Sit down at the beginning of each day and look at your current assignments. If you don’t have any assignments, make marketing your assignment for the day. Make a list of the three things that you most want or need to move forward on that day and decide what steps you are going to take. Tackle those items as soon as possible, before the day gets in your way.

Make a daily don’t do list

Make a list of the things that you aren’t going to do that day. This is for your peace of mind. Write down any of those nagging tasks that you think you need to do but know you won’t do. Get those items on paper and off of your mind.

Throw away everything you don’t need

By throw away I mean throw it in the trash, recycle it or give it to someone else. Everything in your office that you don’t need is a potential distraction. Yes, you are welcome to have art and other things that aren’t entirely necessary but make life better. Just get rid of the junk, and realize that most of the things in your office are probably  junk.

Keep track of the ways that you waste time

If you stop working to log on to Facebook and read your messages or play Viking Clan, write it down. If you stop to check your email, write it down. Make yourself list all the ways that you waste time. It will keep you honest.

Log your thoughts and ideas

Keep an open text file, a notebook, a smartphone or an audio recorder. Whenever you have a thought that seems valuable or won’t get out of your head, record it for later. You can review these thoughts at the end of the day to determine their value and any ways that you want to move forward.

Apply the 80/20 rule

The 80/20 rule, which applies to so much of life, is simply this. Twenty percent of effort results in eighty percent of results and benefits. Review your time and your projects and determine the most valuable way to use your time. What do you do that actually results in income, and what do you do that doesn’t result in income.

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Create a workable to-do list. A good method is to start with a 3×5 card at the beginning of the day (or at the end of the day if you want to get things off your mind). Write down the three highest priority tasks first. After that, list any items that it would be nice to get done. Try to finish the priority tasks before you do anything else that day. As the day progresses, so does the number of distractions that can get you off task.

Notes

Always have a way of taking notes. Again, 3×5 cards are great because they are compact and portable. A notebook also works, as does a smartphone or PDA. Some people prefer an audio recorder so that they can just say what is on their mind. The device doesn’t matter. What is important is that you capture the important tasks and thoughts that come up during the day.

Single Task

Avoid multitasking. Try to accomplish one task or at least one step to completion before you move on to anything else. Multitasking results in accomplishing several things adequately or not at all. Do one thing well instead. Focused work is better work.

Eliminate

Keep a constant eye out for what you can eliminate or simplify. Always ask yourself if this is something you can throw away / recycle. The cleaner and more straightforward your environment is, the more focused your thinking will be. Don’t make work for work’s sake. Do what matters.

Say No

Don’t add on tasks when you can’t handle the ones you have. Learn to use the word no and mean it. Taking on too many tasks results in bad decisions, multitasking and poor organization. Say no.

Label

Use a labeler to identify where you need to put things. Knowing where your equipment is without thinking about it will save you an enormous amount of time and avoid the frustration of trying to track down something you misplaced. Put things away as soon as you are done with them. Sort items as soon as you receive them.

Do the little things

Your priority tasks should always come first, but your second consideration should be tasks that can be accomplished quickly. Either do short tasks right away, or keep a list of tasks that can be accomplished quickly and try to end your day with those.

See Also

• The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life
• Freelance Writing and Organization
• Task Organization

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There are four key areas that need management and organization if you want your freelance writing career to run smoothly. Those areas are task management, time management, workspace management and money management. Here are the basics that you need to keep in mind with each of these areas.

Task management

Task management is essential to gaining control over your professional life. You need to keep a running list of all the tasks that you need to accomplish. This can be daunting, but it is necessary. Beyond just listing the things that need to be done, good task management means taking the time to think through and write down the steps you need to take to successfully complete each task. Another key to good task management is deciding what has priority and what you can handle. It is ok to list some tasks as “nice to have” or “when life gets less crazy”. Setting priorities is important. It is also good to realize what you can handle. When the mind is fresh and you have tons of energy, the most creative and difficult tasks should be worked on. When you are low on creativity or energy, it may be time to look at the simpler tasks that can be accomplished with minimal mental or physical effort.

Time management

Between time management and task management, I put a priority on task management. As a freelancer though, you cannot afford to ignore time management. Clients often set deadlines, and those deadlines must be met. In order to do this properly, you need to keep careful track of when items need to be turned in and set milestones for getting those assignments finished on time. This can be as simple as keeping a whiteboard list of milestones and deadlines. It is also a great way to make use of calendars, both physical and electronic.

