It’s important to learn how to manage your freelancing workload better. The fact that you run a consultancy doesn’t mean that you should take all responsibilities. No, you should learn when to stop and do something different. Otherwise, you could expose yourself to health risks that eventually make you incapable of working or putting in the required level of productivity. Doing the same thing for a long time may just drain you and you may not achieve much as a freelancer.
It’s possible to manage your time and probably stick to your schedule, but you need something that will keep you on the track. One solution to that is to use a timesheet template (PDF). Make the template mandatory in your office.
Below are different ways the template can help you to manage your workload well.
1. Forget multitasking with the timesheet template PDF
It’s important to learn to perform different roles in your consultancy. The need for that goes a notch or two higher when you operate alone. However, you also have to know when to multitask and when to stop. Otherwise, you could find yourself with a huge workload that makes it harder to give your best in any project. You may think you’re good at doing it all at once, but you could just be tearing down your freelance business.
Of course, the result of this is that your clients will suffer, and when they suffer, your business will not thrive as much as you would have wanted. By incorporating timesheet template PDF in your business, you get to run your projects smoothly without necessarily having to multitask. At least, you can allocate each task some time to handle them systematically.
2. Prioritizing work with the timesheet template in PDF format
The timesheet template (PDF) offers you incredible information. It points to you the work that you give most of your attention and time. Through the template, you can learn to prioritize work. Sometimes you have lots of work to handle, and not unless you list them in the order in which they should be submitted, you may end up disappointing your client.
Of course, that’s the last thing you’d want to happen as it would put your freelance business at risk. None of your clients deserves you when you operate in second or third gear. They all deserve you when you operate in first gear. They all deserve the best that you have to offer. However, this would only be possible if you plan your daily tasks well and early using this template.
Prioritizing work exposes you to benefits that include:
- Providing you – and your subcontractors – with a guideline to follow
- Increasing everybody’s efficiency and productivity
So, get a timesheet template PDF to help you deliver your client’s projects at the agreed time.
3. Embrace flexibility and adaptability with the timesheet template
There are moments when freelancers have to learn to be more flexible. At such moments, freelancing experts also have to learn to be more adaptable. This could be difficult to achieve. Every project comes with its demands, and, therefore, sticking to a particular routine may not be easy at first.
However, you can do it by following the timesheet religiously. After all, you’re your own boss by working as a freelancer. Consequently, you have the right to take a different approach. Freelancing businesses must be more flexible and adaptable than before.
You could change the tasks and do something different if you feel inadequate or tired now. However, that’s only possible with a timesheet template PDF.
4. Investing in planning software with the timesheet template
It doesn’t help to rely on manual systems to plan your daily chores. Consultants have to embrace the efficiency that technology has brought to the industry. For this reason, it’s good to find and use the best planning software. Electronic software can be a huge advantage to you. The software helps you to stay on track.
The timesheet template (PDF) is an example of the sort of software your business needs to eradicate wastes, forgetfulness and non-priority tasks, which you encounter on a daily basis as a freelancer. Not unless you’ve got something in place to make the planning easier, you may end up wasting a lot of time. Remember, in the freelance world, time is an important factor. So, invest in a timesheet template PDF to make your planning easy and accurate.
5. Improved communication and clarity with the timesheet template
In today’s world, one needs to be an excellent communicator too. You have to learn to clarify issues to your clients and the staff working at your consultancy too. The timesheet template (PDF) provides you with the kind of data that you can use to communicate with all the relevant individuals properly and more efficiently. Check the clock. Be cognizant of the deadlines.
Let clients know clearly and concisely whether you will finish the project on time, which is very important. We are all human, and sometimes, we may not meet the set deadlines. But that doesn’t mean we wait until we are late so that we start giving excuses to the client. With a timesheet template PDF in place, you can let your client know in advance that you’ll be late in submitting the task. In that way, you build trust in them.
6. Clear difficult tasks first with the timesheet template in PDF format
Lastly, learn to start with the most difficult tasks first. Focus on what’s not enjoyable to do then transition your way into the stuff you love doing. Get the hard stuff out of the way when you’re still fresh and up for the challenge. While, it may not be interesting to do this, getting daunting tasks behind you will make the job easier for you. Be sure to list the hard tasks first in your timesheet template PDF and commit yourself to finishing them before you move to the simpler ones.
