I’ve written posts over on inspiring resources for self-employed creatives + freelancers, and I’ve read up on how to be efficient + productive. Time blocking has been the #1 method I’ve seen for freelancers to organize their day-to-day. It’s this idea that when you zero in on a high-priority project for x amount of time, you’ll be more focused and effective. You don’t switch gears every five seconds, you work the entire time period, whether it’s an hour or three hours.
The problem is that my big projects—editing, strategizing, or research—all come with a laundry list of pesky side tasks that seem tiny but are necessary. And, they all have to be done at different times, often during the times I’m spending on other things. Social media updates (some of which DO have to be live, unfortunately) are big distractors. There’s no way I can block 3 hours for X project, when Y has an IG I have to post at _ time. This happens all. day. long. I also manage websites and accounts, which means that if there’s an issue, it has to be taken care of. Doing so on time is part of the job. Perhaps freelancing in other areas aren’t as risky in this way, as they focus on 90% “bigger” time-block-able projects, whereas a freelancer in social media or blogging has more of a 60-40 split between the two types of tasks. Because of this, tasks can vary in length from a minute to several hours, and generally just have to be done. It doesn’t matter if time’s up if it’s not finished.
Even as I write this, it still sounds like a good idea. But it doesn’t work for everyone, particularly me and the work I do now. Since I can’t block time the way others might, I’ve been thinking of solutions (hopefully that will help those in similar situations). The solution needs to do what time blocking does: eliminate distraction and help you focus.
The big method? A to do list that’s very detailed—that way I don’t have all those minute tasks in my head—and that has to be completed in order.
It’s helped that my logical boyfriend who works in business operations is practical. He said, You’re overwhelmed, you need structure, simple as that. You need a to-do list but not one where you can pick and choose. So I write out each thing that needs to be done—nothing more or less—then prioritize. Yes, I’ve done a lot of rewriting of my to-dos over the past month but it’s working better than time blocking, even though the former would help me add up my hours!
Prioritizing means working 100% based off your deadline.
Even if x project feels more important than y, I must do y if that’s what’s due the soonest. Even if it’s a *tiny* component to a project, not a time consuming task. While it’s not my favorite way to work—a simple, prioritized to-do list isn’t fun or pretty or fancy—it seems to be most effective on those days where you just don’t know where to begin. If other methods haven’t really worked for you, give it a try. At the end of the day—set one final end time if necessary—whatever’s not crossed off will just roll over to the next day’s list.
Time blocking has worked when I have a big looming project that’s going to take days to complete, as opposed to the millions of hour or less projects I do. Right now I’m creating strategy and business documents, and it’s been really effective to put on my list “1 hour for business writing”. For basically everyone else? This little half sheet of paper that forces me not to skip past overwhelming tasks or get off track is better than any spreadsheet, calendar, or app.
I think I use a mix of both. There are days when I have big projects to finish, and I have to force myself to focus on them (I’d consider that time blocking, haha) however most of the time, I use more of a prioritizing method. I have a weekly desk calendar that I jot notes down for each day of the week, and try to get them done on those days. But I’m also careful not to expect too much of myself each day because I know those ‘have to do’s, no matter what time it is… happen along the way as well.
Personally I kind of like the spontaneity and variety of working from home, because things are always changing. It keeps me on my toes, I suppose! 🙂
You’re right, I should think more about how nice it is not to be stuck doing the same thing, and that I can really choose :). Definitely think there’s a time for each method!
I’m a to-do list kinda girl! 🙂
I probably shouldn’t but I usually start with the easiest tasks first haha