Guide to Freelancing - PCG

Freelancers often complain about the fact that their workload is either feast or famine. After a
couple of years you will probably start to see some trends.
If you are overwhelmed with work, don‟t be afraid to say, “I can‟t fit it in now, however I could
start the project in three weeks‟ time”. If the client really wants to work with you, there is a good
chance they will agree. If a project mushrooms, don‟t be afraid to discuss an updated budget with
the client. If you state your case clearly, they are likely to agree and you will feel more motivated
to do a good job.
Schedule holidays, business planning and new business activities for the quieter periods and don‟t
be afraid to take the odd day off to re-charge your batteries. Some freelancers build time into their
schedule to do something completely different such as a training course or even voluntary work.
Variety helps you meet new people, which could lead to a new brief.
When you sit down to work, concentrate on one thing. Multi-tasking has been shown to be
counterproductive. A widely reported study by research firm Basex put a price tag on what they
termed the modern “attention deficit”, which, they estimate, consumes nearly a third of each
worker‟s productive day: “28 billion man-hours lost annually to unnecessary interruptions cost U.S.
businesses $650 billion per year.”
It‟s rare for anyone to be able to focus completely on one thing for more than 50 minutes, so it
makes sense to work in batches of 50 minutes, or less if you find your attention wandering.
Schedule five minute breaks in between and you should find you get more done.
Also, rather than wasting time trawling the internet for resources, use the PCG website, help-lines
and forum to answers your tax, legal and freelance/contracting related questions. Also, don‟t
forget you can download useful documents such as non-disclosure agreements, contract templates
and guides – saving you a lot of time and hassle.
“I have to make sure that I don‟t bite off more than I can chew, taking on
work that I can‟t deliver against. Conversely, it‟s important to keep
enough in the forward order book. When there‟s enough work coming in
and you can manage it, it‟s not stressful, but if it goes too far in either
direction it can get quite stressful – you learn to strike the right balance.”
Stuart Mealing, freelance contractor. Read Stuart‟s case study at
www.pcg.org.uk/join
Here are some suggested stages in the project lifecycle:
Nail down the brief before the project starts
Ask the client to send you a written brief outlining their end goal – the problem they need to solve.
The brief should include parameters such as deadlines, budget and responsibilities. Ask them to
convey the details they already know and also any areas of uncertainty. This encourages them to
adapt the brief as new information comes to light. If your client is very busy or is a new client, be
proactive and make it easier for them by offering to discuss the project over the phone and then
drafting the brief for them to adjust as required. It also helps keep momentum and increases the
chances of the project actually happening. This works particularly well for smaller projects -
smaller projects often lead to bigger briefs.
Copyright PCG September 2011 Guide to Freelancing Version 7.0 69