100 ways to work smarter, not harder

by Leo Wiles
11 July 2014

There are only 24 hours in a day and a thousand ways to use them as a writer, PR, journo or other creative.  So if you’re anything like me and need to achieve the same results in less time here are some ideas.

1. Stop playing email badminton and just call

2. Turn up the oxygen with an early morning walk and breakfast

3. Write about subjects your already familiar with thus saving time in the trenches researching, fact checking, finding interviewees etc.

4. Practice saying no to poorly paid work or pushy clients that  make your life hell

5. Be ahead of the curve – see the industry changes and reinvent yourself accordingly – e.g. I went to J-school to learn how to make videos and take photos when I realised visual content is where content is headed

6. Stick to the word count – you’re being paid for 750 words so write 750 not 950

7. Post-it-note JUST three things you have to achieve today and do them

8. Jump start your day by writing your post-it before you ‘leave the office’

9. Reduce perfectionism and enhance professionalism but spending your time on what matters rather than dithering over a sentence that ends up being spiked in the final edit

10. Dress for success and ditch the PJs to put your mind in the right frame for knuckling down

11. Invest regular time understanding how you work so that you can iron out the kinks and work smarter

12. Shift gears and realise that writing is a craft and freelancing IS a business – appologies to regular readers but I may have this chiselled on my tombstone – I’m that adamant

13. Create a work space, even if it’s the space under the stairs as ‘going’ to work helps mentally shift to work mode

14. Social Media and online profiles are living documents that need to reflect your future as well as current persona

15. Schmooze without booze at network opportunities handing out your card and making connections with your local Small Business Network, Women in Business, Chamber of Commerce, MEAA drinks etc.

16. Pick subjects and stories that interest you and use that energy to propel you into conducting a great interview and writing it up with flair instead of taking twice as long

17. Choose quality over quantity by focusing on the higher yielding tasks that will make a difference to your income

18. ALWAYS get a brief – if you didn’t understand it then you need to ask more/better questions and then when it feels like it could be a tricky situations regurgitate so that you’re both clear on what’s expected

19. We’re all creatures of habit but from time to time it may be worth checking in and asking yourself am I taking the long route or is there a short cut e.g. I used to transcribe EVERY word – now I write from my notes  and only check recordings if something’s potentially contentious

20. Outsource transcribing or other tasks such as bookkeeping or cleaning that take you away from your money earning skills and can be presented as a tax deduction thanks to your home office

21. Retain regular repeat business rather than constantly searching for new clients

22. Recapture lost time by checking your Flipboard reading when waiting for the bus, barista, toast to pop etc.

23. Write before opening your email that way you won’t get sidetracked

24. Say no to unnecessary meetings or have an agenda to stay on point rather than wasting time waffling

25. Track your invoices (I use Excel) dating the entries of when you issued your invoice (I always attach it with sent copy), any need for a reminder and finally date of payment

26. You snooze you lose, wake earlier – the more billable hours your have the more money you can potentially make

27. Keep your work station ready for lift off by keeping on top of physical and digital filing saving you time in the long run when you desperately need that stat, fact, contact, whatever

28. Do what you hate first – it will stop you procrastinating and help streamline your time management

29. Collaborate instead of stumbling around in the dark reach out to other freelancers, in forums, through LinkedIn or here on Rachel’s List, and find out how they overcame the challenge you’re facing

30. Look back and celebrate your wins over the past week, month, year to provide confidence that this week will be even better – no major wins?  then use these failures as a chance to learn

31. Find good sources /experts and keep them to hand rather than hours searching for new ones

32. Stop chewing your nails over a pitch where you’re waiting to hear back, move on to the next one

33. Watch the clock or set a timer such as Pomodoro and give yourself 25 minute slots for each task like taming email

34. Target better paying clients,perhaps in content and corporate sectors

35. Carry a notebook and pen and never lose another great idea again

36. Break challenging work down into manageable chunk so that it doesn’t seem insurmountable

37. Housekeeping is when you have a place for everything and everything in its place reducing wasted search time

38. Block out the world with Mac Freedom a $10 program for PC / Mac users that blocks the Internet for a set time

39. Go nigh-nighs before 12 – each hour before is as beneficial as sleeping two after

40. Roadmap longer articles in bullet points so that you can easily refer to the milestones you need to tell your story  rather than get half way through, run out of gas and wonder where the hell you were going anyway

41. Invest in yourself by shoring up skill weaknesses e.g. would you benefit from a small business course to handle your books better or a short course on marketing, social media or perhaps copywriting…

42. Clock off – long hours into the wee hours may leave you feeling stressed resentful and unable to achieve anything of note the next day compounding the stress and making it really easy to yell at the kids and kick the cat

43. Know your prime time to write and guard it

44. Swap your hourly rate for a flat fee when a client presumes a job is going to take ten hours and you’re confident you’ll turn it around in five

45. Protect your firewall and keep security up to date – if your PC falls over so will your ability to work

46. Act, file or bin an idea, piece of post, brochure, business card rather than adding it your in-tray for later pile otherwise you’ll find yourself in the same situation when you reach for it in a months time

