As you know, freelancers do not depend on employers. But a person who works from home all the time faces problems of a different kind. First of all, if a person works at home, he can be distracted by all sorts of things. Consequently, productive work is not possible. The best solution to help embody a productive time management is to make a complete daily schedule.

Effective time management is quite difficult. For a freelancer, such a task is no less difficult than for an office worker. After all, he often has to perform several tasks that do not overlap. Besides, he has to negotiate with new and existing clients at the same time. The client, as a rule, pays for the task actually done, not for the time spent.  This is why self-organization is considered the most acute problem of freelancers today.

The question of how to plan work time today is posed both by novice specialists and professionals. The winners, as a rule, are those who use modern technical means and solutions for this purpose.   

Time managing and invoicing software can help professionals properly plan their day. This automated system is quite suitable for the work of companies and individuals. It can be used not only to create a daily schedule, but also to evaluate the speed and productivity of your own work.

How to work effectively in freelancing?

Workers who conduct activities at home and live with their relatives or neighbours are familiar with the situation when they are approached with various requests while at work. The bulk of people believe that if a person is at home, they can be distracted by other tasks. And even if he has a freelance job, he can still supposedly interrupt for five minutes. 

Even if a remote worker lives alone, he or she is not immune to the constant temptation to disconnect from tasks. From time to time colleagues and friends call, messages come from social networks. 

To avoid such problems, it is necessary to draw up a work schedule. It allocates a specific time when the freelancer will be engaged only in his or her immediate tasks. During this time, it is also advisable to switch your phone to silent mode and not to go on social networks. In addition, for the period of intensive work, it is advisable to stop free communication with colleagues and search for new customers. For these purposes, it is easier to allocate other hours that do not overlap with the time of priority tasks.  

Why the need for a schedule?

Many former office workers feel uncomfortable when they find out that they have to force themselves back into some kind of schedules and routines. But time management is necessary even in freelancing! Working at home without a strict boss is much more comfortable for many. But this does not negate the need to plan your time. The general principles of work remain the same. The only thing that changes is the location of the worker and the independent setting of tasks. But now he is required to constantly establish communication with other people, to do tasks on time and to be fully responsible for the created product.

The schedule developed is capable of producing tremendous benefits as soon as it is applied. In addition, the freelancer can make his own effective time planning according to his desires and convenience. The main thing is to create a personal schedule according to your own capabilities.  

Very often a professional has a situation where there is too much work to do. There is not even time to eat or leave the house. This happens because the wrong freelancer’s schedule lacks time for other activities. This means that time management needs to be more realistic. You need to make time for lunch breaks, walks, and all the things you used to do when you worked a normal 8-hour day. It is better to avoid the workload during the night hours, leaving maximum tasks for the morning, afternoon and evening.

Work schedule and priorities

When planning your time, everyone needs to prioritize your business or day-to-day tasks. In order to successfully cope with this, it is necessary to adhere to these principles:

1. Choice of specialization. Today’s work as a freelancer is made up of many different areas. Therefore, it will be most rational to choose one of them. It is not necessary to be torn and perform different tasks that do not depend on each other at the same time.  
2. Correct estimation of the amount of work. Keep in mind that seemingly simple tasks may take much longer to complete than originally anticipated. It is better to set aside extra time for the implementation of new tasks.
3. The daily routine cannot be limited to work. Among other things, there is also the need to communicate with family and friends. There are also hobbies and the need to deal with everyday life.  
4. Consideration of limitations. You need to plan the minimum tasks that are realistic to do without rushing.
5. Determining the main goals for the current year. You must choose a maximum of five areas in which you plan to work.

In general, a list of priority tasks, on the basis of which it is recommended to make a work schedule, may look like this:

• performing current project assignments;
• searching for new tasks, communicating with potential customers;
• time for family and leisure with friends;
• breakfast, lunch, dinner, household chores;
• vacation.

The perfect and effective software package will help any self-employed professional to competently organize effective time management and increase their freelance productivity.