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.