Workspace management

Workspace management is quite simply the creation of a workspace that enhances your productivity. This can mean different things for different people depending on how they work. Some people keep all of their files on paper. Oother people prefer to keep everything in the computer. Most people strike a balance somewhere in between. The key to workspace management though, is to make sure that the things you need the most are available and easy to find. This means assigning spaces for specific items and tasks. It also means taking a little time each day to make sure everything is where it should be. If you make this a habit, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes at the beginning or end of the day.

Money management

Money management is especially complicated and especially crucial for freelance writers. Because you cannot count on a steady paycheck, and must instead rely on clients to pay you according to the terms that you work out. Keeping an emergency fund is the key to staying afloat. Many freelance writers pay their bills in advance. When a big check comes, the first thing I generally do is pay the mortgage, car payment, electric bill, and Internet provider for as many months ahead as I can. It makes it easier to keep working when I know that the four things I need the most are covered. Other people set aside the money and leave themselves flexibility for what they need to pay. That is great if you can trust yourself not to spend the money on anything foolish. Use the system that works for you, but take the time to get your finances in order.

For Further Reading

• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
• 27 Great Tips to Keep Your Life Organized
• 9 Things Freelancers Should Do Before the End of the Year

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Organization

• Freelance failures don’t sweat time management. It doesn’t matter whether they have too many assignments or too few. What matters is that the Scrubs marathon is on and that J.D. guy is dreamy in a puppy dog kind of way.
• Freelance failures don’t have an office or a workspace. They can work from anywhere equally badly.
• Freelance failures never keep a notebook handy. If an idea is truly good, they’ll remember it later.
• Freelance failures don’t waste time on money management. They spend it when they have it and they just keep hoping more will come.
• Freelance failures never have a backup plan. If Plan A doesn’t work, Plan B probably wouldn’t either.
• Freelance failures don’t treat freelancing as a business. They don’t keep receipts. They don’t manage their spending. They don’t create a business plan. They don’t know how much money they need to avoid starvation. They just don’t bother with those minor details.
• Freelance failures don’t rewrite, reuse or resell. Once they write something, they put it behind them. No use trying to make more money off of that old garbage. Chances are it wasn’t very good the first time.

Marketing

• Freelance failures don’t use Writer’s Market. They whole idea of researching possible markets seems like a lot of pointless work to them.
• Freelance failures love eLance and SoloGig. They can get practically any assignment there, as long as they are the low bidder. Four hundred articles on Bolivian culture for $200 dollars? Hey, if that’s what it takes to get the work then that’s what it takes!
• Freelance failures like to wait. They send out a query letter and wait for an answer. They don’t dare write more queries or more material. They just wait for that good news to come in.
• Freelance failures don’t waste their time on portfolios of their work. It should be enough that they tell an editor they should get the job because they really want to be a good writer and they have three hungry kids to feed.
• Freelance failures don’t advertise. They went into to business to make money, not spend money.
• Freelance failures don’t keep in touch with old clients, unless it’s to call and beg for a job because they’re broke.
• Freelance failures don’t have business cards. They write their information down on a scrap of paper and hand it over. That’s good enough, isn’t it?
• Freelance failures don’t have their own web site. In fact, they’re not quite sure whether or not this whole Internet fad is going to be around much longer.

Client Relations

• Freelance failures don’t bother to listen to their clients or to their editors. They just start working on the assignment. It’s pretty obvious to a freelance failure that their judgment is best. The client’s needs are merely an annoyance to be dealt with.
• Freelance failures don’t like to say no. It’s better to agree to something you can’t deliver than to turn away a potential payday.
• Freelance failures let old debts slide. That client will get around to paying you sooner or later. You don’t want to offend them by asking to get paid.
• Freelance failures can’t tell you why you should hire them. They just know that they want the gig.
• Freelance failures don’t negotiate. More money? More time? You mean you can ask for those things?
• Freelance failures don’t take rejection well. What do you mean this doesn’t suit your needs right now? You hate me don’t you?
• Freelance failures don’t have a billing system. They figure paying them is the client’s job, let them handle it.

Skills

• Freelance failures don’t sweat clarity. It’s clear to them what they wrote. Everybody else is just an idiot.
• Freelance failures don’t sweat editing. That’s the same as proofreading, right? No time for that when you’re writing 250 SEO articles about male pattern baldiness.
• Freelance failures can write equally poorly about anything. It doesn’t matter whether or not they care about a subject or even know a subject. They can fake those things. What matters is that they convinced somebody to pay them.
• Freelance failures don’t work to improve their skills. Why should you get certified when you’re already certifiable?