47. Create a deadline that’s a day before the due date, there’s nothing like under promising and over delivering for a great working relationship

48. Classify your contacts to speed up pitching to the right genre editors

49. Take a break every hour to reinvigorate yourself physically and mentally

50. Negotiate a higher fee /hourly rate without blushing

51. Avoid project creep by taking time to work out how long a project will really take

52. Create an online portfolio complete with cuts rather than wasting upload time each pitch

53. Turn lunch into coffee catch ups

54. Reduce the number of urgent and important tasks you have to do by ensuring they remain in the not urgent but important OR urgent but not important, neither urgent nor important categories to minimise adrenal burn out

55. Stop surfing and set up Google alerts with your key areas of interest

56. Spring clean your desktop so that your mind isn’t distracted wandering between open applications

57. Be unavailable – urgent emails and phone calls 24,7 are often only urgent to the person making them

58. Spot the time wasting by logging your hour-to-hour tasks for a fortnight then act accordingly

59. Ignore the phone when you’re on a roll

60. No more caffeine hits after lunchtime

61. Broaden your horizons by leveraging what you know into other areas i.e. are you a food writer and/or reviewer who could become a stylist, caterer, photographer, panellist, book editor, speaker, author or teacher who shows others how to cook or write about food

62. Say no to family and friends who ask you to write for free as it reduces your availability to find paid work

63. Write first,  fill in the gaps later to protect the flow or as Ernest Hemmingway said; ‘Write drunk, edit sober’

64. Keep up-to-date on vital information and  content, on up to 60 sites, with Pulse

65. Avoid interruptions from family and friends by letting them know you’re on deadline

66. Deploy the four Ds when it comes to emails: Do it, Delegate it, Defer it or Delete it!

67. Bookkeep weekly instead of yearly – not only will it give you a greater understanding of how you’re really fairing it will save time scrabbling through a shoebox of receipts and invoices come tax time

68. Establish a work ritual to settle your mind and prepare for a productive day ahead

69. Don’t get bogged down in detail – how many times have you begun researching something only to disappear like Alice down a www rabbit hole?  Me? Guilty as charged

70. Type as you interview instead of wasting hours transcribing

71. Design a business card that presents you as a professional of note rather than losing a contact because of hastily scribbled details on the back of a coaster

72. Turn off the TV and be dazzled by how many more hours you gain

73. Track your billable hours with the app Toggl which for $5/month will send you a weekly report

74. Make money while you sleep with a designated www to showcase your wares

75. Hit save and back up regularly – eat bran for the other back up

76. Set your alarm, wake up and write before the daily distractions drag you away

77. Kick writers block to the kerb by simply hammering out the words in freefall until they flow

78. Check your email inbox at staggered intervals rather than every time it pings

79. Regularly audit your skill base then research online, part-time, night or day courses at a local Writer’s Centre, TAFE or University accordingly

80. Take time out between the final draft and polish to regain fresh eyes

81. Create templates for all the regular missives and invoices you send

82. Keep all calls short and on topic rather than leaning in for a hot gossip

83. Have a plan – know your goals and they steps you’ll need to get there i.e. research, questions, interview, write draft, polish, deliver, invoice

84. Stop worrying about things you have no control over

85. Don’t multi-task hone in on the task at hand

86. Decide to be happy as internal negativity, like external emotional vampires, can get in the way of your success

87. Leave work at work because being tired and burnout means being less productive the following day

88. Create a flexi schedule i.e. Monday – pitch, follow up leads, write blog, schedule social media posts, Tuesday – secure interviews, research, spend time on marketing myself, Wednesday – interviews, transcribe, write drafts, Thursday – polish and fact check, Friday – deliver stories, send invoices brainstorm new opportunities, network

89. Upgrade your internet connection and any other technology such as old software that’s slowing you down

90. Know when to ask for help rather than keep beating your head against the wall because you can’t locate the perfect expert, lost a file etc.

91. Listen more than you talk when brokering a deal to find out what the potential employers problem areas are so that you can offer a well thought-out solution

92. Just start – beginning a task can be the biggest hurdle so consciously sit down and start typing, it will start to take shape before you know it

93. Track your pitches with excel columns denoting story idea, outlets pitched to – name of contact date sent, dates that you followed up and notes then on the outcome

94. Write faster and insert XXX when you need to fact check – the reason I use triple X is so that it will always show up in spellcheck and not slip by unnoticed

95. Work on your business not just in the business to achieve your ultimate goals

96. Be your own cheerleader by taking time out to flip through some recent work you are your proud of.  Doing so can create a great mindset helping you achieve your next goal, such as cold calling a new client

97. Quit brainstorming, procrastinating or picking your teeth and start working

98. Say no to projects you couldn’t care less about, ignore this if your next meal option is another bowl of cereal

99. Block out your calendar with the big jobs and know you will still brush your teeth, walk the dog etc.

100. To err is human to forgive divine so instead of beating yourself up over yesterday’s lacklustre performance learn, lean in and move on

Anything to add? We’d love you to share in the comments!