some tips for the freelancer or self-employed on time, business and self-management

The business is just ticking along lately, so my over-analyzing mind started picking out the whats, whos, whys, hows and wheres of the positivity. Here are a handful:

1. Every night before I leave my office, shed, shack (I need to name the thing), I make a list of tasks that I need to do the following day. This sounds so simple! But it severely reduces my stress and organizes the millions of thoughts that I carry around in my head. When I leave the office, I find that I am literally and mentally able to leave my office and go home – because all of my to-do’s are safely inked in my notebook. I don’t have to spend any energy replaying and remembering them. And when I get to work in the morning, I look at my list and get right to work – I don’t have to spend any time figuring out what needs to be done.

2. I have a place to go that is all my own. For years, because ‘I was freelancer with a home business’, I assumed that I could work when I needed to wherever I could find a place to set up my laptop. That might work for some people, but for me, it did NOT. I have never been this productive in my life, and I know that it’s because I now have my very own 120 square feet of heaven. My office could be half this size, and the effect would be the same. When I’m at work, I work. When I’m at home, I’m home. Even if your work space is in your home – define it, seal it off. Compartmentalize.

3. You know what they say about dating: when your single it’s impossible to find a date, but the minute you begin a relationship, people are asking you out left and right. I believe on Sex and the City they referred to it as having your cab light on (for all of you SATC lovers). Anywho, the rule applies for freelancers – the busier I get, the more calls and opportunities I get. I suppose it makes sense because the busier I am, the happier I am and, I’ve said it before, people want to work with happy, productive people. Success attracts success…like a good musk.