When you're self-employed, you’re responsible for everything you do. From your finances to sourcing new clients for further income. You’re essentially the boss of yourself and therefore responsible for working in a productive manner.
While this works for some people, it’s not for everyone, which is why it’s important to check you are motivated to work hard for yourself when going self-employed.
There are certainly some tips to improve your productivity when self-employed. If you’re looking to better your efforts and be more productive in the day, here are some helpful tips.
Create a business plan to stay driven
Improving your productivity starts with a good business plan. Take a closer look at what your business plan looks like. Don’t have one? Then this is a good opportunity to cement your self-employed success by having a business plan in place.
Consider what you want to achieve from your business and how this translates over time. Are you looking to reach certain goals in three, five, or ten years time? Note all this down in your business plan because it’s this proactiveness that will help stay driven even during those months or years when your self-employed journey takes a little bit of a dive.
Assess your monthly finances
What are your finances looking like? When you’re self-employed, finances are a big part of your success and if they’re not looking great then this is likely going to weigh heavily on your mind. As a result, your productivity levels will probably take a dip because of it.
With that being said, it’s good to get a grip on your monthly finances so that you’re always comfortable when it comes to paying bills and your living costs in general. Of course, the cost of living has impacted many households across the world, so it might be that you need an emergency fund, just in case some months are a lot less profitable than others.
If you’re not someone who is typically skilled in handling financing, then it’s useful to perhaps do a basic course on personal/business finance. There are platforms that help handle your finances such as outgoings and expenses. At the very least, a spreadsheet would be enough to keep track of everything every month.
Set clear and realistic goals for the day
What are the goals for the day? It’s always good to have some direction when it comes to day-to-day tasks. Every day might look a little different to others, so it’s good to set yourself up with goals or tasks that you need to complete for that day or within the week itself.
Some might want to do it by breaking down tasks right down to an hourly basis, whereas others might just have a general list. It’s always worth doing the hard tasks first so that you get them out of the way. By getting the tough tasks out the way, you’re more likely to feel motivated and productive on a daily basis.
When setting goals, be aware of how complex they are. Some tasks could be a little too challenging for the amount of time you’ve set yourself to complete them. Remember to be mindful of this when you’re setting yourself goals on a daily basis.
Use technology to assist with all things business-related
Technology is something that has helped many businesses and self-employed individuals greatly with their workload. It’s led to a lot of success and it’s something that you should be embracing, despite perhaps having limited funds available to spend on some of these platforms or tools.
There are plenty of useful tools that are beneficial for self-employed individuals. For example, page manipulation software is useful for those who are dealing with a lot of PDFs, particularly if these are in the form of contracts between yourself and any clients.
Quickbooks is a good option for those who want to get control of their financing and cash flow, making it easier to manage when it comes to submitting tax returns.
There are also some great platforms for dealing with day-to-day tasks and collaborating with clients. For example, Asana and Slack are just two platforms to utilize.
Get rid of distractions
Distractions are something that can really impact your productivity when you’re self-employed. It’s necessary to get rid of these distractions so that you can have a more successful day in general.
For many self-employed individuals, their working day occurs within the home environment or a co-working space. These spaces are naturally more disruptive whether that’s from other businesses or individuals sharing the co-working space, or your own household members. Particularly so the little ones that are constantly knocking on your door for attention.
Whether it’s putting the kids in nursery, or sending them off to friends or family, there are ways to reduce the amount of distractions happening within your home or co-working space on a daily basis.
Split your time up into short blocks
When it comes to working productively, consider splitting your time up into short blocks. It’s something to be mindful of when you’re trying to be proactive with the time you have available.
Sometimes, you’re not always feeling productive and every day is different. It means that one day you might need a bit more motivation and encouragement. Splitting your time into short blocks makes those hard days more manageable.
These short blocks might be between 9am-11am, 11am-3pm and 3pm-6pm, for example. It’s a good way of splitting your time productively and making the days more efficient in general. These short blocks might not work for you, so experiment until you find something that’s perfect for your needs and working ways.
Delegate and outsource what’s taking up too much time
Delegating and outsourcing your tasks is something that can help massively when trying to get things done. If you find some of the tasks are becoming hard work or taking up too much of your time, then it might be worth outsourcing these duties.
With outsourcing, there are plenty of services out there that even a self-employed individual, will be able to afford. If you are responsible for staff, then delegating your work is going to help improve productivity more.
It’s good to take a look at what needs to take priority so that you can handle these tasks yourself. Anything else that’s become too monotonous or that perhaps is out of your remit, talent or skill-wise, is worth delegating or outsourcing to those who can do the work required.
Get your tax return in as soon as possible
Finally, when it comes to being self-employed, you need to fill in a tax return as soon as possible. Tax returns are essential to abide by the laws in place by the government.
Tax returns can feel like a complex and monotonous task, however, it’s one that you should be proactive in doing. Worrying about the tax return is going to take a knock on your productivity. You want to get the tax return in as early as possible, ideally from the first day of the new financial year.
It’s not good to wait until the last minute as this can certainly impact your well-being and stress levels. If you don’t fancy doing a tax return, then look at outsourcing this service to an accountant.
Improving your productivity is essential when it comes to being self-employed. Use these tips to ensure your productivity is at the best it can be so that you can continue to succeed in your career prospects.
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