How to Get The Most of Your Work Hours As a Freelancer

No boss, working anytime you want, enjoying work the way you want, and moreover earning money. This’s how great freelancing is, but you can’t be very productive or make your main revenue when you don’t treat it seriously withiout the right work hours it might be difficult to commit at first. When you only work certain hours a week or day at home or any other place you like, away from the regular work environment you may not stick to specific daily routine  and you end up wasting your time withiout notice.

When you have no one to track your performance and you just on your own, you need to set some basic lines you can follow to prove yourself in the freelancers world. I have been working as a freelancer for nearly five years and the one rule that I had to follow all the time is ‘Sepearting My Day for My Needs’ – each of us has a different lifestyle and according to your day and needs, defining when and for how long you want to work, another more thing you should put into consideration is whether you’re doing freelancing as part or full-time thing. You are spending much of your time and effort so make it count and don’t stop at that first amount of money you earn. Below I am mentioning the best practices I have followed through these five years to make a successful freelancing career.

Keep reading to get the best tips on how to make your work hours count each day

Set fixed hours for sleep

If you work on your own and you don’t have to set the alarm at a specific time you can sleep as long as you like, but this when you start to lose the situation and your day begun to fall apart. You sleep like half of your day, you won’t commit most of the deadlines you have and you end up with a bad reputation in the field even if you have huge skills. Whether you’re a freelancer or not sleeping that much time isn’t good for your health or future as well, you just need to get the specific amount of sleep you want not less or more this how you gonna feel energetic all day long and you will be productive AF. For me, the best time to sleep is during the night and for eight solid hours so when I wake up the next morning I am full of energy and ready to rage a new day.

Want to sleep and be more productive, check out our editor’s experience with sleeping only 5h…

I also like to make my sleeping hours count so I make sure to relax before sleep with a cup of herbal tea and a warm bath, while during my sleep I have a thing for classical music so I make sure that these calm relaxing vibes fill my whole apartment not only the bedroom.

Summary: Get a perfect amount of quality sleep, figure the specific hours where your body can relax and recharge in. Also, don’t forget to create a relaxing stress-free routine so when you wake up the next morning you get that power and energy to start the day.

Pick your most productive hours of the day

Each one has a specific time of the day when they are so productive and viral, try to punch your work hours and crucial deadlines to that time when you can get up with tones of projects and tasks in such a small period so you don’t feel bored or tired while working for the whole day and your net result is way much less than required. I am so active and radiating with energy in the early morning and that’s when I get done with 80% of my work, I keep working until 3 pm or so and then switch into other things that I have in my day. I am not for dividing the work on the whole day, it makes you feel like all your life is only about work even if you set times in between for going out or enjoying anything else you still need to go into work every now and then which isn’t good for your mood and put lots of stress on you. If you are better at working during the night, you should go for it which may be tricky as you gonna let go of partying and going out but you still can figure this out if you really wanted it.

Summary: Set specific hours or part of the day while you will be working and let that time be your most productive and vital time of the day when you are full of energy, power, focus, and of course in a good mood.

Choose the right time for a break

Not separating you work through the day doesn’t mean to work straight 5 hours at once this won’t help you be productive and you will end up bored, losing energy, and can’t proceed work with the same energy you started working with. It’s mandatory to set specific breaks within working hours which thing you can do by practicing, it’s not fixed or the same for everyone. I like to take a 10 minutes break each hour, it helps me to recharge and proceed to work with full energy.

Summary: Don’t work for a long period without taking a break, this will help you to keep your energy and stay productive while you’re working so you don’t lose the rhythm. 

Be active

Try to keep moving your body within work hours each now and then, it keeps your blood circulating so you are active and focus all the time. You can do office yoga or work while you are on a treadmill. I used to work on projects like creating plans, setting targets, and poting focus point while running on my mom’s treadmill this’s when I have burnout or I can’t think. Setting in your place for a large time is bad for your health and productivity as well, try to keep your physical fitness around especially if you’re working from home.

Summary: Be active and energetic, don’t be like the chair you are setting one. Walk around the place, do some squats for fun or even do some office yoga.

Be flexible

Although I love freelancing and I have been doing that for nearly half a decade, I get bored so quickly so I like to keep some excitement and regular movement while I working whether doing physical activity like I mentioned or getting up with more than one project or work at the same time. When I am editing an article I shift between fiding the focus points of a new article and taking care of personal projects of mine, it keeps me focusing and have that eager and energy of work so my pace isn’t slowed down or so.

Summary: Don’t focus on work only, try to make a shift each now and then between projects and tasks you’re working on. This will help you to stay active, focus, and of course not bored.

Enjoy your time

The last thing that can help you nail your work hours as self-employed is enjoying the work you are doing, freelancing is a very wide range of working field anyone can do what they feel passion and love for you aren’t forced to proceed with any kind of job and you have all the right to agree or refuse any offer you may get. So, the work you will choose must be something that you enjoy and love to do some changes and effort for.

Summary: Doing freelancing is something you have all the freedom in, you aren’t forced to do a certain task or project. It’s all about your choices so make sure to have fun, appreciate what you get, and nail it.