A dull, simple, easy system for freelancers to stay focused every day
Staying focused as a freelancer is tough. The only constant in your life is change. Even with ongoing clients, you’ll rarely have two identical days.
Then you realize perhaps the most daunting thing of all: as a freelancer, you are every role. You’re the CEO, head of sales, head of delivery, head of accounts payable and receivable, and more.
The solution is not to run through complicated programs or simply ‘hustle’ through it. Instead, freelancers should build a system that is so boring it forces you to be productive without even trying. I mean it. Boring works, if you let it.
Here’s the dull, simple, easy system I built for myself as a freelancer. It’s helped me be more productive, focus on key work each day, and improve the profitability of my business significantly.
When I started as a freelancer, I didn’t have a system in place. It sucked. My business hobbled along but wasn’t really going anywhere. When I developed this system, things started to change. Why? Because it’s simple. It’s one email a day. That’s it. I know it sounds weird, but it really works.
Step 1: Send yourself an email
Open up a new email draft each morning, addressing it to yourself. Write out four categories in all caps:
RUN THE BUSINESS
GROW THE BUSINESS
EARNING (CLIENT WORK)
PERSONAL
In each category, write out the tasks you must complete that day.
For example, you may need to send invoices for a client (“run the business”). Or you want to pitch a journalist from HARO (“grow the business”). In client work, write down anything you need to get done for clients that day - whether that’s a whole task (e.g. “Write a blog post for Client X”) or just a part of a bigger task (e.g. “Analyze SEO keywords for Client X to prep for content strategy”).
What’s important is to only put what you need to get done that day. Otherwise, this list becomes daunting.
Note: you can do more than what’s in this list. This is about focusing on your key priorities. It helps you choose between tasks, it helps you refocus if you get distracted, and it helps you think about your days more consciously.
Over time, you might notice the same tasks popping up either daily or at regular intervals. For example, I check HARO every day to see if there’s a journalist I can pitch for a story. It’s one small task (takes about 5 minutes) but it ensures that I am doing just a bit of growth every day. It’s landed me features in American Express Magazine, Influecive, and more over the years.
Having the “growth” section also allowed me to carve out time to write my book, The 50 Laws of Freelancing. Because of this system, I was able to write the book in under three months.
Personal tasks are explicitly included here because freelancers need to manage their lives just like anyone else. I try to go for a walk every day, but some days that list may also include things like a dentist appointment. During the time I was doing a meditation challenge, I listed “Meditate” every day in my personal priorities list.
Step 2: Respond and cross out
This is the fun step, in my opinion. Every time you complete a task, respond to the email creating a thread. Except cross out the task you completed.
This process does three helpful things:
It provides a visual aid to show you how much progress you’ve made each day.
It provides an easy visual reference if you get distracted. Just open the email and see what’s left to do.
Responding to the thread every time you complete a task keeps the email at the top of your inbox throughout the day, helping keep your priorities top of mind.
Power to the day
The reason why this system is so powerful is two-fold:
The categories are timeless.
The actions are daily.
The key to success is not about fancy programs, but things that remove the necessity for you to think it through. With this one email a day, it becomes a habit - get coffee, write email, then start work. You don’t have to think. And let’s be real: as a freelancer, any time we just get to do work instead of thinking about it is a major win.
