What’s on the iPod: Enter Sandman by Metallica
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Maybe I just work better with my back to the wall. I say this because yesterday was one disjointed thing after another, but I actually made great progress on two related projects. I hope to finish them today and start a third. I’m also talking with a prospective client and later with Anne to get some planning done for the Five Buck Forum.
I headed off for a much-needed haircut with “the works.” I was able to schedule around it — the client call at 10:30, work up until then, the call to my friend after, and somewhere in there, a quick lunch. I was stretched three different directions (well, four — eating is important, too), but I schedule the snot out of everything, so I was able to build some cushion time into my day. Today is better — just a few things, and hopefully the afternoon will be free. My garden looks abandoned.
Freelancers come to this career thinking it’s “free!” Free time, free to do whatever we want, free to work and free to sit down and read a book. All true. However, you’re also free to slack off and not get a damned thing done, free to earn less because you’re busy playing, free to lose clients for lack of attention or marketing. Freelancing is work, plain and simple. But it’s up to you how much work and when. Make no mistake — no one but you and your goals should be dictating your work hours or work days.
So how do you create your best work/life balance? Here’s how I manage:
Schedule it. I’d be lost without a good schedule.The first thing to go on my schedule is my day(s) off. No way I’m foregoing that for work. Free time is a priority.
Organize it. I have a virtual sticky note I create at the end of the day with the next day’s jobs lined up. If I want to take Friday off, I work extra on Wednesday and Thursday. I know before I walk away from the computer what the next day should look like (there are always surprises, though).
Balance it. I have two projects due in a few weeks. I have to interview people for the projects, but just because I got the assignments Tuesday doesn’t mean I have to complete them this week. I arranged the interviews for later next week when I know I’m not already booked. I want to have it done now, but that’s just not possible if I want time to decompress.
Reorganize it. Yesterday’s hair appointment conflicted with the phone call. Which would you reschedule? Damn right — hair comes first (especially if you’d seen the unruly mess I was trying to comb through). The client call was created with just an arbitrary time, so I knew it was easy to move. It worked out better because I had more time to devote to the call.
How’s your work/life balance right now? What steps are you/have you taken to get more free time or relaxation?
I'm constantly working to achieve/maintain work/life balance, but right now, things are good. A schedule is a must for me – that and my daily "to do' lists. if it's not written down, it won't get done. I like the new layout, Lori. 🙂
That was me commenting above as "Admin." That was weird…
Kim, you have Blogger, don't you? 🙂 I've had that happen on WordPress blogs, too. WordPress seems to require a different password for each comment registration, and I'm constantly signed in as someone else! LOL
Look at you with the new theme and an image and everything. 🙂
My biggest work/life balance comes in my insistence to get in my 5-6 mile walk. Sure, there are exceptions – like today due to unhealthy air quality (fires in the area), but I typically don't compromise on it.
I am going to miss it today because I am having #@% internet connection problems and need the release, but I am especially sensitive to bad air quality (asthma as a kid). Good thing I have a few squeeze balls to take the frustration out on. Think I'll pull out my cardio CD, too. 🙂
Have a great weekend, everyone!
I'm still trying to figure it out. Obviously.
I have my week-at-a-glance book that I couldn't function well without. I keep track of interviews, deadlines, appointments, and also scribble in reminders like "groceries" and "yard work." I list everything I need to get done that day, and sometimes number them when one task is a bigger priority. Sometimes arrows shift things to different days, and sometimes I add more things in as I go. The book is a mess, but it chronicles my work week.
Forgot to mention it yesterday, but I like the blog changes! The green is very soothing.
I remain flexible. If I'm the one who dropped the ball, I work the extra hours. If it's the client, I'll work the extra hours, but they'll be billed.
I refuse to be on a 9-5 schedule — that's one of the reasons I freelance. I will be on the schedule that works for that day. I'm good about communication, I'm good about email, but how I structure my day is up to me, not to anyone else.
If a good opportunity comes in and I want it, I do what it takes to step up to the plate.
If I need or want to take time off — like I did for the conference — everything is cleared off ahead of time, the out of office message goes up, and I focus on the conference.
"Freelance" means I am free to structure my own time — as long as I meet deadlines.
It was time for a change, Cathy. I'm glad you like it. 🙂 I'm going to adopt your discipline with the walking. I can do two miles pretty easily, so tomorrow I'll try three for a few weeks. Why not? Who's to say I can't? I work for myself. 🙂
Paula, whatever schedule works for you, I say go for it. I'm a jotter-downer. I can't over-organize or I'd never do anything else! (I really love to organize.) But I see the sense in having a written account so you can examine where you went right (and wrong).
Devon, I see the sense in doing your own hours. Clients shouldn't demand certain work hours from us — only those that we're willing to give. I work mostly 9 to 4 (or 7 to 3 or 8 to 7, depending) because clients are available in those hours. I will NOT work weekends. I like my weekends. Mind you, that may change when he retires and is home all the time, but for now, time off with him is more important than working uninterrupted on say a Saturday.
I've been taking Fridays off. I don't mention it because it's my business, but I do stick close to email on my phone so I can address anything that comes up. Infrequently, something does.
Make no mistake Lori – my planner isn't about organization, it's a desperate move to remember things. If I don't write it down, I'll mix it up.
BTW – I didn't work at at this weekend, and didn't do any yard work of cleaning. Spent Saturday making sock monkeys and Sunday baking. So much nicer than squeezing in spillover work on weekends.