Freelancing pretty much defines lack of control: We don’t directly control when we get assignments, how much money we make, and even when we get paid. It certainly gets frustrating at times, and can lead to a lack of motivation and, ultimately, burnout.
A few years ago I wrote a post called How to Gain Control Over Your Freelancing Life, which included several ways to control your work and your workday.
Since writing that post — which is one of the most popular ones I’ve ever written — I’ve come to realize that even if our freelancing life is objectively going well, if we feel out of control in other areas of our life, it will leak over into our work life.
The “broken window” theory says that when a neighborhood has a house with a broken window that the owners neglect to fix, it starts to attract vandalism and other crime; people assume no one cares, so they treat it that way. The same thing happens in our lives: We let bills and laundry pile up, we skip out on exercise and binge on mint chocolate chip ice cream, we put off getting the car inspected — and suddenly, our freelance writing work becomes out of control too. (Or, really, it just feels out of control, because our perspective has shifted that way.)
So…I’ve come up with 7 more ways to gain control over your freelancing life — most of which don’t actually have anything to do with work!
1. Clean something — anything!
Recently I had several (too many!) article deadlines, and I started freaking out. Sources weren’t getting back to me, one article required me to reference a book I couldn’t find, and tasks on my to-do list were mounting. So what did I do?
I cleaned out the pantry.
Even if I can’t control when sources get back to me, I can at least control my own pantry. Out went the expired Annie’s Bunny Pasta with Cheese. Out went all meat products, since we’re now vegetarians. What was left, I organized nicely.
Suddenly, my workload seemed a lot more manageable. Just knowing that one area of my life was unarguably under control helped me feel more in control of my work. Remember, a lot of feeling out of control is just that — a feeling. If you can shift your perspective with some quick cleaning, the problem is solved.
So pick one small thing and clean, organize, or polish it. Clean out your junk drawer, organize your clothes closet, go through your stack of mail and toss the junk, scrub the coffee stains from your mugs, or even clean up your computer desktop.
2. Don’t check e-mail first thing in the morning.
Checking e-mail as soon as your eyes open in the morning is a good recipe for a frazzled day. You wake up, and instantly you’re on call and responding to other people’s emergencies.
I’ve found that when I hold off on checking e-mail in the morning, even for only an hour, it sets a calm, controlled tone for the rest of my workday. In that first hour I may have breakfast, enjoy a cup of tea, read a book, or play with my son before he goes off with my husband or my mom.
Afraid you’ll miss something important? Me too. But when I hold off on e-mails, I find that when I finally do check, none of the e-mails waiting for me are all that urgent.
3. Create a “What I Got Done” list.
Recently I posted about the value of keeping a
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