Continuing with our last post which looks at ways to manage your time effectively as a freelance translator, we’re including some more tips to maximize your time efficiency. The following items are designed to help freelancers with task management.
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Task management can be a tricky thing, and begins with organization. One thing that can either hurt or help is organization software. This is something that many people try out, only to end up back in the same place of too much to do and too little time to do it. Software tools such as Swift-To-Do List Professional, for example, offer a valuable service, but only if your workload justifies it. If emails from clients wondering when you will finish a project are what remind you that there is a project, then having a tool to organize your jobs with deadlines may be a good idea. Then again, if you’re able to mentally keep track of your assignments, or use some other method of documenting them, then using another software tool could just take up more of your time.
An often overlooked way to be a more efficient freelancer is to de-clutter — not only physically, but mentally as well. Mental de-cluttering requires a certain amount of compartmentalization; that is, separating relevant thoughts and activities from those that are not related to work, and saving the latter for another time and place. A clutter-free physical environment can also go a long way in minimizing distractions and helping you stay focused on the task at hand. So don’t forget to clean and organize your work space, too.
And finally, task management — even for a freelance translator — does not have to be a solo endeavor. Knowing when it’s time to seek collaboration can make all the difference in effectively managing a heavy workload or completely losing control of it. And since it’s not always easy to predict when a little help will be needed last-minute, staying in touch with other translators that you’ve worked with and keeping those professional contacts could end up being a wise decision for your business.
