Managing Your Schedule

Freelancers sell time. It is imperative that you learn to assess workloads accurately, and that you always know how much of your time is already sold.

Figure 2.8.1 is based on the author's actual yearly schedule. (The numbers are fictitious.) Several columns indicate the number of hours spent and future time allocated to various projects. The most important columns, however, are the one indicating the time left in each upcoming week, and the one indicating the percentage of the year's expected income generated to date. With a tool like this, if a client calls on July 15th to offer a 25-hour assignment, it is obvious that delivery can be promised by August 9th (or a little later if some time must be set aside for other expected assignments). It is also good to know whether you are slightly ahead on your financial objectives.

Figure 2.8.1: Sample schedule.

Scheduling Flexibility

In addition, you should maintain a detailed two-week schedule in electronic form on your computer. (Paper won't do, because you will have to update it frequently.) The reason for this is that when a client calls, odds are he'll want to schedule a meeting or hand you a short assignment immediately; the two-week schedule lets you determine if and when that will be possible.

Vacation

Don't be afraid to go away if you want to. Most jobs can wait: in four years, this author has lost only about 10 hours' worth of assignments because of vacation-related unavailability. The period between December 15 and January 15 is always a good choice, as clients who shut down for the holidays won't assign anything urgent immediately before or after. Summertime might be a different matter: companies that must ship titles for Christmas might need a lot of help.