Is staying productive difficult? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

For a long time, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of tasks and deadlines. Working as a freelance designer means having to contend with a tonne of projects at once, as well as field regular, incoming ad hoc requests.

And it really doesn’t take long for all this to pile up and begin to feel overwhelming.

This is why adopting tried-and-tested productivity systems and frameworks into your daily workflow is essential.

Not only will the productivity systems here help you achieve more, but they’ll also help to reduce the stress and burnout that all too often comes with freelancing.

Why should you focus on being productive?

As a freelance graphic designer, staying productive is crucial for a number of reasons. First and foremost, being productive allows you to take on more projects and clients, which can lead to increased income and financial stability.

Additionally, being productive can help you to build good relationships with your clients, as you’ll be able to deliver high-quality work in a timely manner. This can lead to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth referrals, which can be invaluable for growing your freelance business.

There are also personal benefits to consider. When you’re productive, you can get more done in a shorter amount of time, which can give you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. This can be especially important for freelancers, who may not have the structure and support of a traditional work environment. Being productive can also help you to feel more in control of your work/life balance.

Let’s look at the five different productivity frameworks you can implement right now!

Time Blocking

As a graphic designer, you may find yourself having to work on any number of big projects during a single workday. At times, when things start to get really hectic, this can feel like an incredibly chaotic way of working.

Trust me, I’ve been there.

A quick and easy antidote to this problem is Time Blocking.

As you can probably guess by the name, this productivity framework involves blocking out chunks of time during your day to work on certain projects and tasks. It sounds simple, but it’s something that so few of us actually do.

Some ways of using Time Boxing in your workflow include:

Day Theming: Focus on an area of work and make that the only task for the day. Admin, marketing, research, for example.
Task Batching: Limit certain tasks to certain times of the day. Only checking email at 9am and 4pm, for example.
Timeboxing: Make use of Parkison’s Law by limiting the amount of time you spend on a particular task. Tell yourself that you will finish writing a blog in an hour, for example.

Tap to learn the systems used by the world's most productive people

The Pomodoro Technique

This is another simple one, but one that’s seriously underutilised.

The Pomodoro Technique is really straight forward: You get a timer, usually for 25 minutes, and set it running. During that time, you do nothing but focus and work on a particular task that you need to get done. Once the time is up, you have a 5-minute break, and then repeat the process three more times.

Once you’ve repeated this four times, or for a total working time of 100 minutes, you have a longer, 30-minute break, before starting it all again.

25 minutes probably doesn’t sound like much time to work on anything meaningful, but you’d be surprised how much you can actually get done when you don’t have any distractions holding you back.

To illustrate that point, I started a 25-minute timer the second I began typing up this blog, and right now, there’s still 7 minutes to go.

The power of working with intent, and without distraction, cannot be understated.

Kanban

This system is perfect if you find yourself working on multiple projects at any one time. And even better, it’s incredibly simple.

The idea is that you divide your tasks into three sections, To Do, In Progress, and Done. Anything you need to work on is in the To Do section, anything that’s currently being worked on will appear in In Progress, and finally anything that you’ve completed gets moved into the Done category.

This method allows you to get a quick, at-a-glance view of your work, and what needs to be done.

For me, this method works best when managing multiple projects that each have a bunch of tasks within. Because two or more projects can work at the same time, splitting the tasks up like this allows you to keep track of what exactly needs to be done.

There are plenty of online tools that you get up and running with a Kanban system, but my personal favourite is Todoist!

Eisenhower Matrix

Have you ever found yourself staring at an almost endless list of tasks at the start of the day, and having no idea where to start? If so, you’ll benefit from using the Eisenhower Matrix to plan out your daily tasks.

This involves splitting your tasks up into four categories, which are Do, Schedule, Delegate, and Eliminate. Anything that falls in the Do category should be marked as a priority for the day, and any tasks in the other three sections can be appropriately organised based on their respective classification.

This Eisenhower Matrix works brilliantly when paired with the Kanban system above. Use the Kanban to see all the tasks that need to be completed, then use the Eisenhower Matrix to determine which ones are a priority for the day.

Must, Should, Want

We mentioned the importance of feeling in control of your work/life balance at the start of this article, and I’ve found that the Must, Should, Want framework is one of the most effective ways of keeping this balance in order.

To use this system, create three lists at the start of every day. A list for things you Must do, a list for things you Should do, and a list for things you Want to do.

I must…

Every task that you absolutely have to get done today. These are the non-negotiables, and tasks that you can’t afford to put off or ignore.

I should…

These are tasks that need to get done, but don’t have an urgent deadline. Here you can list things like writing a newsletter, or replying to an email.

I want…

This is where the life of the work/life balance comes in. In this section, list the things that you want to do today. When I used this, I avoid putting anything work related in here, and instead put hobbies and recreational activities. Perhaps you really want to play a game of golf today? Put it on the list and make it happen!