Buzz
When your workload only depends on how much time you're willing to invest, how do you determine when you've worked 'enough'?
Whether you're a full-time freelancer, a gig worker, or a traditional employee with a side hustle, you'll eventually face the challenge of organizing a workday that doesn't follow the conventional 9-to-5 pattern (or the 8-to-5, or 9-to-6 model).
There are three main approaches to tackling this dilemma, each with its own pros and cons.
The Time-Based Workday
By adopting a time-based structure, you commit to a schedule like, 'I’ll work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.' or 'from 6 p.m. to midnight,' or whatever time frame fits your needs.
You start working at your predetermined time, stop at the scheduled hour, and tell yourself that everything completed within that period counts as enough.
For me, my freelance routine follows a time-based workday; I start at 7:30 a.m., wrap up at 4 p.m., and take a 30-minute lunch. Any tasks not finished by 4 p.m. must be deferred until the next day, which has made me skilled at estimating how much work I can accomplish within an hour. This helps me plan how many projects I can fit into a 40-hour week while meeting all my deadlines.
The Task-Oriented Workday
At the start of my freelance journey, I relied on a project-based approach. I’d work on the tasks I had, and when they were done, my workday (or sometimes my workweek) would come to an end.
During this phase of my career, I also made it a point to send out at least one new pitch every day, since I didn’t always have enough assignments to fill an eight-hour workday. Additionally, the work I did get often didn’t pay as much as I hoped, so I knew I needed to find new clients and boost my income.
Because I tackled assignments as they came in, some days I’d only have three hours of work to do, while other days could stretch to 12 hours. Some freelancers enjoy this kind of unpredictable schedule because the downtime balances the late nights, but it was my least preferred way of managing my workload.
The Earnings-Oriented Workday
Once I began receiving enough freelance assignments to ensure I had daily work, I shifted to an earnings-based structure. I started asking myself, 'How much do I need to earn this month, and how many assignments do I need to pitch, secure, and complete to meet that target?'
In the beginning, it took me nearly 50 hours a week to reach my $5,000 monthly income target. However, as I developed relationships with higher-paying clients, I was able to earn the same amount in fewer hours. This gave me more free time to take on additional projects, so I raised my income goal.
Different freelance, gig economy, or side hustle careers naturally lend themselves to varying workday structures. For example, if you're a dog walker for a service like Rover, your workday ends once you've walked all the dogs in your care (and completed any administrative tasks, like checking your Rover inbox and updating owners on their dogs' activities).
If you're launching a photography business, a project-based workday might be a good starting point: Each day, you’ll reach out to three potential clients, post five photos on social media, and so on. As your business grows, you’ll likely transition to an earnings-focused workday—meaning you’ll start asking yourself, 'What do I need to do today to meet my income targets for the month?'
Once your career has progressed to the point where you have plenty of work coming in, you can begin to ask yourself how many hours you'd like to work each week (rather than how many hours you must work to earn the money you need).
So, if you find yourself ending each day wondering if you've worked 'enough,' consider what type of workday you want to create. Set your goals accordingly—and once you've achieved them, close your laptop, pack up your gear, and step away from your home office, coffee shop, or co-working space. Your workday is over, and it’s time to enjoy the rest of your life.
