New year is not new year without resolutions, both personal and professional.
2020 was memorable for all the wrong reasons and its high time we put it very firmly behind us and look ahead with as much positivity as we can muster for the year ahead with our top 5 new year resolutions for freelancers.
1. Get on top of your admin
Admin is something we are all happy to let slip but losing control of things like folder management, files and email backups, expenses and the like, can be a downward spiral. It might not sound like a problem, but when the time comes to finding something specific, perhaps for your tax return (the deadline for which is looming), it can sometimes take hours to find what you need, when, with proper admin, it should take just moments.
Our first top tip is get your admin in order and stay on top of it to avoid potential headaches later.
2. Give your website polish
Your website is your shop window and most likely the first impression a potential client will get of you. Is it up to date? Does it have fresh content? Is it search engine optimised. Time spent on your website is an investment so perhaps set aside a day to review and update it. Perhaps get a friend to have a look at it and give you their impartial feedback, what might be perfectly clear to you, might be confusing to a first time visitor to the site.
If you have time it might be worth checking out the websites of your competitors to judge how yours measures up and what improvements you could make.
3. Boost your skillset
When did you last prioritise personal and career development? Chances are, its been too long. Staying atop the freelancer game requires consistently brushing up on your skills and developing new ones. With in-person seminars still off the agenda there are plenty of online courses and webinars available. Perhaps if you have some downtime you could even complete a short qualification to boost your your skillset and broaden your offering.
4. Make health a priority
Health, both physical and mental, has been at the core of everything in 2020 and hopefully you have already had the opportunity to take stock of how critical this is to both your personal and professional life. If you are still putting your work before your health then its time to stop. Taking time to take care of yourself can only benefit your work in so many ways in the long run, be it improved concentration levels, fewer sick days or increased productivity.
A healthy work-life balance isn’t just about taking time out to go for a run or practise yoga, just as important is your mental health in addition to your diet.
5. Automate anything which can be automated
Time is too precious for it to be wasted on tasks which can very easily be automated. There are tools for invoicing, scheduling appointments, creating proposals, paying bills, gathering data and so much more. Check out that apps might make your life easier and free up valuable time for something else, perhaps the aforementioned time for you.
Posted by Julie Tucker
Image credits: Zatevahins/Shutterstock.com & Deagreez via iStock