10 tips on how to freelance quality and not lose freedom

The realization of the fact that, if the working day is well-planned and structured, I do not deprive myself of the freedom and entrepreneurial spirit that I wanted to get for so long working in the office, it did not come to me immediately.

The idea of ​​working from home was stuck in my head for so long that when I became a freelancer (almost a year ago), I could not give up the dream and admit that she had her own “unplanned” flaws.

I literally felt that if I made my day more structured, I would fail, take a step back, betray the dream, because I always wanted maximum freedom and flexibility in making decisions.

Therefore, obviously, I struggled with planning as I could.
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However, although I “worked” all day, it was difficult to call this process quality work. I got hooked on the habits that most freelancers have: I woke up and, without changing into day clothes, went to work ... sometimes in my pajamas I would end the day. (Do not judge me harshly.)

My day began typically: checking email, reading news, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Then I got to the to-do list and started working. However, very soon I was distracted and found something to do around the house.

At first it was fun, and there were no problems. But, if you do not fight with distractions, they will never end. And bad habits are formed very quickly.

I was constantly distracted, the workflow was not structured and painted. As a result, I “forgot” about the most difficult and unpleasant tasks. I jumped from one task to another, and, as you can guess, there was no progress in any of them.

Not only did it not be easy to work with clients on our SaaS products, I also tried to learn how to program (and this, as we know, takes a whole lot of time), started a blog (I never did this before), tried to establish a network of SaaS contacts ( practically did not know anyone). The list did not end there. In general, I was bursting in all directions at once.

Planning tasks turned into a farce, and as a result, the quality of work fell. It seems that I was thrown into the sea of ​​various tasks, without specifying where to swim and where, in fact, the coast. I started to save time on talking with friends, then I stopped doing sports, because I was ashamed that I was spending valuable time on myself; (b) I was too tired. I was losing the battle. Routine won.

I thought I could avoid the routine, but I created it for myself. Moreover, my was not the best grade.

When I finally admitted defeat, it was time to take small steps to line up the work process again. Once it dawned on me:

Order is not the enemy of freedom, it is the path to it.

I also realized that it was damn difficult to live on a schedule. However, as in all cases when you want to achieve something, you need to practice, allow yourself to make mistakes, try other options and find out what works for you, and practice again.

Here are 10 useful tips that I have developed, trying to re-organize the workflow:

1. Wake up at the same time - and do it early . If you are an owl and are not used to getting up early, get used to it. Set the alarm 5 minutes early every few days, and your body will get used to the new order. Just try it.
2. Start the day with the same action . It may seem that this advice is not important, but practice shows that routine tasks help to enter the work process, so to speak, on autopilot.
3. Have breakfast . This is real advice, not a joke.
4. Perform the most important and difficult tasks first . Do not start the day by checking email or reading news on Facebook and Twitter. If you, like me, are the most focused in the morning and ready for creative tasks, write, program, design or solve some important tasks at this particular time. The farther into the day, the less focused you will be. Leave the minor tasks for the afternoon.
5. Break the day into blocks of meaning for 1-2 hours . Obviously, to concentrate on one task all day is not entirely realistic. Especially if it is a creative task. So break the day into meaningful blocks for 1-2 hours with breaks between them. Take each block for one sprint and put on every single task accomplished during this period of time. The main thing - do not check the mail and do not go to social networks until the sprint is not completed. Remember that the sprint is a special time; do not be distracted. You will be surprised how much you can do if you work without being distracted.
6. Plan your breaks . Between sprints, you can go on Twitter or Facebook, watch a few videos on YouTube, cook something, or leave the house on business. You do not need fictional reasons to take and temporarily interrupt work, because breaks are already scheduled in your schedule. In the end, whether you like it or not, there are always breaks in work, so get to the question on the mind.
7. Take the time to sport . Mysterious things happen to people when they say: "I will do sports later." As a rule, this means that they will never engage in sports. Therefore, choose a time convenient for you during the day and work physically. Follow the schedule and always exercise at the same time. Just make a note on the calendar, and when the time comes, get up from the chair and go ahead. I note that I exercise after the first two-hour sprint.
8. Shop in advance . When the fridge is empty, the inevitable happens at lunchtime - you will go to have lunch at some snack bar next door. First, you will gather, then stand in a queue, then choose what to eat, then you will eat, etc. In general, you not only lose time, but also eat something not very useful. So act like an adult - buy food in advance.
9. Get out of the house . Find a place to work outside. Local coffee house or coworking are great. The main thing is that there is a good wi-fi. A change of scenery does wonders and allows you to concentrate.
10. Sleep at night . When you are tired, no matter how hard you try, good work will not work. Working at night, you steal from tomorrow yourself. So know when to go to sleep, and when to wake up.

Starting to live according to the plan, I found that now I not only can focus on work for 8 hours, but I also have a lot of time left for other things during the day.

If I just sat at the computer and tried to work 8 hours non-stop, then I’m sure I wouldn’t have the chance to perform the tasks as focused and efficiently as when I work in sprints. This is not surprising - people are so arranged.

You probably think that a hard plan is, of course, wonderful, but everything in life happens.

I found a way to deal with it: work with each sprint as an independent and separate part of your day. In the end, every day there are different events, and you just can, for example, replace the sprint with a meeting or go for a walk with a friend. Just make sure you plan everything well. Some days you will have a break from playing sports - use extra time wisely. Experiment and do not dwell on one thing.

It is ridiculous, but the fact that, as it seemed to me, can deprive me of freedom, allowed me to be free.

Now I am less nervous and have much more time. I had time for family, friends, sports, and healthy food. Now I can watch my favorite shows, read a book and, in the end, sleep well.

Planning freed me from the routine. Who would have thought!

Worked on the translation: greebn9k (Sergey Gribnyak), silmarilion (Andrey Khakharev)