How I Structure My Time to Get it Done

I have to give a special shoutout to Staci, who submitted this week’s blog post idea! Thanks Staci!

I recently wrote A Day in The Life of a Freelance Artist, which I’d recommend checking out before continuing on, if you haven’t read that yet.

This post is a continuation of my day in the life post, outlining how I structure my days and weeks to get things done. This has been a result of much trial and error throughout my seven years of freelancing.

Especially for beginning freelancers, I’d recommend first taking an honest look at your schedule to see where you can save yourself time. It’s important to free up space before structuring your time in a way that works for you. As humans, we tend to waste a lot of time on unnecessary things, if we aren’t intentional about how we spend our days.

Here are the best ways I’ve freed up time in my schedule:

1. I do all my shopping online. Stores are a time suck for me.

2. I hired someone to clean our house.

3. I hired someone to cut our grass.

4. I use food delivery services like Blue Apron and Daily Harvest. I also have a go-to list of healthy take out options for when we’re in a time crunch.

5. I say no A LOT. I only do social activities that I’m really excited about. I try to double these activities as art inspiration outings - trying fun new restaurants and museums with friends.

6. I never sacrifice sleep for work. If I’m tired, I just work slower, completely defeating the purpose of waking up early.

7. I wear essentially the same thing every day. I also don’t style my hair.

8. Lastly, I time everything I do and I think about ways to do it faster. I always weigh time spent versus benefits gained.

Now, on to how I structure my days, weeks, and months…

I Split Days into Mornings and Afternoons

I’m most productive and energized in the afternoon, so I save my mornings for the things that don’t require interaction with others. In the morning, I make my to-do list for the day, print Etsy orders, read my e-mails, and do blog posts/newsletters. I do all this in silence or with some relaxing music on. I never have morning meetings, and I try not to phone or text people until the afternoon. I try not to rush in the morning either. If I have too much craziness early on, it can put me in a bad mood and throw off the rest of my day.

After a lunch break and walk around noon, I’ll start answering e-mails and texts. I’ll have client calls and work on projects. I’ll also paint, because that takes a lot of creative energy. I’ll also work on big personal projects during this time. Because I’m doing tasks in the afternoon that require more energy, I try to take a lot of breaks so I don’t get burnt out. I typically do yoga around 2 or 3, because my brain feels pretty fried by then. As a goal, I try to step away from my work every hour, and I find I’m much more productive because of it. I also tend to make less stupid mistakes because my brain is refreshed.

I Batch Repeat Tasks by Weekday

When it comes to big initiatives that require regular time investments, this strategy has worked really well for me. I print and ship Etsy orders Monday and Thursday. I write blog posts on Tuesdays to post Wednesday. I use Friday as a housekeeping day to organize files and straighten up my studio (cleaning paint palettes and putting things away). This strategy has allowed me to follow through on things I spent years trying to make a habit. If you’re new to this concept, I recommend making a weekly checklist to hold yourself accountable. That usually works for me because it keeps the tasks top-of-mind.

I Try to Plan Bi-Weekly, Monthly and Quarterly

“Try” is the key word here. For some reason, I don’t have the long range goals completely figured out yet. It’s been a goal of mine for a while now to post bi-weekly YouTube videos. I just need to figure out a fast efficient way to get these filmed - especially with the chaos of having two dogs and a husband who works from home. At least that’s my current excuse.

I also used to send out a monthly newsletter, something I’m trying to get back to. My problem with the newsletter hasn’t been the monthly time commitment, but knowing what to say in the newsletter. Maybe another excuse :) The way I hope to accomplish these initiatives in the future is to create video and newsletter templates that make it easy to plug my content into. With myself, I’ve realized ease is key in keeping a habit. As I’m typing this, I’m also realizing that maybe I need to schedule these floating tasks into my weekly schedule, since that’s worked pretty well for me.

The only other thing I like to do monthly is set goals. I try not to be too aggressive with my monthly goals, but I like the idea of a check-in to make sure I’m on track within my business and personal life. These goals are usually pretty simple, like “change Etsy banner” or “clean downstairs closet.”