Research

• Freelance failures don’t make the same mistakes twice; they make them way more often than that.
• Freelance failures get people’s names wrong. Nobody minds being called the wrong name do they?
• Freelance failures don’t do research for their articles. They just assume that whatever they know is close enough.
• Freelance failures steal material. They’ve promised so many things to so many people that they have to rip off other writers just to finish their projects.

Community

• Freelance failures don’t have mentors. They can’t think of anyone they would want to emulate.
• Freelance failures never collaborate. They work alone, or at least they would work alone if they had any work. Working with another writer just means you’ve got to split the rate, and freelance failures can’t afford to take any less money than they already do.
• Freelance failures don’t network. They don’t want to work with other writers. They don’t want to talk to other writers. They sure don’t want to learn from other writers. That’s time better spent trolling Craig’s List for gigs.
• Freelance failures have no idea who their competition is. They don’t monitor their markets. They don’t read other writers. They stay blissfully unaware of the world around them.

Attitude

• Freelance failures don’t really like the idea of making money. They consider themselves to be artists. Success would just mean they’ve sold out.
• Freelance failures get discouraged easily. If they don’t get the sale the first time, they just give up. If something is hard to write, they just don’t write it. Why waste time on improvement when they can just as easily spend that time telling their friends about how unfair the industry is?
• Freelance failures like to save the hard tasks for last. If you put them off long enough, you may not have to do them at all!
• Freelance failures aren’t problem solvers. They’ve never seen an obstacle they couldn’t let stop them.
• Freelance failures know that successful freelance writers are just luckier then they are.
• Freelance failures don’t stay freelance failures forever. They learn and improve. Eventually they get better. If they don’t, they move on to fail at something else.

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Day 1: 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM

The story to date:

I bought Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity both in print and on Mp3. This weekend’s project is to organize my home office. The first step was to go to the store and buy the items on the GTD list. Those included:

• Three Paper Holding Trays
• Plain letter sixed paper
• Pens
• Post-its
• Paper clips
• Binder clips
• Stapler and staples (Red Swingline of course)
• Scotch tape
• Rubber bands
• An automatic labler (i fudged on this because I have one at the office)
• File folders
• A calender
• Waste basket

I also bought a new desk and two Ottomans that open up for storage. My wife went along and bought here own things. Total bill, about $600. So far, a pricey proposition, but we do what we have to.

Day 1: 5:40 PM

Opening packages up I cut my fingers twice.

Day 1: 5:55 PM

Found cool stapler graphic. Now I have to get some work done.

Day 1: 6:10 PM

My In/Out/Pend boxes need some assembly. It is taking longer than I would have thought. Also, I am having an internal debate. Should I set up my desk before I gather my stuff, or get everything organized and then set up my desk last. I’ll let you know what I decide.

Day 1: 6:27 PM

The baskets are finally together. My thumbs are sore. I have decided to wait until everything else is organized before switching desks. That is the first project I will put into my basket.

Day 1: 6:55 PM

I have decided that the smaller of the two Ottomans will hold games related items such as my Dungeons and Dragons books while the larger will hold books that i don’t intend to read in the near future but still want to keep. I am getting rid of most of my books, however, because I have discovered that I prefer books on audio for pleasure and the Internet for most reference needs. This will help me create a less cluttered, more “zen” office. I will still have a small bookshelf for books that I use frequently or intend to read soon.

Day 1: 7:47 PM

I’m about halfway through my books now. I had already purged a bunch of them earlier this week. It looks like I am going to keep even less of them than I expected. Most of the books I am keeping are poetry and author-signed books with just a few references.

Day 1: 9:00

Finished sorting through my books. Moved old bookshelf to the garage. I had to adjust the new bookshelf to the two different general book heights, which leaves a small shelf in the middle. I’m sure something on my overflowing table (in box) will fit there.

Day 1: 10:17

I’ve begun to make progress on my desk, which I had piled with all of my items to process except for the ones in the closet. I’m about halfway through the pile. Most of the items have been thrown away, a few are filed and others have been put back in their place. I’ve also identified about 5 projects (things that will take more than a couple minutes) that I will have to tackle based on what I have found. I still have a long way to go, but it is a start.

Day 2: 1:37 PM

Back at it. The table is clear enough to see most of the items now. So many things that have been left untended.

Day 2: 4:42 PM

I am halfway through the closet now. There were a lot ofpapers to go through, mostly three-year old bills and such that needed shredding.

Day 2: 6:36 PM

The closet has been cleaned out and then repopulated. Most of the space will hold my office supplies, so that they don’t need to be seen unless I am using them.

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