Organization is the key to success and boosted profits in many jobs, and for self-employed professionals like freelance writers, it is critical. This is the last article in a three part series that provides freelance writers like you with useful tips that will help you to better organize the most critical aspects of your job, which include project management, your work area, and your schedule. The first two articles explored organizational tips for your schedule and work area, and this article will provide you with important tips for project management.
Make a Plan. A freelance writer, you will likely have very few projects that can be completed within a few hours. Most projects will span across several days, weeks, or even months. On top of that, you likely will be working on multiple projects at the same time. You want to ensure that each project progresses smoothly so that you don’t find yourself rushing to meet deadlines at the last minute. Rushing to meet deadlines only serves to create stress and stifle efficiency and creativity. You will enjoy greater efficiency and greater profits in your job when you make a project management plan or work calendar that takes you through completion on your current projects, and that marks when major milestones should be met for each project.
Proceed with Baby Steps. With your project management calendar in hand, you will be able to see far ahead of time when deadlines are approaching, if multiple deadlines or project milestones will occur around the same time, and how you should be progressing with your work. Such a calendar is key to planning your daily and weekly schedule, which was discussed in the first article in this series. With your calendar, you can determine how much or how little you need to work on certain projects during a given period of time.
Juggling Multiple Projects. When you have multiple projects in the works at the same time, it can often be difficult to decide which project or projects to work on. Often, this may be resolved by which projects you most feel like working on at a given time, but unfortunately working on projects just because you feel like it rather than doing work that needs to be done is a surefire way to end up cramming for to meet deadlines. The key to organizing project management is to keep up with your plan, referring back to it on a regular basis to ensure your projects are proceeding according to schedule. This way, if you find that you are falling behind on a project, you have plenty of time to get back up to speed before deadlines approach.
Project management is perhaps the most difficult aspect of freelance writing for very busy freelance writers. On one hand, it’s great that you are so busy and have more work than you know what to do with. On the other hand, you will need to make a project management plan and take time to keep up with your plan if you want to ensure that all deadlines are met on time. Meeting deadlines while also allowing yourself plenty of time to do quality work on each project is key to ensuring your clients are satisfied with your work, and this in turn is key to maximizing your profits as a freelance writer.
