your productivity/efficiency or raising your rates) only focus on moving one at a time.
Per-day Productivity
I like this one because, if you know what you want to earn and how many days a year you want to work (every month, year, week, whatever), you can set an average here to aim for.
I’ve also found that when I start to see this number slipping (despite doing everything else right), it’s a sign I’ve taken on a low-return client or that I’m getting tired and need a break.
How to Track: Simply add up how much work you get done in a day and estimate how much you get paid for it. You might have to split a project into pieces or reduce things if a client comes back for a rework, but that’s fine.
Hourly Production Average (no admin, paid work)
This one is pretty straightforward. Even if we’re talking about something you’re billing by the project, it’s valuable for knowing the rate you’re making for a given client or even service type.
Formula: Pay (per project or client)/total hours required for completion=Production Average
Internal hourly rate (includes admin)
This is where your numbers get really interesting.
Your internal hourly rate is basically how much you’re making as a freelancer once you include all the admin work you’re doing with marketing, project management, and billing.
Set a floor for this that ideally isn’t under $50/hr (or your regional equivalent) and you’ll have a good starting point for how much you’re really making as a freelancer.
Formula: (for a set period or project) Total gross income/hours worked=Internal Hourly Rate
Efficiency
Every freelancer should be pushing their efficiency. Your biggest challenge is going to be finding the method that works best for you. Try a few of these to see what’s comfortable.
Building Your Todo Lists
Pomodoro Technique
This management technique from the 80s involves breaking your work time into intervals. You’ll find a hundred different takes on it, with sprints ranging from 25 minutes up to 52 minutes. Ultimately, go with what’s comfortable and sustainable for you.
Tools
Tools can only go so far but finding the right ones for your life as a freelancer can make an enormous difference.
Look at the areas where you’re having the biggest challenge first, try one app for a while, see how you feel and which way your metrics are moving, and decide where to go from there. You’ll want to use as few tools as possible, so don’t sign up for everything at the same time.
On a side note, a lot of these overlap in terms of function, so it’s extra-important to know the challenge you’re trying to address before you start trying out new toys.
Building Your Schedule
I don’t give a lot of personal endorsements, but this one changed my life as a freelancer, and that’s for one reason — its schedule building function. You enter your task, the estimated time it takes to complete it, and the due date, and Focuster builds your calendar for you, up to 2 weeks out. (If any other apps do this, let me know.)
I use the paid version ($20/month) and it’s beyond worth it in the amount of time saved and peace of mind.
The pop-up reminders that ask whether you’re working on what you should be are also a nice touch if you tend to get distracted while working.
Tracking Your Time
I personally hate tracking my time and billing hourly can slow your business growth, so I’m not a big advocate of these, but if you’re tracking how much time you’re spending on a particular project or client, or just like tracking your hours, these will probably be useful.
Harvest (also covers expenses)
Keeping Projects Organized (Project Management)
I haven’t found any pure project management apps I love, but here is a list of common ones to try out.
- Asana
- Zoho
- Trello
- Todoist
- Meistertask
- Evernote
- Wave
- Basecamp
Staying Focused
If you have issues with getting distracted and not pushing through your work periods, these focus tools might help.
- Forest
- Freedom