Freelancefolder

Increase Your Productivity By Shortening Your Work Day

Posted June 22, 2011 in Productivity

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

That is Parkinson’s Law, first published in The Economist in 1955 to describe the tendency of British civil service to increase in manpower even when the amount of work remained the same.

What does that have to do with freelancers?

In this post, we’re going to explore how freelancers can use Parkinson’s Law to increase our productivity.

If we accept Parkinson’s Law, then it follows that freelancers can get more things done by shortening our work days.

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Twenty Time Saving Tips

Posted June 12, 2011 in Productivity

Are you pressed for time?

It’s not at all unusual for a freelancer to run out of day before their work is done. If you’re using an application to track how you use your time, that’s a great start to making better use of your time.

There are other shortcuts and tricks you can apply to maximize your available time. In this post, I’ll share twenty tips to help you make the best use of your time.

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5 Productivity Tools To Boost Creativity

Posted June 10, 2011 in Productivity

This is quite a tricky post. Recently I realized that there are a few tools I use that not only save me a ton of time, but also make me more creative. By sticking to their simple and efficient functionality I have started to create more content in ways I haven’t imagined before.

Here is a list of these five “creative” productivity tools for you.

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Why You Must Keep Up in Your Field

Posted May 20, 2011 in Managing Clients, Productivity

Freelancing is not just a part-time job any more. Freelancing has turned into a full-time venture that requires just as much consistency, dedication, and responsibility as any other job.

In fact, freelancers ought to be one step ahead of the typical worker because when somebody hires a freelancer they expect them to be an expert in their respective field. A client may not ask you to furnish particular credentials, but they are looking for proficiency and skills (and maybe a sample or two of your previous work).

A true freelancer ought to be a specialist. There are no entry-level jobs in the freelance sector.

Now, let’s take a look at why freelancers fall behind and at some common freelancing professions. I’ll show how lagging behind can hurt your chances of excelling in these fields.

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5 Time Management Tips for Freelancers

Posted May 19, 2011 in Accountability, Productivity

Do you find that you’re constantly up against the clock? Is managing your work / life balance an ongoing battle?

Freelancers frequently find the main barrier to developing and growing their client base is their own time.

William Penn, businessman and philosopher said “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst,” few of us would argue with this sentiment.

Even in this day and age of technological advancement, no one has yet discovered a way of fitting more than 24 hours in one day, so here are some tips designed to help us maximize the benefit of the hours we have available to us.

Here are five tips to help you manage your time.

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How to Avoid Freelancing Burnout

Posted May 4, 2011 in Productivity

Here at Freelance Folder, we’ve talked a lot about freelancing burnout, from the warning signs of burnout to balancing freelancing with a full-time job without burning out.

In this post, I’d like to explore the many ways we can avoid burning out in the first place.

Work burnout is a physical, mental and psychological state of exhaustion. The name says a lot about what it feels like. When you’re burnt out, you feel like a lamp running out of fuel and, thus, burn out. When you’re burnt out, you don’t have the energy to keep going.

As you can imagine if you’ve never experienced it before, it’s no fun to experience freelancing burnout. It robs the joy and satisfaction out of doing your job, being with your loved ones… living your life.

But there’s more. To a freelancer, being burnt out may mean the quality of our work suffers. We’re not able to get as much done as we used to. It could lead to dissatisfied clients and a reduced income.

So it’s in our best interest–and that of our clients, family and friends–for us freelancers to avoid burnout.
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5 Surprising Causes of Creative Block and How to Overcome Them

Posted April 13, 2011 in How-To, Productivity

Most freelancers depend on their creativity for their livelihood. Freelance writers, designers, artists, photographers, and even web developers and programmers all rely on creative thinking to perform their jobs.

However, once in a while a freelancer finds that their creativity (that same creativity they’ve been relying on to earn an income) just isn’t there. The ideas just aren’t flowing like they used to.

Writers call this “writer’s block,” but it actually happens in many different professions.

Naturally, when this happens a freelancer can feel a bit panicked. After all, your income is on the line. You ask yourself, “will this be a permanent problem for me?”

Fortunately for most freelancers, creative block IS a temporary problem. Plus, if you understand some of the causes of creative block, you may be able to overcome it entirely.

In this post, I’ll identify one surprising source of creative block and give you some ideas for overcoming it.

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10 Home Office Time Savers

Posted April 12, 2011 in Lifestyle, Productivity

Working from home is one of my favorite things about being a freelancer. However, it can end up being a distraction if you’re not careful. There have been plenty of times that the whole day has gone by before I even got started working–simply because I decided to play around the house or on the internet.

While it’s okay to do this from time-to-time, it’s not okay on a regular basis, your projects either start being late or you’re forced to work off-hours to make up for it. The way your office is set up plays a big part in whether you’re more or less productive throughout the day. There are several ways to help it speed along your work.
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How to Work with a Virtual Assistant: A Guide for Freelancers

Posted April 6, 2011 in How-To, Productivity

As business owners, freelancers will at some point consider working with a virtual assistant.

A virtual assistant is similar to the traditional office or administrative assistant. However, the main difference is that a virtual assistant doesn’t have to be physically present in your freelancing home office. You may work with one for years and never meet him or her face to face.

Why would a freelancer need a virtual assistant or VA? The most common reason is when you need to get something done, but you don’t have the skills to do it. For example, in my case, my virtual assistant updates my WordPress sites, making sure my plugins and themes are updated as well.

I could do it myself, but after a sad incident involving the disappearance of a well-established blog, I’ve come to the conclusion that the world is better off if a VA handled my tech stuff.

Freelancers also need a VA when we get to that point in our businesses when we’re too busy to do everything. In other words, we need a VA when we graduate from being a DIY home biz. You may find, for example, that you’re using precious time on administrative stuff, such as tracking invoices–time you’d be better off actually serving your clients or finding new ones.
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