by Deborah Ng
What’s on your to do list? What do you mean you don’t have a to do list? For me, I couldn’t manage my freelancing day without it. Even now with a full time job I refer to an itemized list for my priorities.
A typical freelancing to do list for me looked like this:
- Job boards
- FWJ: Post Leads
- Client project #1 (deadline today)
- Client project #2
- FWJ: Post tip
- Client project #4
- Client project #5
- Phone calls
This may not look impressive but it served two purposes. The first is that it gave me an itemized list of my priorities which I would cross off as I completed the list. Anything not completed in a given day was added to the top of the next list, and so on.
The second purpose is it allowed me to schedule my day. By seeing “at a glance” what I needed to do I could plan outings with my family, errands, school visits, etc. Before ageeing to any activity or committing to a project I had my editorial calendar and daily to do list to refer to first. Having it all in front of me meant there was less of an opportunity for me to over extend my self.
Do you have a to do list? What does it look like?
August 5th, 2008 at 7:44 am
I have a two do list and every day there is the same item on it - clean up my office. I get everything else done (usually) but that item keeps getting transferred to the next day!
I do use a list,though, or I’d forget to do something. I usually list out my week in a notebook on Monday morning.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Robin - “clean off my desk” always gets put on my list and moved each day thereafter. Glad to know I’m not the only one this happens to!
August 5th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Because I didn’t have time to clean my desk, I added a second, then a third. Now I have three that never get cleaned.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:19 am
My To-Do List is a little different.
I never start work until I’ve finished my mile walk in the morning and then again after lunch. But…
Check Emails and respond to author or publisher queries, check freelance writing email and respond to questions or add projects to my calendar (have a Paula Deen date book used for this - I want everything in writing in case something happens to the power since we have had nothing but thunderstorms all summer long.
After that, I read Questionable Content and For Better For Worse, can’t survive without a dose of morning comics. Read the online paper. Then turn on Word and get started on projects. If I finish early, I’ll flip on Trillian to chat with my brother while I check and grade any tests or assignments my online students have completed.
My goal is to have all work completed by 1pm so that I can then do housework, prep anything dinner related and then get lunch and go for another walk. After that, I’ll spend time with my kids. My son has to read two books before school starts back up for his accelerated English course and he asked me to read them too so that he has a sounding board for the essays he has to write on each. So we’ve been enjoying the back deck, when it doesn’t rain anyway, and have been reading All’s Quiet on the Western Front and Strangers in the House.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:15 am
You’re assuming an awful lot when you ask “What do you mean, you don’t have a to-do list?” Not only do I have a to-do list, but I sometimes color-code my grocery list (did I just admit that? shoot…..)
August 5th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Amateurs
My To Do list starts with things that are due today and then moves on to things that are due tomorrow. Next comes things that don’t technically have due dates, but really should have been done by now. After that comes all those, “I need to…” tasks that will improve my freelance writing business, but I need to find time for.
Today’s looks a little something like this (anonymized for client privacy, of course):
Technical Article
Investment Article
Gadget Article
Photography Article
Marketing Piece
Newsletter #1
Newsletter #2 - Pre-approval layout
Job Boards
Government Bid Sites
Grant Proposals
Recode Secondary Website (need better CSS)
Launch ____ Site
Update Profile on LinkedIn, et. al
Update Samples Page
and so on…
Maybe I should go do some of the things on this list instead of re-typing it here
August 5th, 2008 at 9:25 am
@ Everyone: Where does visiting FWJ fit in on your To Do list?
August 5th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Hi everyone,
Checking jobs at FWJ is always first on my To Do list!
I have a question (a plea for advice, more like) related to all of this: I’ve just started out as a freelancer and am doing pretty well, but I am also a homeschooling mother of 4 young children aged 7, 6, 4, and 3. I am having a devil of a time fitting it all in without going crazy. Are there any other freelancing homeschool moms out there who could give me an idea of how they organize it all? I’d really appreciate it.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:21 am
@Jodee - FWJ usually fits in nicely with my first cup of coffee!
August 5th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I just sat down last night and made up a calendar for the month of August, so this is a timely post for me. I am working on several large projects, so I wanted to break them down into manageable pieces so I could see exactly what I needed to do.
My to-do list for today:
Check FWJ (I’m not sucking up - I really do check here first thing!)
Send out resumes/samples for leads I find on here
Check e-mail and respond to important items; flag other items or file them for later
Go to the grocery store (only because my cupboards are bare, and I don’t want to succumb to starvation just when I finally land a few good clients)
Write 5 articles to submit to Associated Content (I’m doing an experiment with AC)
Write 10 blog posts for Client X
Conference call with Client Y at 5:30
Chat session with my graphic designer
Work on proofreading site - I am using a template to do my site, so I have to work on it a little each day. I live within 3 blocks of 2 large colleges/universities, so I want the site done before school starts so I can market heavily to the students.
Check job boards for LA, San Diego, etc. Since I am in PA, I can sometimes get a jump on writing opportunities if I check the job boards for CA, TX, etc. at the end of the day here. Sometimes companies are just posting their ads when it is 7:00 or 8:00 here and I can get my materials in before the ads are posted on the freelancing job boards the next morning.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I’ll admit that there are days I don’t always have time to hit FWJ until much later. I do try to visit in right after the morning comics with my cappucino or coffee, but it all depends on the work I have going on. Plus, if I visit here once and then start reading, before I know it too much time has passed by. Getting an earlier start today helped me finish up work early so I can come here and read posts now.