The easier projects you can set aside for later. Again, let the timesheet template (PDF) show that you’re prioritizing the harder tasks and projects. Afterward, you would have enough fuel in your tank to breeze through the remaining work, which you could just finish within a short time.
Do you manage employees with the timesheet?
The timesheet template PDF can be a useful tool for measuring and understanding employee workload. It’s not enough to measure this aspect. One has to go further to identify solutions too. It’s impossible to recommend or seek solutions for a problem that you are yet to understand clearly. That is where the timesheet can prove its worth and usefulness. A good entrepreneur always seeks to help employees to overcome any workload they consider burdensome.
A timesheet template PDF shows how much work each employee handles at any given moment. By going through each of your employees’ timesheet, you get to know the tasks they’re handling at a particular time. This piece of information proves crucial in ascertaining who is on the verge of work overload or burnout. In this way, you would know where to chip in and help your employees.
Again, multitasking should be discouraged in the workplace if it’s proven as one of the factors that lead to burnout and work overload. Employees need encouragement to focus only on 1-2 tasks at any given moment. Only the timesheet would help you to see all this and institute changes early enough. Make sure you monitor your employees’ timesheets from time to time to be updated on what they’re doing at each particular time.
1. Prioritize the most important tasks with your timesheet sample
It’s good to encourage workers to prioritize certain jobs or tasks. They should sit down at the start of the day to plan how they intend to spend their time. Go through their timesheets to discover whether they are doing this correctly. Study the timesheets to check that each worker is not overworked and burnt out with work that’s not a priority. The onus is on you to train them on what needs attention first.
Everything else can wait until later in the day. So, make sure each timesheet is well organized and straight to the point. Let each employee list down the tasks they’re going to handle in the, starting with the most urgent ones. If you feel your employees aren’t organizing their timesheets properly, take time to educate them about it.
2. Be flexible and adaptable with your timesheet sample PDF
Embrace flexibility and adaptability. Be flexible with all the issues you see emerging at the workplace, especially based on the information you obtain from the timesheets. As the manager, you owe it to your staff to listen attentively to what they have to say. Sit down with those who consider the timesheet implementation a success.
Some of your employees may be struggling to implement the timesheet, and they need help to be at par with the rest. Talk with those who are still struggling and try to understand their difficulties and address them adequately. Apply flexibility and adaptability based on the stories they tell you regarding their successes, failures and overall work environment. In this way, you’ll be working with a productive workforce.
3. Automate the process with your timesheet sample in PDF format
Automation is a key ingredient of improved workplace performance and morale. Automate the processes associated with the timesheets. Find ways of automating the timesheet template PDF to avoid a situation where employees enter their details manually, as that approach is prone to abuse and errors. Humans is to err, and they too can make mistakes while handling the timesheets.
So, add an electronic planner to the list of tools the employees use to avoid such errors. The electronic planner allows all members of your team to see all the details of the project that your office is currently working on and handle the given tasks as required.
You may need to incorporate paper and electronic daily planners in the office, which you can best achieve through a timesheet.
4. Communicate and clarify matters with your timesheet template
You can do a lot with proper communication and clarification of ideas and thoughts. Remember, as a team, you need to talk from time to time to address the issues that are arising at the workplace.It’s your duty as a consultant to make this work. So, make a point of meeting with the team regularly to talk about issues arising from work and the possible solutions to these problems.
Learn from them, as they too play an important role in your freelance business. Offer solutions to the problems they highlight as soon as they arise without procrastination. Encourage them to also share or communicate with you whenever they experience challenges in the course of work. Make yourself approachable. Make your office easily accessible to discourage the habit of filling the timesheet template PDF with inaccurate details so as to appear honest when the opposite is true.
5. Be reasonable with your expectations when using a timesheet template
Exercise a bit of reason in the office too. Avoid a situation where you brush off the concerns the team brings to you. Some aspects of the project are outside your control. However, the workload assigned to each member of your team is within your control. Know your team better to understand how much work each member can handle at a time. Be reasonable with your expectations too to avoid setting the team up for a massive failure. Know the individual capabilities of each member of your team.
Lastly, assign the difficult tasks first. The timesheet template PDF should be full of these tasks initially.
Take these measures to protect your team from work overload and burnout.
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