Entrepreneurs and Freelancers – Make The Most Of Your Workday With These Time Management Tips

This is an article by my colleague, Suzanne Lieurance. Be sure to visit her site, listed at the end of this post. You may even want to join her article writing challenge!

Many times I have coaching clients who complain, “I just can’t seem to get everything done during the day. There isn’t enough time for all the things I need to do.”

These clients are always frustrated and behind with either their writing, marketing, or some other aspect of their business.

When I go over their schedules with them, I usually find one of two things is happening. Either they are running around too much during the day and not setting regular “office hours” OR they are doing too many activities that don’t really make a difference in their careers or income.

Look at your schedule. Determine how much time is spent out of your office. Some of this time is probably well spent. However, how much time are you spending in the car, driving to and from places? This driving time can really start to add up and it can eat up your work day rather quickly. And you aren’t earning income when you’re on the road.

Try to schedule as much work as you can either online or on the phone. Teleconferences are a great way to meet with a group, or you can conduct a webinar.

Even if you must be out of your office for several hours each day, be sure you also set office hours – time to be IN your office doing the actual writing and administrative activities that are part of any business.

Next, if you create a weekly marketing plan every Sunday night or Monday morning (which I highly recommend you do), look at the activities on your plan. How many of those activities are really, really important? Are some of those activities merely “busy work”? If so, then eliminate the busy work so you’ll have more time during the week for activities that really will make a difference in your career and your income.

One of the biggest ways to squander your time is by checking email and browsing around online. Set aside specific times for doing both of these activities each day. Then stick to ONLY those specific times.

Next, set aside specific days for specific tasks. I find that if I leave my office too much during the day I have a hard time settling back into my writing. For that reason, I try to schedule all my outside appointments on the same one or two days a week, so I only have to leave my office on those one or two days. If you like to leave your office every day, then schedule all your appointments for mornings and schedule your office hours for afternoons – or vice versa. That way you won’t be coming and going all day, only part of the day.

You really CAN do all the things you need to do for your business if you make the BEST use of your time every day.

Try it!

For more tips for freelancers and entrepreneurs, visit http://www.buildyourbusinesswrite.com and sign up for the FREE weekly newsletter. Also, visit http://www.workingwriterscoach.com and subscribe to the FREE Morning Nudge for tips to help you get a little writing done every day.

Suzanne Lieurance is a freelance writer, the Working Writer’s Coach, and founder of Build Your Business Write.