How to Increase The Productivity of Freelancers

You are working like a horse all the day, yet you are unable to achieve the desired outcomes. Every freelancer goes through this situation once in a lifetime. It seems that you are giving your 100% effort but all your hard work is vanishing into thin air. You are unable to achieve the required work outcomes. This prevents you from charging higher rates. Have you ever tried to find out the reason of these issues? It is neither fantasy nor a Harry Potter movie. The primary reason is that you don’t even realize the amount of time wasted every day due to an untidy workspace. Yes, you heard it right! The workspace contributes a lot towards your productivity. Let us talk about how to increase the productivity of freelancers by considering suitable modifications in the office space.

Aesthetics Matters

Your workspace should be decorated beautifully. It should be appealing and visually pleasing to the eyes. You can put some decorative plant or add a hue of color to your workspace. You can also add some personalized touches. You can place a photo of your family. You can also keep your accolades and awards at your workspace. This would make you visualize your own achievements. A positive feeling drives the performance of the freelancer.

Prioritize Tasks

A well organized workspace would surely increase your productivity levels. Every task is not equal. There are important tasks, urgent tasks, not so urgent tasks and not so important tasks. You should have a clear idea regarding the level of importance of each task. You should arrange your tasks in the order of importance so that you can identify which tasks should be done first. This is a sure shot formula of increasing the productivity of a freelancer by eliminating the not so important and not so urgent tasks.

Labels and Colors Matter

No one wants to work in a dirty and messy workspace. You will find yourself in a chaotic situation every morning. You won’t find your important documents easily and you spend half of your time searching for them. This situation can be avoided by proper color coded labeling of your office space. It would take some time of yours but it would be very helpful in the long run. Properly labeled shelves, bins, folders and drawers also increase the enthusiasm of doing work. Sorting and finding your important documents becomes easier. The risk of losing important files and documents also gets eliminated.

Reset your Workspace

It is natural that your workspace would be disorganized at the end of the day. It is a common sight at a freelancer’s work space. However, do not leave the desk in such a condition. Take some time to organize your desk after you finish off your work. You will be greeted by a clean workspace the next day you come back to your work desk.

Pay Attention to Storage

The storage of documents is of utmost importance. Placing your documents in folders is an outdated concept. You should place your documents in a clear bag for better visibility. Retrieval of documents would be easy and you would save significant amount of time. You can also label the clear bags for easy segregation of important documents. Storage boxes are also a good idea that would help you be organized. You should use appropriate boxes based on your requirements. Plastic containers, cardboard boxes, stationary boxes and drawers may be good ideas for storage.

Organize your Digital Systems

The contents of your digital systems such as desktops, laptops and tablets are equally important. Clumsy and haphazard folders as well as files divert your attention. This lowers your productivity levels. Your work should be well organized into different folders. Remember the last time your client wanted a particular file and you took almost 2 hours to figure out the exact location of the file. Such wastage of time reduces your productivity levels. Delete all the files, folders, software, pictures, audio you do not require. Make separate folders for similar kinds of work. You can also utilize digital sticky notes for ease of work.

Say No to Email Notifications

Emails are a great source of distraction faced by almost all the freelancers. You must be getting all the notifications in your laptop or smartphone instantly when it reaches the inbox. This breaks your focus and you are unable to concentrate on your work. Do you know that it takes approximately 66 seconds to recover after you check an email notification? You must be aware of the number of emails you receive per day. Just calculate the number of hours which get wasted in a day due to email notifications. The best idea is to turn off the notifications and check your emails after specific time intervals. This saves a considerable chunk of your valuable time.

Take Breaks

Being workaholic is a good option for freelancers, but it has certain backlogs too. The human body is unable to produce optimum results after fixed periods of time. This is the reason why most offices work for 8 to 10 hours. Take short breaks from your work. You will be amazed to see your increased levels of productivity. Go out to your favorite coffee shop, run on a treadmill, read your favorite magazine or simply take a power nap. Once you come back to work, you will be amazed to see your increased focus on work.

Choose Desk Items Clearly

The contents of your work desk should be properly planned. Get rid of all the junk items from your workspace. Keep only the items you require on a regular basis. For example, computer, phone, notepad, monitor, essential supplies, should be present on your desk. The items should be accessible to you. Unplanned positioning of the items would invite trouble in times of need. Studies indicate that people spend an hour per day to search for important documents in their workspace. This time can be used productively if there is proper management of your work desk.

Hidden Treasures

You must be eager to give a clean look to your workspace. Think something innovative! You can use a cable organizer like Pegboard for skillful concealing of the routers, cables, modems and other equipments behind your desk. You can also utilize magnets to mount your various supplies. The basic idea is to give a neat and clean look to your workspace.