Five Ways to Manage Your Time When Business Really Picks Up

Last month I wrote about how to spend your time wisely when business slows down – but how can you effectively manage your time when business is doing really well?

It seems to be the law with freelancing that you either have no work or else you have piles of work! These tips should help out any freelancers and business owners out there who have to juggle multiple projects with tight deadlines:

1) Write a list of everything you need to do.

Since it’s likely that you have multiple projects all due within the next few days or the next week, I recommend creating a list of all of the tasks you need to accomplish over the next five to seven days. Include projects for clients, as well as business administrative items, personal business projects, and other commitments or activities that you have planned for the week.

2) Eliminate items (or transfer them) as needed.

Is there anything that can be pushed to next week, when you might have a little more free time? Are there things on the list that really don’t need to be completed any time soon? Create a new list for next week, as well as a list of items that will eventually need to be taken care of but which doesn’t have a deadline, and transfer those items to the new lists. Your main list of items for the week should now be a little bit reduced and more manageable already.

3) Estimate the amount of time each item on your list will take.

Be honest with yourself here! How long does it take you to accomplish each task? Some items might not take nearly as much time as you initially thought when you looked at all of the projects outlined on your list. In fact, some projects might only take two or three hours, max.

Doesn’t your list seem much more doable now? When you estimate the amount of time each task will take (and then add 15% onto that, just in case things come up and it takes a little bit longer than expected), you might discover that you have much more time to accomplish everything than you previously believed.

4) Prioritize each task.

This is an important step. Figure out which tasks need to be done now, and mark them as A priorities. Longer tasks should also be marked as higher priorities. If a project will only take an hour or two and it isn’t due until the end of the week, make it a C priority.

As you go through each task throughout the week, check in with yourself and where you’re at in your day. Are you ahead of schedule? Are you behind schedule? What can you do to ensure you meet deadlines?

5) Breathe.

In university, I was never one to pull an all-nighter and complete an assignment the night before. That’s just not my style! Your work is simply not going to be as good as it could be if you rush things and submit them without reading them through again, or if you don’t give yourself the chance to step away from the project before returning to it and revising it.

That’s why I think it’s important to create internal deadlines for yourself (is something due on Wednesday evening? Aim to complete it by Tuesday afternoon, and then give it another look over and submit it on Wednesday morning). It’s also important to rest and allow yourself some breathing space before moving on. Your work is not going to be high quality if you try to cram too many things into a short period of time. It’s better to rest, or get outside for some fresh air or exercise, and then return to your work with refreshed eyes.

What are your tips for managing time effectively when business really picks up? Share in the comments section below!