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Work Hours While Self-Employed
TarnishedWit Education and Career DK30 Fall 2021 1 1
Description
Having moved quite a few times, I’m not in a position to go into an office to do my work anymore. As a result, I have been inconsistent about what hours in my day should be dedicated to work in order to keep my primary client happy. For the moment, assuming 20hr/wk, M-F, find a consistent 4 hours to spend on work.
Recent Updates
Week one is in the books, and… well I could use better books, as well. The basic idea works, I think. Having regular hours that I am dedicated to working is helpful. That said, I’m struggling with consistency. There are a handful of hours over the last week that were not productive despite being in my normal working block, and today I was barely productive for an hour and a half of my slated 5 hours.
Part of the difficulty is the speed with which some tasks are completed. Today, for instance, I completed my current tasks quickly, but once new work arrived, I could not transition back into a work state, despite only waiting without work for 15 minutes or so. Those few minutes were enough of a difficulty that starting a new project from scratch was incredibly difficult. Tomorrow morning, I expect there to be no difficulty and I can start the job readily. Long story short, I need to know ahead of time the kinds of work I am going to be doing that day, and that can be a problem with the way I’m currently interfacing with my clients. Having a clear Intake pile is not good for me.
As an ancillary part of that, it would be better for me to have work that could carry me past noon, so that I am not calling clients too early asking for more work. It’s manageable for now, but not tenable when I know that I’m calling right at the beginning of their day. That said, I like the idea of 10-3, mainly because it leaves me time in the day to enjoy recreation afterward. Early morning recreation doesn’t feel right to me, and evening recreation is too late for my mind. The working hours seem fundamentally right, provided I get a snack in there to keep my mind focused, as well.
Finally, as a new bit of a week 2 goal, I need to put together a better invoicing system. The journal I use to take notes should not be the only place I record my time, and having something maintainable that I can submit formalizes my work and is another mechanism to keep me accountable, as I can look at what percentage of my work time is considered billable and determine if I’m using my time efficiently.
Estimated Timeframe
Oct 12th - Nov 9th
Week 1 Goal
Pick a reasonable time slot to test what hours I should be available for calls, emails, etc. Is this time contiguous with actual “working” hours? Given my time zone (EDT) and the time zone of my most talkative client (PDT), at what point should I “open my doors?” While working on this, finish my current job and begin looking at the newest one.
Week 2 Goal
Having (hopefully) determined my optimal schedule from the prior week, test those hours this week, aiming for 4-5 hours a day on work, with maybe 1.5 of those being available to communicate with the clients about the work. The remaining hours will be solitary working time. This is the week to start developing the habit of “going to work every day.”
Week 3 Goal
Analyze! How is everyone responding to my availability? Am I putting out work at a reasonable pace? Do I feel like this is a good change from how I’m used to working? Is my setup working for me, or do I need to change the physical workspace somehow? Can I think about taking on more hours? At minimum, continue working the schedule until you have the answers you need. Build the habit of the workday. By this point, consider how early you can have the newest job in, this being your second week with it.
Week 4 Goal
Final look. Mostly the same as week 3, hopefully with any major problems sorted out. How comfortable is this now? Is it something that can be considered for the long term? Finalize what is considered “billable time” if it is outside my normal hours.
