20 Freelancers Revealed Their Secret To Doing More In Less Time
And why my golden motivation doesn’t involve more clients and more money.
I’m a freelancer.
I have full control of my workload and schedule which means I can accept 10 clients in a week and earn at least $10,000 dollars for all that effort.
I could buy at least 5 designer bags with that, right?
And although I can overextend myself, I don’t.
Before I tell you about my golden motivation to doing more in less time, let me tell you about what other people say about this.
On June 4th, I tweeted a question I have been begging to ask.
“Freelancers, what’s your secret to doing more in less time?”
Here’s what 20 freelancers said:
- AI
- To-do list
- Automation
- Focus mode
- Good software
- Work in sprints
- Pomodoro timer
- Fast typing speed
- One task at a time
- Put your phone away
- Focus on one target platform
- Delete other social media apps
- Do important things in the morning
I asked because I wanted to hear from actual freelancers, not from people who are not their own boss and don’t own their time.
Because if I questioned someone doing a 9–5, I wouldn’t know if they can relate. I mean, why would they do more in less time if they need to clock in at least 8 hours? No offense.
Going back to the question, I took note of common denominators.
- They stay focused because distractions deter them.
- They always aim for efficiency because it’s a smart way to work.
- They take advantage of productivity tools and aren’t afraid of AI replacing them.
It’s amazing to hear about how freelancers do more in less time. While they all aspire to stay focused, efficient, and productive, I’m pretty sure they have different motivations to why they do what they do.
My golden motivation is stupidly simple.
And actually, some people might find it shallow.
I strive to accomplish more tasks in the least amount of time possible because I want to live a life outside of work.
5-hour workdays are my thing now. (And my dogs love it!)
Getting a chunk of work done within 5 hours allows me to enjoy things that otherwise I wouldn’t be doing if I’m on payroll.
- 3 days ago, I spent 3 hours furniture-shopping in IKEA after lunch.
- Yesterday, I took a load of items to our storage unit in the morning and went on an early-dinner date.
- And today, I only worked for an hour since 100% of my focus is on welcoming my brand new couch and carpet.
It’s all a lot of fun, and it takes a lot of hard work to get here.
But everything falls into place once you find your flow.
To find your flow, first find your WHY.
Your why is the foundation of it all.
“Why do I want to do more in less time?”
6 months ago, I didn’t know the answer to this. All I knew was I wanted to become accomplished like all the LinkedIn inspirations I see on my feed everyday. ‘Accomplished’ can mean differently for everyone, but for the sake of this story let’s say:
- They have thousands of followers who shower them with likes.
- Getting 100 comments a minute after posting.
- Building a 6-figure one-person business.
- Posting about high-ticket clients.
Overwhelming? Yes. But your journey is yours and it’s different from mine and everyone else’s.
We have different motivations. Therefore, we have different ‘whys’.
The one thing that will help you find your flow is to get real about why you want to do more in less time.
