Vox Fortis Communications

As much as I love my gadgets, I think it’s time to admit that I’m really old school when it comes to planners. There’s something about paper for me. The ability to easily flip through pages, erase, and see myself writing down a task that sticks in my brain, maybe.

Sometimes it’s not easy to come to these conclusions. They come at random moments, where you have these epiphanies at 1am, your tongue slightly sticking out of the side of your mouth, gripping your mouse and squinting at the screen to get the little appointment box to drag to the right time on your calendar, for instance.

Not that I’d know anything about this.

Working for yourself and managing your time is more challenging for some than others. I always get my stuff done, but I know I could do it more efficiently. Enter the paper planner crutch. Things like that you can control, but no matter how much you like to think you’re completely master of your own schedule as a freelancer, your days do have some pull over what gets done when.

How can you make this work for you without ripping your hair out?

1. Be honest with yourself.

There’s nothing wrong with admitting you totally suck at time management. There’s also nothing wrong with bragging if you’re great at it. Either way, this is a conversation you only have to have with yourself. (Not out loud. At least not with others present. Those that abandon the corporate route tend to get enough funny looks as it is.)

You need to figure out where you are when it comes to strengths and weaknesses in time management, and sometimes that takes a little pain. Take stock every so often of where you’re at, if possible. Are you sweating at 2am every other night of the week to hit a deadline? Are you finding that your days feel like a lot of reacting without a lot getting accomplished? This is the bigger picture, but once you start noticing your own patterns it will tell you a lot about where you’re dropping the ball. Maybe you have no clue how to say no to someone. Maybe you are always regretting the two hours you spent on your Xbox 360 instead of getting the x,y,z done. Odds are good that whatever gets you into time crunches, it has a consistent root cause.

So be honest about it. Don’t kick your own ass over it, but acknowledge it and figure out how to co-exist with it.

2. Figure out a solution.

For me, I sometimes have a hard time figuring out when things can get done by. I originally used my planner for scheduled calls and things of that nature. But, you know what? There were a lot of blocks being unused. I’m training myself to pencil in time for each project’s tasks (thanks to the life-saving to-dos and milestones I set up in Basecamp) so if someone says, “When can I have this?” I can easily glance and see how much time is already blocked off for other stuff.

Whether I actually work on it during that time, I’m finding is irrelevant, at least for me. I adhere to it as best as possible, but I’m finding it immensely helpful just to have a visual of what time is already committed to stuff.

Whatever your weak point is, accept that. It’s ok if you can’t change it, just figure out how to co-exist with it peacefully so it’s not obstructing your productivity or your client’s happiness.

3. Implement.

It’s hard to break a habit. It’s hard to start new ones sometimes, but critical to your success is your ability to manage YOU. Working for yourself will teach you things you never knew, but that doesn’t mean squat if you don’t grow and become a better professional for it. Put on your big-person dungaroos and go for it. Your clients, stress level, and coffeepot will thank you.

I pretty much look like that little skeleton right now. (Ok, I’m not that thin.)

But, I pretty much felt like death warmed over yesterday, after a whirlwind trip Thursday through Saturday. Many cups of coffee later, I resolved to answer the interview that Shane put up for us freelancers to try out. I can’t guarantee utterly witty responses, but I’ll do my best, feeling like a skeleton and all.

What’s your personal mission statement?

This has changed recently since being expelled from the bowels of corporate America. For the better, that is. My recently revised personal mission statement is: No more days full of dread, half-baked work, or time that’s obviously being wasted for too little pay. I choose to accept only projects that invigorate me, with people that make me smile and teach me new things…and hopefully I can teach them a thing or two along the way.

What’s the biggest mess you’ve dealt with this year?

Probably every job I had this year until I struck out on my own. I’d like to pick just one, but now that I’ve come out on the other side, it’s hard to separate one thing from another. Mostly it looks like a burning car wreck with buzzards circling. I’m pretty sure there might be a circus with an evil clown somehow involved in that landscape. However, I’m still coming through the detoxification process of corporate America. Once the disinfectant is working to capacity, the single biggest mess may become clearer, but for now, it’s mostly snippets in my head.

