Photo by NaOH

Freelancing is a wonderful life, isn’t it? You get to wake up when you want to wake up, wear what you want to wear, work the hours you want to work, and make the money you want to make. Total freedom…right?

Wrong.

While freelancing definitely has it’s benefits, you also need to be extremely disciplined if you want to make it a career. You shouldn’t wake up whenever you want to wake up, you can’t sit around in your PJ’s all day, and you need an organized work schedule if you intend on getting things done. By creating structure within your freedom, you’ll find you have much more freedom at the end of the day.

Here are three tips for staying on task during the day so that you don’t have to work long into the evening and night…

1. Minimize Email: Okay, I might sound a bit too much like Timothy Ferriss here…but seriously, you need to stop checking your email 20 times a day. I’ve done it, you’ve done it, and it hasn’t helped either of us with our productivity. Sure, there are exceptions when you’re expecting a certain message to come through the funnel, but for the most part you’re just wasting time. If you learn to check your email only a couple times each day instead of making it a constant distraction, you’ll be able to get much more done.
2. Stop Browsing the Internet: It happens all the time when I’m not paying attention. I’ll be writing an article or a sales letter and need to search for something in Google…I’ll find what I need and then wander over to check the sports pages to see if anything has happened, then I check out my blog’s statistics, then I say hello to my pal’s on FaceBook, and then I realize that I’ve wasted 45 minutes doing absolutely nothing! It takes discipline to avoid random internet browsing throughout the day, but it pays off in the end…when you’ve finished your work and can spend time with family and friends in the evening instead of acting like you need to put in another “12 hour day” at the office.
3. Ten Minute Rule: Harry from Men with Pens teaches a 10 minute approach to staying on task. It’s simple really, if you find yourself wandering and unable to finish an assignment, just promise yourself 10 minutes of hard work. Seriously, a mere 10 minutes can make a HUGE impact on your productivity. Why? Because if you focus for 10 and get into what you need to accomplish, you’re bound to spend much more time that what you expected. To get work done you need to be focussed on what you’re doing. It’s nearly impossible to schedule a 2 hour session where you’ll be completely focussed…it just won’t happen. But if you’re willing to put in 10 you’ll be surprised with the results.

Freelancing can be a lot of fun, but only if you know how to get things done. Without discipline you’ll find yourself working more hours for less pay. But if you can stay on task and get things done…

• You’ll be able to complete more projects…which will in turn make you more money.
• You’ll be able to quit work earlier than usual…which will allow you to enjoy some free time.
• You’ll be able to improve the quality of your work…which will allow you to raise your rates.
• And you’ll be able to overcome the guilt of wondering…what did I do today?

It’s all about mindset. You aren’t a freelancer unless you’re able to enjoy the freedom that you hoped for when you started your career.

By sleeping in every day you’ll eventually develop a lazy mindset, by wearing your pajamas you’ll feel like you can lounge instead of getting things done, and by wasting work time on the little things you considered to be perks (internet, TV, video games, etc) you’ll find that you are missing out on the time freedom that you had hoped for…

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