I never accomplish everything I’d like to get done. And, as a freelancer, I have no one to blame but myself. I don’t have coworkers and bosses reminding me daily about deadlines like a 9-to-5 employee does.
Therefore, if I starve to death, that’s my fault — and I don’t like starving.
But I have a solution.
Over the past month, I conducted an experiment that was intended to improve not only my productivity, but the productivity of several other Baltimore-based freelancers. And, after only four weeks, its benefits have already outweighed our initial expectations.
Here’s what we did, and how it might also help you.
The Premise:
For me, any tasks that don’t literally pay the bills are “optional,” AKA “whenever,” AKA “probably never.”
But I also know that I work best under pressure. So it was time to invent some.
To do that, I approached several local freelancers and pitched them on a simple idea:
Let’s be accountable to each other.
The Process:
Each week, I met face-to-face with my freelance peers, one-on-one. We’d discuss our business goals, our “must-do” work, and then identify any optional tasks we’d like to accomplish in the next week.
Then, each of us would then make a list of our own goals for the week, as well as the other person’s goals. One week later, we’d meet again and see how we did. (And if anyone needed a reminder, a nudge or a mid-week check-in, we could DM each other on Twitter and keep the ball rolling.)
Since the only penalty for not accomplishing our own goals would be the embarrassment of inventing excuses meant to convince a near-stranger that we were busier than expected, I presumed the absurd guilt involved in such an exchange would keep the participants honest (and motivated). After all, why lie to someone who isn’t affected either way?
And I was right. But, along the way, we all learned something else completely unexpected.
The Participants:
Initially, I only wanted one partner for this experiment. I figured one hourly meeting was all the time I could spare.
But when four different freelancers took me up on my offer, I decided to involve all of them, but still meet them one-on-one. That way, I could compare and contrast each person’s challenges and workflow, while mine would (presumably) remain constant.
My collaborators in this experiment were:
- Katrina Wagner, graphic designer ( @graphicbeans )
- Nicholas Critelli, photographer ( @critelliphoto )
- Molly White, social media consultant ( @mollywhite )
- Daniel Waldman, marketing / PR consultant ( @danieldubya )
We’re all self-employed, we all battle periods of distraction and aimlessness, and we live our days sandwiched between the rush of deadlines and our own long-term life goals. We’re busy, but we each needed a voluntary reason to stay focused.
So we started relying on each other to keep ourselves honest.
How It Went:
In my very first meeting, Katrina laid out 5 goals she wanted to accomplish in the following week. That number was arbitrary; some people only committed to one goal a week, others to more, but no week’s total was ever more than 6.
NOTE: Since I was meeting with people 4 times each week, I kept my own stated goals consistent from person to person. Otherwise, I’d be making myself responsible for 20 different goals each week, and I’d fail spectacularly.
The first week, I accomplished everything on my list. My fellow freelancers performed nearly as well, with only a few missed goals in total.
However, the following week, each of us hit a stumbling block.
Personally, I over-committed myself when compared to the amount of free time I ended up having (because I was traveling for 5 days that week). Others had unexpected family commitments, client complications or new business opportunities that required more time than they’d anticipated.
This setback was actually a bonus, because it prompted each of us to think more critically about how many “minor” tasks we could realistically expect to accomplish alongside our recurring obligations.
Each of us continued to experience our own peaks and valleys of productivity over the following weeks, but we made a point of meeting (or calling) weekly to stay in touch, even if we were slightly off target. (That way, even if we fell short, we had to own up to it.)
What We Learned:
In the end, I accomplished 11 tasks that I probably would not have completed otherwise. These ranged from the mundane (backing up old projects stored on my various hard drives) to the opportunistic (getting a month ahead on client blog posts).
Surprisingly (and somewhat embarrassingly), the tasks I tackled took far less time to complete than I’d originally expected. (One dreaded task took four whole minutes to complete.) Once I realized this, I felt like an idiot for having postponed so many of them for so long.
For me, the biggest tangible benefit came in the last week, when I finally created my own a daily work schedule. To do this, I listed:
- my hourly client obligations for each month.
- any recurring tasks (i.e., “editing video,” even if the hours differ monthly)
- any recurring personal tasks (writing this blog, walking the dog, etc.)
Then I broke my week down to hourly blocks and scheduled ample time for each task.
The results stunned me.
I discovered that I have more than enough time to accomplish everything on my list each week. In fact, if I stick to the schedule I’ve created, I’d even have free time every day.
So where had I been going wrong?
Simple: misunderstanding my time was causing my to mismanage my time, and that drove me into the arms of distraction.
Until this week, I’d been tackling new tasks as they came up, or delaying them under the presumption that I’d have “more time later.” But once I plotted my obligations against my available time, everything fell into place with time to spare.
And yet, the most interesting benefit of this exercise had nothing to do with efficiency.
What We Were Surprised to Learn:
Along the way, each of us learned a lot about one another’s businesses — and our own.
Hearing someone else’s challenges, exploring their solutions and offering our own suggestions all combined to get each of us thinking differently about how we solve our own problems.
