Freelance Game Plan: Creating Simple Freelance Systems

Welcome to September. It’s been a wild month here, and it’s only the 3rd. Hurricane Ida came through yesterday, and we spent the afternoon removing some of the ten inches of rain that found its way into the basement. With that amount of water in a short amount of time, there was no way we weren’t getting flooded.

But it’s a new month and the crisis is over for now. And since I’m pretty much landlocked for the next few days (all roads but one are flooded, and everything beyond it is flooded right where anyone might need to go), it’s time to focus on improving our business results. Today’s topic will give you back part of your work life.

[bctt tweet=”Ease your #freelancewriting workload considerably with these tips and tools.” username=”LoriWidmer”]

We’re going to concentrate on things that give your life structure and ease your workload. Let’s start with the obvious:

Routines

I don’t know where I’d be without my routines. I have my start times, end times, and break times. That, my friend, will keep you focused on work while you’re working more than just showing up whenever. If you’re disciplined and showing up whenever hasn’t been a problem for you, go for it. But if you struggle to get it all done, but can’t help talking on the phone or running errands when you could be finishing that project, you have a problem.

Pick the best time for you to start work. I sit down at 8 am. That’s my best time. I read emails and answer a few before my mother calls at 8:30. After talking with her, it’s all business until lunchtime. My husband jokes that if I’m standing up to go get lunch, it must be 12:02. I’m unconsciously punctual. My quitting time is 3:30. It’s when my brain stalls and I can’t write anything else without having to rethink it all.

Build a schedule based on what work times are best for you. Maybe you love working at night, or maybe working when the kids are in school is your best times. Whatever fits you, do it. Make it a habit.

Tools

There are so many tools out there for writers. While I can’t guess which tool you need or what kind of writing you’re into, I can give you two of my favorites, which are just generally fantastic for whatever freelancing you do.

Otter.ai: I’m telling you this because I care: If you don’t have an Otter.ai subscription for your transcribing of interviews, you are seriously wasting hours doing it yourself. For 99 bucks a year, you get a fairly unlimited amount of uploads per month (I have tons of interviews and have never maxed out the limit, if there is one). It transcribes a 20-minute interview in 5-10 minutes. From my own experience, it’s 90-95% accurate, even with thick accents. And it saves me two hours per interview. That means my clients can give me more work, I can make more money, which leads to more work ….

Microsoft Office 365: I’m a hard-core Office fan. Having it online means everything is accessible from any device I have. Cloud storage makes life so much easier, and being able to use Word from anywhere is ideal as I look to travel more in the future. If you hate Office, then look to Open Office or Google Drive.

Set schedules.

At the end of my day, I spend five minutes figuring out what tomorrow will bring. I use Microsoft To Do app to make notes on what I need to do first, if the day is particularly busy or I have appointments outside of the house.

Here are some things you might want to schedule into your workweek:

• Going over invoices/filing them
• Filing papers
• Answering emails
• Returning calls
• Scheduling personal writing (make this a priority)
• Cleaning your workspace once a week (I usually do this on Fridays so I can return to a clean space on Monday)
• Anything else that tends to take a back seat

Limit meetings.

The majority of my interviews are 20 minutes tops. No one needs more than that for an interview. Set 20 minutes (not 30) and stick to it. Your next call is coming in five minutes, so you have to hang up now, right? If you think the interview subject will be a problem from the get-go, mention at the beginning that you have a “hard stop” at the 20-minute mark. That often helps everyone to focus.

Plus, limit meetings to what’s necessary. How many of us have been asked to attend the next meeting to decide what wasn’t decided at this meeting? Beg off them. Ask for someone to record it, citing your prior commitments and not wanting to hold things up for everyone else. Or just charge for it and know that the longer they talk, the more they’ll be paying. Also, feel free to suggest emailed responses to any follow-up questions. I know people are addicted to the “hop on a call” garbage, but it’s a time-waster for everyone.

Limit your access.

Not long ago, I was a participant in what turned out to be a number of scheduled meetings that the organizer missed. And of course, on the day of the deadline for the item involved, there was this rush to get me on the phone, this “Hey, accommodate me” type of panic that meant I’d be writing the item after hours. Mind you, if I had I’d have charged double for it, but as it happens, I had three other appointments and frankly, I’m wasn’t moving them because these clients were much more conscientious of my time. They had deadlines too, and it wouldn’t be fair to put out three people because one wasn’t getting their act together. No surprise, the project never happened. And I parted ways with the client, for it wasn’t the first time it had happened.

While it’s nice if you can accommodate a client in a pinch, it’s not required that you shift your entire calendar to do so. If you can and you decide to, great. Just be extremely aware of future fires you’ll be expected to put out in much the same way.

Invoice and file smarter.

When I have a runaway schedule, it’s damn tough for me to stop, add up those invoices, and get everything sent off and filed. My best plan would be to create a new invoice at the start of the month, then add to it after finishing each project for that client (some of my clients send multiple projects). That’s if I could get my act together enough to do that. I don’t. So here’s what I do instead:

Each project is named with the title, the initials of the client, and the month/year it was completed. So it would be “Cyber Threats AW 9-21” if I was writing an article on cyber threats for Acme Warehouse this month. That goes into the Acme Warehouse folder. At the end of the month, I open the folder, sort by date, then tick down the list, adding to the invoice. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than weeding through emails to see what the hell I sent to whom and when.

Filing is another matter: Does each client have its own folder? If not, set it up right now. If you like, put this year’s date on it. I don’t, as I tend to refer to older topics with a few clients, reusing facts or quotes as needed. And everything is on the cloud, as well as backed up to my local NAS.  Plus, should something fail or be compromised somewhere, you always have your Sent emails as a last resort.

Writers, how do you make your workload easier? Any specific tools or tricks you use?