You’ve finally taken the leap—you’ve “hung out your shingle” as Peter Bowerman puts it in The Well-Fed Writer, you’ve hunted down promising leads, and you’re working on your first projects as a bonafide freelancer.
Congratulations! Those first steps take a lot of planning, not to mention courage. But in order to keep up the momentum—and pay your bills—you will need to learn quickly how to juggle multiple projects.
Below, we’ll discuss how freelance projects differ from working for a single company. Then, we’ll consider how you can stay organized, generate consistent work, use automation to lessen your workload, and set boundaries to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
How Freelancing Is Different
“I’ve worked on multiple projects before,” you may have told yourself. But there are two primary reasons why freelancing is a whole different animal from working for a single company.
One, as a freelancer, you most likely work solo. That means that everything is your responsibility—scheduling, talking to clients, creating a budget, data entry, bookkeeping, filing the proper legal paperwork and taxes, and actually doing the work itself. Likely, some of these tasks were handled by other departments or teams when you worked for a single company.
Secondly, you no longer have just one boss or manager—you have as many as you have projects. You may report directly to more than one person when dealing with a larger client. Each client will place demands on your time and energy.
The good news is that you can successfully juggle multiple projects as a freelancer. The following tips will help you get started.
Get Organized
Good organizational skills are essential to freelancer success. I’ve found the following two organizational points to be vital to freelance success.
Keep a Calendar
As a freelancer, your calendar is your friend and lifeline. Don’t expect that you will simply remember when your next benchmark is due or the final deadline for your project. Write it down! As you juggle multiple clients and their needs, you can use your calendar as a quick visual resource to plan your week, avoid overbooking yourself, or estimate time to completion for a new client.
You can also use your calendar to set unofficial benchmarks for yourself, spreading the work out evenly over a reasonable amount of time. Don’t forget to record far-off dates, such as a prospective project start date next quarter or that vacation you’re planning for next year.
Should you use a paper calendar or an electronic one? Give each type a try, then decide what works best for you. I like to use a monthly paper calendar. It lays flat on my desk, always readily available as a quick reference or to jot down notes during a call with a client.
Use Data Tracking Software
Using software—whether an Excel spreadsheet, a business suite like Quickbooks, or something specific to your industry—to track your hours, expenses, and income is a must. This will ensure you always have the information you need to compose an invoice or file your taxes. Some of this software can also automate certain tasks, which we will discuss in more detail later.
Generate Consistent Work
Freelance income can be sporadic. How you generate leads will differ with your line of work, but it’s important to find ways to do so consistently.
As a freelance writer, for example, I maintain a website, Google business listings, and social media pages. Clients often find me through these means, but when work is slow, I revert to the “content mill”—an online platform that connects freelance writers with businesses—that gave me my start.
Automate
As mentioned above, business management software can automate some necessary tasks. Quickbooks, for example, can tally up your income and expenses for task purposes. Paypal can send payment reminders to your clients at regular intervals.
There are further tools that can automate many tedious parts of your workday. You can ask an AI text generator like Google Bard to generate blog ideas or compelling ad copy. You can use Buffer to schedule your social media marketing posts weeks in advance. Follow industry blogs or newsletters to learn about more tools like these that may be specific to your industry.
Maintain Your Balance
When you work a day job, you may occasionally take work home, but often work ends the moment you leave the office. Not so as a freelancer. You likely work in your home office, using your personal laptop or PC. You may receive business calls at your personal phone number and constant email notifications on your phone.
This can quickly become taxing. It is important to set boundaries with your clients. For starters, set up regular office hours and post them on your website. Change your phone’s notification settings so business won’t take over your “off” hours. Plug ample time into each project, and don’t take on “urgent” projects that will throw off your balance.
Conclusion
By staying organized, generating consistent leads, automating repetitive tasks, and maintaining your work-life balance, you will enjoy your work as a freelancer. Before long, you will be an experienced veteran rather than a newbie.