For example, Nicholas told me about his complex system for backing up client files. I mentioned some of his observations to Katrina, who (coincidentally) had experienced a computer crash the week our experiment started. She thought her own system for backing up files could use some improvement. I related both of these anecdotes to Molly, who suggested Katrina should try a service called Dropbox. I passed that information along to Katrina and Nicholas, and now all four of us are using it.
And while that exchange may not have crossed anything off anyone’s to-do list, it’s information and experience that we wouldn’t have shared if we hadn’t sat down to discuss our businesses with like-minded strangers in the first place.
Summary:
Based on my wrap-up discussions with each of my collaborators, here’s what we’ve taken away from this experience:
– We each accomplished tasks over the past month that we would have ignored otherwise.
– We learned while discussing our businesses, and got valuable feedback on our choices.
– We enjoyed offering helpful suggestions based on our own “outsider” perspectives.
– We’ve each begun thinking about our businesses in new ways.
– We have a better understanding of our priorities, and a clearer idea of where our time is spent (or wasted).
Moving forward, we now intend to meet monthly, as a group, and continue to share our observations and solicit each other’s advice. We’ll also be sharing a web-based project management system, where everyone can post his or her weekly goals and check in to see how everyone else is doing.
And if one of us is falling behind, now we have four people to help pull us ahead.
So… who’s keeping you honest?
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Tags: baltimore, bullshit, Business, common sense, Freelance, honesty, inspiration, networking, perception, personal, Sociology
This really hits home as I've got my own problems with making excuses, and wasting time.
I've been thinking about devoting an hour each day to writing, an hour for working out, chores, etc… but I'm lazy, and thinking is usually as far as it goes.
I watch way too much entertainment, read way too much for entertainment, and produce way too little of my own stuff that I've been meaning to work on. Maybe I should find some strangers to hit me with the cattle-prod when they see me slacking.
I am doing a guest chapter/short story for @Tweet_Book that I should have complete by the end of this week, and I have been helping a LOT on Podcamp Cleveland planning stuff, but I haven't been doing it as smart as I could be.
Today, I'm going to catch up on my sleep (after I watch Lost & V), but on Thursday and Friday watch out, internet. I'm going to be a producin' machine!
Great insight! I've been less successful using others to remain accountable although I have mentors who keep me accountable more for broader vision and action.
I've been a solo practitioner, in one way, shape, or form since 1995. The single most important element for me is the calendar. I have started saying that I let my calendar lead me like a benevolent dictator. I preview it on Sunday, blocking out time pretty specifically but with leeway for “fluff”. Because that 15 minute call never takes just 15 minutes and without leeway, you guarantee a fender-bender en route to your next appointment.
Murphy picks his areas where poor planning or over-scheduling occur. I do a post-review of the day each day and preview the next day at the same time.
I've been doing that since I started freelancing. Actually scheduling time to do the work I commit to. It did keep me more productive, as well as let me know how much work I could reasonably take on.
(I also found that I tend to overestimate the time it will take to do a task)
I LOVE this.
Congrats on finding some valuable and insightful co-workers!
Angel Kwiatkowski emailed me her comment because she said she was getting errors via Disqus. Her thoughts:
“Justin — this post is dead on. I'm part of a coworking community and we have been great at keeping each other on track. It's hard to screw around on twitter when everyone around you is heads down coding or designing! Peer pressure still works, even at work.
“It would be awesome if your group got into coworking. Your article reinforced for me that coworking isn't about desk sharing, it's about the people and the awesome things that happen when you put brilliant people in a room together.”
–
Cohere, LLC
Be Independent Together
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Well, it's no brainstorming night at Eat 'n Park, but it does have its
benefits. :)
Thanks for your experiment and insight. I'll be looking for some people in my area to do the same thing.
Thanks for involving me in this experiment! I only recently when out on my own (last October), and had much higher hopes about what I could accomplish single-handedly. Now, 6 months later, I realize what's really feasible, and this experiment has helped me keep focus on important things that tend to fall by the wayside. Also, just having a sounding board is really fantastic!
It's absolutley amazing story, I love it. It' s inspired to me!
This is a great idea; don’t know why I never thought of this.
We all perform better when someone else is keeping us accountable. I’m going to see if I can track down some like-minded people in my area to try this out.
Keep the good advice coming.
Great post. Seeing your time as well as that of others, sharing ideas and experiences, sites and software, as well as accountability is hugely useful in many ways. As a marketing and social media specialist at Accuform Signs, http://www.accuform.com, I wear several different hats in one place, as well as extra-activities, and i rely on those who help keep me to task.
Good stuff. Accountability and support is so important. Especially for freelancers and entrepreneurs. I've been working for myself off and on for about 6 years. Since it's easy to get scattered I focus myself by having 3 priorities for my business. In my case it's serving clients, connecting with local entrepreneurs and writing my book and blog. I do these first and then tackle the administrata and other less important tasks once those are done. Oh, and never during my “peak” times of day where I'm at my best.