What current entrepreneurial efforts consume your time?

I’m lucky that I don’t have to do much marketing anymore. A lot of my day is communication with current clients, and I’m happy to say they’re all really fun people. (Yes, they read this. No, I’m not kissing up. They really are that fun.)

Why do you do what you do? What inspires you? When do you get most excited?

Being master of how I spend my time is inspiring. As someone whose parents both were enslaved in various ways to large corporations, I feel inspired that things have evolved so much for my generation. That we have the ability to work anywhere, with people that appreciate your talent regardless of location.

I wake up most mornings looking forward to my day, with very few exceptions.

Boxers or Briefs? or as Naomi says, Bikini or Thong, duh?!?

You should pay no mind to my skivvies.

What do you do when you’re not [designing | programming | managing | writing | toiling for the wo/man]?

I’m either face-planted into a book, or have an Xbox 360 controller in my hand.

What one thing made the biggest difference when getting started?

Other than the full support of The Man of the House, the freelancers I talked to before taking the plunge. Naomi was a hugely wonderful pillar of “you can do it”-ness, and has since become a very good friend. Freelance sites like Freelance Switch, Freelance Folder, and Shane and Peter kept me inspired that plenty of people work for themselves and succeed every day.

What’s your exit strategy?

I’m still working an entrance where I’m not tripping over my own feet. I’m a klutz.

What is the last thing that made you belly laugh?

Probably the dog earlier today. I can’t remember specifically, but most daily belly laughs can be attributed to her. (When she’s not teaching people marketing, of course.)

Have you ever been in business before?

Other than in high school, where I watched over-caffeinated, nannied-to-death rich heathens for way too little pay? No.

At what point do you consider yourself successful?

When I’m doing what I’m best at, getting paid fairly for it, and having a life outside of it as well.

What was your first experience with a computer?

My friend’s Macintosh. I can’t remember the game, but it was a rudimentary city skyline, with lines that would come down from the top of the screen. You’d have to position the mouse in its trajectory, and click the mouse button to detonate a something-or-another which would stop the line from colliding into the city.

Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates in a jello wrestling match, where’s your money?

Steve Jobs. Much as I love my Xbox 360, I tend to experience less frustration with my Mac and movies that come from Pixar.

Where do you do your best thinking?

In my robe with a cup of coffee. Location doesn’t seem to matter. It’s a highly technical experiment, obviously

What does your average daily work / life balance look like? How much time do you work, play and sleep?

Work has been eating up more time than it should the last week or two, but most of that has been related to an influx of clients where I’m trying to get up to speed.

Yes, that’s a disclaimer because the word “balance” in that question made my brain twitch momentarily.

I probably work 8-10 hours a day, play for 4-5 and sleep for about 8.

If I could introduce you to anyone, who would it be?

Do you know Johnny Depp? Then you’re of no use, Shane.

What stops you from giving up when you are frustrated?

I have an extreme aversion to failure. I will stick with things, projects included, far after my gut feeling about it is sending flashy red signs, red flags, red stop signs, and huge red middle fingers when I ignore it. I will get frustrated and say I’m giving up…but a few hours later, I’m there again, grinding my teeth and beint stubborn.

If Chuck Norris and Steven Hawking had a baby (hey it’s my damn interview), would you vote for her for president?

So it could perform the quart of blood technique while being a immobile in a wheelchair and solving the universe’s mysteries…absolutely. (You get bonus points if you can tell me what movie that technique is from.) Jeez, who wouldn’t with that kind of skill set on a resume?

And, as requested, the question I would add is:

When did you know it was time to stop accepting projects you hated simply to make crappy money, versus turning away a sure thing and waiting for a better fit?  

The past week taught me something, but I didn’t realize what it was until I was drinking coffee this morning. (Has anyone noticed this is where a lot of my entry ideas are spawned from? This is no accident.) The coffee wasn’t our usual brand, a fact I only mildly noticed while I was grinding it and muttering to myself.

