I had one of those days today. I have a lot of work to do for clients. I also want to get my portfolio website fixed up and live before I leave for the HOW Creative Freelance Conference and the HOW Design Conferences in two weeks. I knew my son had a dentist appointment this afternoon, and I knew I’d have to rush home after that and head right back out for an InDesign User Group meeting tonight.
So what did I do this morning? Nothing. But nothing in the “I look like I’m being productive but I’m really not” sort of way. File emails. Read design and freelance related blogs. Review notes. Make breakfast. Wash dishes. Facebook.
It was around 11am before I even touched a bit of actual client work. The first project I worked on had a first draft due today. As with lots of projects, it took longer than anticipated. I had a few urgent emails (well, the client thought they were urgent, and I humored the client) which interrupted the project. In the end, I was rushing to finish it and then rushing to get out the door to the dentist. I’m writing this in the waiting room.
So today I showed myself what poor time management feels like. And it felt stressful. While I was goofing off, part of my brain was telling me to get to work. And when I did, I felt rushed. Since I didn’t leave myself time to set the work aside to review after a break, I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed a detail or made a mistake.
I love freelancing because I’m the boss. But the boss needs an employee who gets her work done on time so all my personalities have less stressful days. Tomorrow I promise myself I’ll do just that.
How do you nix the time-wasters to get work done?