Working Without a Set Schedule

 

Background

Perhaps you are a freelancer, studying for a test, or have flexibility in when you work. That sounds great at first, but your work may engulf your whole life—or perhaps the opposite, you will procrastinate getting started all the time and not actually do any work.

The purpose of this post is to talk about some of the techniques I used when I needed to set my own schedule. For me, this mostly relates to my time studying for the CPA exam, but I think a lot of it could be applied to a freelancer as well.

Setting a Schedule

First, designate time that you will spend working on your craft. This also means assigning a time you will stop working as well. For me, when I was studying for the CPA exam, I said I would stop studying by 5 p.m. to cook dinner and relax. So, I spent the time from when I woke up until 5 p.m. studying, with a break for lunch.

One thing you may want to understand is if you are a morning person. Personally, I am not. I am pretty groggy and not so attentive in the morning. So, I liked to start with some easier work to get me started—something I could accomplish without too much effort that would help me get on the right track for the day. I waited until late morning or early afternoon to tackle my bigger and trickier problems. If you are a morning person, you might want to reverse that. Start with your big problem first and dive right in. Ultimately, you need to find the system that works best for you.

I suppose you have to be careful starting with easier tasks, as you might avoid the hard tasks and just keep doing the easy ones. When I am writing, I sometimes use this to my advantage. If I can't write on my current work in progress, maybe I can write on one of my other works. Ultimately, though, I only have a bunch of half-finished books to show for it now.

Once you set a schedule, stick to it. Be prepared to tell people, "No, I can't do that right now"—hold to your guns. That also means when it's time to stop, you stop. During my studies, I also took light days on the weekend, only studying a little bit or reading a bit of the textbook. I think it can be good to take a break.

That being said, with studying it was fairly easy to keep a schedule. When it comes to creative work, I had a much harder time. I have difficulty being creative and writing on demand. Sometimes the best I can do is get myself into the right mental space and hope my creativity does the rest. For example, I'm writing the first draft of this piece at 1 a.m., because that often is when I get creative ideas. For me to get into an idea now, I have to think about a real problem I could solve.

In addition to thinking about a problem, I also attempted to do some writing earlier in the day. I think the combination of having a problem in mind and trying to be creative earlier in the day helped me get in the headspace to work on a solution later. It was in the moments where I was trying to sleep and not thinking about anything in particular that the answer struck me. For me, this is fairly common. When actively thinking about a problem, there is only so much you can do. But if you put your inactive mind to the task, it can also accomplish a lot for you. It is just trickier using your inactive mind, as it may be more difficult to control.

Removing Distractions

If you are prone to distraction, you might benefit from some tools, like limiting when you can access certain websites or limiting your social media usage. The world is designed to steal your attention away (not to get all "Social Dilemma"-esque on you). Ideally, you will just have an iron will, which is a skill you can develop over time, but until then, maybe some of these tools can help.

If you are like me, you might be tempted to look at every notification on your phone and every email as it comes in. Well, don't. Move your phone so it can't distract you. You might want to consider looking at your email strategically throughout the day. Do it in batches two or three times a day, or whatever number works for you. Lots of people have differing opinions on how this could be done. Tim Ferriss has a section in The 4-Hour Workweek about this kind of stuff; it is worth a read.

Setting the Environment

It can be hard to work if there is noise, a smell, or other external stimuli that distract you. It reminds me of trying to work in a coffee shop in Palo Alto; it was so loud and the coffee smell was so strong that I couldn’t focus at all. Try to remove these distractions if possible. If you live with others, try to explain your schedule to them and ask for their help in honoring it. You also may benefit from noise-canceling headphones or, depending on your work, listening to some calming music.

If possible, it can also be beneficial to work in a different physical place from where you relax. This association can make it hard to do either if you do both in the same place. I realize this might be hard; I haven't really been able to do it, and it is one of the reasons I think working in a physical office is good for me in some ways. You can at least try to mentally put yourself in a position to work.

Another idea is to add some variety to your schedule. With the CPA exam, I watched lectures, worked multiple-choice questions, read my textbook, brought flashcards with me everywhere, took practice exams, and more. I did a few different things each day and tried to mix it up.

With writing, sometimes it is easier for me to start by doing some editing first if I can't be creative enough to start on an original piece. Sometimes I find it is easier to write on my phone as well—at least for some quick thoughts to be used in a rough draft. I think the change in muscle usage can help. If you are writing, you could even try dictation. I have no basis in science for this, but I think speaking your thoughts out loud uses a different part of your brain than typing them out. Perhaps this change will help you! It's worth a shot.

Create Motivation

Another way to help is to create external pressure. When I had an exam date for my test, everything was real at that point. And I had money on the line, too. If I failed, I would have to retake the test and pay out of pocket. Not that I necessarily recommend it, but I have heard of people giving a friend or relative money and asking them to only return it if they met certain conditions. If they don't, the holder of the money keeps it.

At the very least, you can set a deadline for yourself and work to keep it. Perhaps you can even give yourself a reward for meeting your goals. It could be small—like taking a quick break or eating a candy bar after a task—or going out to dinner when you meet a larger goal. Just a little something fun to help motivate you.

Summary

I think the biggest takeaway is: don't give up. Your attention and focus is a muscle—a skill. It takes hard work to get better at staying on task, but it is something you can improve over time. Don't worry if you get distracted a lot on the first day; just keep trying and find what works for you.