Google

Freelance Productivity: Do One Thing Extra Each Day


This may not sound like a big deal. But it's amazing how completing one extra task each day can quickly add up and make a difference.

Here's how it works for me...

Each day I look at my 'Today's Things To Do List'.

Oh yes, I have a list. Without it I would be lost. I schedule upcoming work. I list deadlines. I make notes of the people I should be calling or emailing. I look for the spare moments when I can write an article or two. I list all my personal and family commitments too.

>> And then I add one thing more

In addition to my daily list of things to do, I also have a general 'Needs to be Done' list. These are items that don't really have delivery dates or deadlines, but should get done.

Examples? Maybe a follow-up email to a company I worked for a while ago but haven't heard from since. Maybe a note to myself to get back to a happy customer and ask for a testimonial. Perhaps a reminder to myself to check out a particular website or new service. That kind of thing.

These are all things that are important, but not urgent.

>> Important, but not urgent

This is worth dwelling on for a moment. For many of us freelancers, our days and sometimes nights are filled with completing tasks that are urgent.

We have deadlines to meet. We have to get the work done.

And for most of us, we have only ourselves. No assistants or office managers to take care of the paperwork, administration and bookkeeping.

So we rush, rush, rush and feel that our day is complete once we have completed all of the urgent tasks.

>> Time for one more thing

But before you close down your computer, do that one extra thing. It's important.

Often that one final task will take just a few minutes. I'm not talking about spending another hour or two at your desk. I'm talking about tackling a non-urgent, but important task.

>> Will it make a difference?

Yes, it will. At the end of the month you will have completed 20-30 important things that otherwise would never have been done.

Perhaps just one of those things will lead to an extra contract.

Now keep this habit going month by month, year after year. If just one in fifty of these extra tasks completed leads to a new client or job, think of what that means in new income over the next few years.

>> Concluding thoughts...

There is no magic about doing one thing extra each day. It's just a simple, useful discipline and habit that could end up making a big difference to your future income.

Try it.

Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author and speaker. You'll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at http://www.FreelanceWritingSuccess.com

MORE RESOURCES:
RELATED ARTICLES
Time Management Lessons from a 3 Year Old
Zak is my three-year old godson. He is the apple of my eye along with his sisters Carley and Brenna.
The Myth of What We Manage
Perhaps it is merely semantics, but an underlying problem I find that people have as it relates to the success in their life lies in a proper understanding of what exactly it is that we manage. Think about it.
TIME, The Undervalued Resource
We are all born equal! We all have the same 24 hours in a day as Oprah Winfrey has the difference is how we choose to spend our time. No matter how you dissect this concept, there could only be 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds at any given 24.
Time: Do You Spend it or Invest it?
Time is our greatest and most precious asset. Time is the great equalizer of all us human beings.
Doing Things We Dread
As I sit here in front of the computer I am breaking through on something that I have been tolerating for weeks now? actually sitting down to write this newsletter.  I wasn't blocked for ideas - I had a list of them.
Time Well Spent
It is common knowledge that creating and living according to a financial budget is a requisite for fiscal health and well-being. Budgets enable allocation of resources according to priorities.
Vilfredo Paretos Principle: The 80-20 Rule: 80% of Results are Produced from 20% of Efforts
Vilfredo Pareto's Principle, or The "Pareto Principle," is more commonly known as the 80-20 rule. It suggests that a ratio of approximately 20% to 80% can be found as an effective measure for most things in life.
Mercury Retrograde and Time Management
The concept of Mercury Retrograde is very well known even among non-Astrologers.It is an excellent example of the use of Astrology as a planning tool.
Discover Your Procrastination Personality
Determine Your Procrastination PersonalityBrook Noel is the author of The Change Your Life Challenge: A 70 Day Life Makeover Program for Women. Learn more at www.
More Precious Than Gold
In this world there is something more precious than gold. Diamonds? No.
How to Conquer the Five Major Time Wasters?
* spreading yourself too thinTaking on too many things at once can hinder organization. Set specific priorities.
Effective Email and Verses Voicemail
Time management consultant Stephen Young claims that the average time consumed by an unplanned telephone call is 12 minutes, verses 7 minutes for a planned call. This represents five-minute savings every time you jot down some notes before dialing a number.
Handling Procrastination
"TIME CANNOT BE 'MANAGED.' THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF TIME MANAGEMENT IS A BIT OBSCURE.
Dont Forget To Take Time Out For You!
As mothers we play so many different roles and most of us don't take time off that we deserve. Just think about it we play doctor, cook, chauffeur, teacher, lawyer, and the occasional referee as well.
Find The Time -- Before Its Too Late!
People always seem to be in such a hurry, everywhere I go.  Always rushing to get to the next thing, as if someone is holding a stopwatch over their head, timing them to the second.
Put Yourself First
Are you too busy to put yourself first? If a plane loses oxygen pressure for any reason, oxygen masks will drop down from a small overhead compartment. If the oxygen masks come down in a plane and you have children, you are always advised to put yours on first before helping your children.
Reading -- 10 Ways to Find The Time
Why Read?It's been said that there are three kinds of knowledge:? What you know ? What you know that you don't know, and ? What you don't know that you don't know.What you know is an asset.
3 Ways To Do More With Less Time
We live in a world where more is expected of us every day.First there were fax machines, now email and cell phones.
Productivity at Home
Increased productivity, the ability to get more value for our time, our land, or our invested money, is as important at home as it is in the workplace. Let's consider the case of our imaginary friend Jane, and her grandmother.
The Ultimate Virtual Reality
I used to think video game addictions were a joke and I'd laugh anytime anyone compared it to crack but is it really that funny? Let's make some comparisons.? Crack consumes time that could have been invested more wisely - video games consume time that could have been invested more wisely.