I also carve out “me time” on my calendar every week. This helps me to have more balance and I get to do whatever I want during that time. Sometimes it's exercise, other times it's piddy (but important) tasks.
And lastly, it's so true what you said about dreaded tasks taking far less time than we anticipate. We're funny creatures us humans.
Good stuff. Accountability and support is so important. Especially for freelancers and entrepreneurs. I’ve been working for myself off and on for about 6 years. Since it’s easy to get scattered I focus myself by having 3 priorities for my business. In my case it’s serving clients, connecting with local entrepreneurs and writing my book and blog. I do these first and then tackle the administrata and other less important tasks once those are done. Oh, and never during my “peak” times of day where I’m at my best. nnI also carve out “me time” on my calendar every week. This helps me to have more balance and I get to do whatever I want during that time. Sometimes it’s exercise, other times it’s piddy (but important) tasks.nnAnd lastly, it’s so true what you said about dreaded tasks taking far less time than we anticipate. We’re funny creatures us humans.
“Peak time” is a great observation. Some times of day are better for
tackling certain tasks. It depends on where my mind is, what the day
feels like, the weather, etc. But as long as I have my tasks broken
down into hourly blocks, I can rearrange those blocks to accommodate
my wandering focus.
“Peak time” is a great observation. Some times of day are better forrntackling certain tasks. It depends on where my mind is, what the dayrnfeels like, the weather, etc. But as long as I have my tasks brokenrndown into hourly blocks, I can rearrange those blocks to accommodaternmy wandering focus.
This is really great. The part that really got me was –
“I discovered that I have more than enough time to accomplish everything on my list each week. In fact, if I stick to the schedule I’ve created, I’d even have free time every day.”
There are so many people who dream of being able to say this. To be fair, I did expect this outcome for you, but I have always viewed my expectations as being a little unrealistic, if that makes any sense at all. Overreaching on purpose, I suppose.
I always tell people that they should try for something better than they believe they can achieve and to tell other people about it. Your method is an improvement on my (now former) model.
Thank you for the inspiration!
Have a great day!
- mark
Granted, the hard part isn't making the schedule; it's sticking to it
(and leaving room for hiccups in the plan). But that happens over
time. Best wishes on your own tinkering with time.
I totally agree. Many people seem to have the hardest time planning for the 'hiccups'. It seems that it is usually caused by planning for ever piece of the plan to work properly the first time. Some day, we will learn.
Other hurdles:
* Expecting your initial motivation to last forever. (Just because
you're excited that you “figured it out” today, that doesn't mean you
won't be taking it for granted tomorrow.)
* Scheduling too much “flex” time. (Because if you see open space on
your calendar, you'll dawdle on other tasks, believing you have time
to catch up later. Eventually, you run out.)
* Not getting ahead when you can. (Because something ALWAYS happens
that eats up 3 straight days of your calendar, and then you're racing
to catch up.)
Oh, the perils of human motivation… ;)
this all sounds great. but i'd rather watch t.v. and play words with friends.
;-)
seriously though, what do you use to keep track of your scheduled tasks? I like pens and paper, but i think i need a daily/weekly/monthly thing going and a way to check recurring items off without having to add them again. what a waste of paper!
This is really great. The part that really got me was – nn”I discovered that I have more than enough time to accomplish everything on my list each week. In fact, if I stick to the schedule Iu2019ve created, Iu2019d even have free time every day.”nnThere are so many people who dream of being able to say this. To be fair, I did expect this outcome for you, but I have always viewed my expectations as being a little unrealistic, if that makes any sense at all. Overreaching on purpose, I suppose.nnI always tell people that they should try for something better than they believe they can achieve and to tell other people about it. Your method is an improvement on my (now former) model.nnThank you for the inspiration!nnHave a great day!nn- mark
Granted, the hard part isn’t making the schedule; it’s sticking to itrn(and leaving room for hiccups in the plan). But that happens overrntime. Best wishes on your own tinkering with time.
I totally agree. Many people seem to have the hardest time planning for the ‘hiccups’. It seems that it is usually caused by planning for ever piece of the plan to work properly the first time. Some day, we will learn.
Other hurdles:rnrn* Expecting your initial motivation to last forever. (Just becausernyou’re excited that you “figured it out” today, that doesn’t mean yournwon’t be taking it for granted tomorrow.)rnrn* Scheduling too much “flex” time. (Because if you see open space onrnyour calendar, you’ll dawdle on other tasks, believing you have timernto catch up later. Eventually, you run out.)rnrn* Not getting ahead when you can. (Because something ALWAYS happensrnthat eats up 3 straight days of your calendar, and then you’re racingrnto catch up.)rnrnOh, the perils of human motivation… ;)
this all sounds great. but i’d rather watch t.v. and play words with friends.nn;-)
seriously though, what do you use to keep track of your scheduled tasks? I like pens and paper, but i think i need a daily/weekly/monthly thing going and a way to check recurring items off without having to add them again. what a waste of paper!
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