For the most part, this article will help both freelance workers and their office-bound counterparts, but the main goal is to help freelancer writers increase productivity and make their jobs a little easier.
Little Changes
One of the most well-known methods for increasing productivity is really quite simple: taking a five minute break every half-hour. The brain gets tired of repetition and seeks change. Even a brief separation from work can help you stay clear-minded and energetic.
Similarly, I find that it helps to change my medium of writing at least once an hour. There’s an app on the Google Chrome store called Writer that I love to use. It’s simply a typewriter simulator (complete with optional typewriter sounds). Just like Google Docs, it saves as you work. Most importantly, you can change the background and font color (which I do every half hour or so). Just being able to look at a new color scheme seems to help me increase productivity, if only by reducing boredom.
Changing things up and keeping your mind fresh can be more than a simple change in font color, if you want it to be. Assuming your freelance work is done from home, why not move around? As I’m typing this up, I’m sitting on the couch, though I usually sit at my desk. I could even sit on the floor! The possibilities are endless!
Big Changes
There are some long-term solutions to help you increase productivity that require (slightly) more effort.
Drinking water during the day helps you to awake and alert. I’ve read from multiple sources that dehydration is the most common form of midday fatigue (and not the need for a 5-Hour Energy, as I was once led to believe). Aside from giving you more energy, it’ll clear up your skin, too, so you’ll great from behind your computer where no one sees you for days on end.
Sleep is one of the most important parts of a productive lifestyle. I don’t think I need to get into too much detail here, so I’ll leave it at that.
One of my most highly recommended, long-term methods for increasing your productivity is reading this blog: http://calnewport.com/blog/. Cal is a brilliant computer scientist who has turned work, productivity, and success into a science. His guidance has been hugely important to me and I will continue to read his blog for as long as he writes it.
Your personal productivity is, in the end, somewhat unique. I work faster with music, but maybe you prefer silence. Experiment with your daily habits. If you’re keeping a thorough timesheet, you’ll be able to get a pretty good idea of how productive you are under certain conditions.