If you’re a freelancer, someone who is always busy with meetings, seeing clients on a daily basis or booked solid for speaking events and conference visits, being able to work efficiently while away from the office is vital to growing your business and/or brand.
Below are some top tips to help make sure you stay on top of your work load and avoid any unnecessary headaches!
Always bring your work equipment
This will often simply be your laptop because it doesn’t matter if you have 10 minutes to spare or 60, you can still check a few emails or make some progress on that latest blog post while you wait for your next business adventure to begin. However, it’s worth noting that you should only bring your work equipment if you feel comfortable doing so. If you’re constantly worried about doing work 24/7 or losing it, then leaving it at home might be a better idea.
Try not to overload on equipment
If you’re darting from one meeting to another, chances are you’re going to have to dip, duck and dive in and out of public transport or get your walking shoes on. In this case you don’t want to be overwhelmed with all sorts of work equipment that will slow you down or make you exhausted by lunchtime. Be as efficient as possible with your work bag and avoid bringing any bits and pieces you don’t need. There are many technologies that are portable just for this purpose – smartphones, tablets and even smart watches, designed to make your travelling life easier but still productive.
Be efficient with your time
We all want to get the most out of our day, so we can go home and relax knowing that we’ve done an excellent day’s work. One way you can do this when you’re out the office is to plan ahead. Map out your day the night before so you know exactly what public transport or walking routes you’re going to take between work appointments. This will avoid any panic on the day that can eat away at your time (and your sanity).
Think about connectivity and offline tasks
When you’re planning your day look out for the nearest bars, restaurants or cafes that are near your work appointment. Prioritise those with free WIFI because these places will come in handy when you have a bit of time to kill and want to catch up on a bit of work.
Make sure you have some backup offline work you can do in case the WIFI is extremely slow that day or simply not working at all.
Don’t overdo it
When you’re away from the office and you have your work equipment with you it can be easy to get swept away in your work and forget that you need rest and relaxation to recharge the batteries. Things go wrong and you might have to put in a few extra hours here and there however, don’t overdo it! Be strict on yourself from time to time. If all your work is done for the day and it’s past your working hours, close that email down and give yourself some ‘you’ time. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself burning out quickly – something that will completely throw off your work efficiency!
Overall technology on the move can be a fantastic way for you to stay in touch, stay involved and keep your business moving – making it a fantastic advancement in time management and keeping those tasks ticking over where possible.