Earlier this week, one of my clients and I realized we really needed to get some more resources on board. As her project manager, this was obviously something I was all for, because the squeeze was on our resources big time and I was sweating looking at the to-dos that had no contractor to call home until their completion. We put up two ads, one for a copywriter and one for an SEO person. Being on the “employer” side of that spectrum taught me a lot of things. These things have probably been mentioned a lot by other bloggers, but I didn’t get it until I saw it for myself. That said, here are things that hit me in the head like a two by four. (Which may be related to the caffeine headache, as the coffee is still brewing.) Granted, finding and applying for gigs can feel like a battlefield, but while you’re donning your helmet and kevlar vest, here are some magic bullets that I learned being the side of the place that needed a person and posted the ad.

Form letters are horrific.

These things really suck. Don’t use them. Please. First, it’s obvious that you didn’t remotely read the job description. You cut and pasted the same thing you sent to everyone else and hit “send.” Why would I want to get in touch with you? I know it saves you time, but as a contractor, you’re really in a service industry so it’s not about YOU. It’s about THEM. Don’t be the Paris Hilton of job ad response.

Get to the point, already.

This is actually a huge thing I noticed with the form letters. Long responses. I mean…scrolling and scrolling. Maybe this depends on the employer, but I can tell you that there’s no way I’m reading that. I’m glad you have a lot of experience, that’s very valuable. But it’s not valuable to list that you worked with Microsoft and then also mention you did SEO for Al’s Auto Parts. Who cares? If you worked with Microsoft, that matters. Al’s, though I’m sure was a great client, doesn’t matter under the shadow of a bigger company.

And if you’re writing 5 pages and it’s a form letter, you’re toast. It’s obvious in the intro that you didn’t read the job ad to begin with, yet you’re expecting me to read 5 pages about your glory? Mmmm….don’t think so.

Oh, and…just because you insert our name in the “Dear blah blah blah” opening and have things like “We would be pleased to speak with you about your [job ad need].” and then go one to talk about stuff not remotely relevant…that’s a form letter. I don’t care that you read enough of the ad to put in a name and what we were requesting. You don’t get partial credit for that.

What does the employer care about?

Ok, some job ads really don’t answer this well, at least in any obvious way. Some have a neon sign that screams, “Cheap person who doesn’t care about skill.” Unless you’re desperate for money, and some of us are around the holidays, keep moving. Potential clients aren’t going to show their hand in the job ad, but you can look for clues.

Did they ask for samples? Did they ask for references? If so, they care that you’ve done what they’re asking for. Pick two solid examples (Microsoft examples, not Al examples) and blow them out.

Did they ask for specific skills? It amazed me how absolutely clear I made the job description, yet people didn’t respond with experience at all related to it. Touch on the specifics of what they asked for. If you’re just ITCHING to tell them about something else, go ahead, but do not forfeit responding to their specific needs just scratch your own itch. If they want keyword research, give examples….and if you happen to write SEO content, YES mention that. But don’t talk about writing content without telling them you can do what they actually asked for in the first place. This was rampant in the results I saw. I had to get in touch and ask specific questions….questions which were, by the way, in the job ad to begin with.

What does this have to do with coffee?

My coffee this morning was great. It wasn’t the usual brand, but I didn’t notice. Know why? Because all I cared about what that it was halfway decent and stripped away the Ultimate Grouch Aura I have first thing in the morning.

Employers want what they want, and some things matter more than others. They might not care if you’re Starbucks or Folgers, but they want you to work in their coffee maker. Others might totally care if you’re Starbucks, and they’d be willing to pay for it. Figure out what they want and appeal to that. Don’t spend your time screaming about how you’re Folgers if their job ad made it clear they don’t care. You’re wasting your time, and you’re showing the employer that you don’t care what they need, just about what you can provide.

And in the end, you still won’t have helped their Ultimate Grouch Aura.

I’m non-grouchy 99.9% of the time. Subscribe and you can see for yourself.