Of late, I landed a new job that requires teleconferences from time to time. So I’m spending more time on the telephone than I’m used to, especially when most of the members are on the west coast and I’m east coast so the 3 hour time difference eats into my afternoons.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:42 am
My routine has changed over time but at the moment it looks like this:
-Check email and respond as needed
-Read daily news sites that apply to my specific client list
-Read FWJ (always) and (sometimes) others on my Potential link list
-Projects (fill up the morning)
-Go to the Gym
-Lunch
-Projects (sometimes this includes business development, if I don’t have paying work)
Before I had enough work, I used to spend at least one hour at the beginning of the day on business development. I still try to spend at least 2-3 hours each week on that, plus at least 1 hour a week on bookkeeping, contracts/invoices, etc.
I’m interested in how everyone else spends their time. I may have gotten some good ideas here, so my current practices are open to change. Thank you!
August 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Great post. I don’t really have a to do list. But, I’m going to make one. I usually get up, post some stuff on the four sites that I maintain, check my email, then look for writing jobs (here mainly). After that, if I have time, I work on social media marketing for those sites. Then I go to work, blog some more (which I know is baddddd), then I check some more places for writing jobs, go home, and blog some more. Rinse, repeat.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Normally I would have a lot of parenting duties included in my list, but my daughter is visiting her gran for the Spring holidays. So my list looked like this:
* Check email; read trade pubs
* Final prep for interview for corporate profile
* Phone interview main source for profile (lasts 1 hour); clean up notes
*Weekly meeting with writing partner; brief each other on new projects including approach and timelines; (meeting lasts 2 hours; travel time 1 hour);
*Get home, eat salad lunch while checking/responding to emails;
* Meet handyman for progress report on renovation
* Make phone calls to track down sources for feature article;
* Finalise weekly column idea, research, set up interviews with 2 expert sources for tomorrow
*Check emails, read online writing pubs incl FWJ
*Call sisters to discuss arrangements for family; set up lunch with friend for next week
* more phone calls to nail down sources for feature. Done all I can, so email client to explain dearth of new research on subject; will have to work around problem
* Send email to pitch news article to monthly mag;
* Go for walk;
* Prep dinner;
August 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
My problem is that I need to create a list. I can normally complete my usual assignments without a schedule or list. But I need to make time for personal projects (updating my personal blog, querying magazines, writing a children’s book, etc.) Making a schedule (and actually sticking with a schedule) might help.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Ooh this hit home. I am such a bad procrastinator and I have a very short window in which to accomplish work. My mornings are for getting the toddler going, checking email, responding and heading off to a summer teaching gig. Toddler stays with husband at house-he’s a freelancer too, and I get home at lunch. We eat, little one takes nap. I can work for 1-3 hours. Then she’s up, no more writing, but can read blogs or what not while standing at kitchen computer. After she’s in bed I’m usually pooped but I’ll make progress on projects if needed.
A list might help with the prioritizing. Usually, I can only juggle one client at a time but the next month will be very very busy…
August 5th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I would be lost without my daily To-Do list.
Since a big part of freelancing is time management, my weekly and monthly calendars also play a big part in my level of organization (and thus, efficiency) as well. I use a color-coded system, with yellow for things that are due.
One tip for moms and dads who write — I used to keep my kids’ schedules separate on the family calendar in the kitchen (because I had grand and noble ideas about separating my personal and professional lives.)
However, after a few months, I realized I was putting off many things with the intent of doing them on the weekend, unaware that we had an all-day tournament, etc. pending on that date.
So now I put my kids’ big obligations on my work calendar, and color code those orange. This lets me visualize that I need to consciously budget time earlier in the week for activities (usually administrative), and not plan to get caught up ‘later.’
August 6th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Exercising, eating, appointments, errands are a different kind of to do list for me. I like to keep my freelancing goals to be separate from my real life goals because I want to be able to escape work mode and go into home mode. It also looks less overwhelming when itemized on two separate lists.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:17 am
I’m exhausted just reading Brian’s list! I’ve been keeping a to-do for years, at one time in one of those “organize yourself” books and now on both my Palm Pilot and hand-written on a steno pad. Somehow, I need that hand written list — maybe because it’s so satisfying to cross things off.
The first thing on my list every morning is to spend 20 minutes or so writing, either about work or personal things or both. Over time, it really helps make you a better writer. I do writing exercises too, like “what if?”
As for cleaning my office - maybe someday.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I’m probably one of the only freelancers I know who doesn’t make lists. I can’t stand lists. I tried very hard to be the kind of person who could make a list, check things off, and be satisfied. It doesn’t work for me. For work, for life, for groceries. Nothing. In my head I know what needs to be done, and I do it. I do mostly the same thing every day, as at this point I have regular clients I work for daily rather than one-off projects. I get up in the morning, make my coffee, and do things in the same order. If someone has an emergency, I work that in and then get back to the next thing. But I don’t have a list. I also don’t have a bookshelf. Piles of books everywhere. Organized, I can find nothing. I thrive in chaos. To each his own, I guess.