So I planned out a span of a year’s quarter including buffer weeks and a subsequent week of rest the 13th week.īelow that I put columns for each day of the 12 weeks similar to a 7-day calendar view, but just for 12 x 7 = 84 days. It loosely followed the “12 week year” idea. This is also were I set the general parameters like how much time I have to devote to the projects per week and how many weekdays there are accounting for holidays and vacation. In sheet one I used a script to pull in data from all those individual project sheets in the top half. 0% = white, then gradually from red over yellow to green and if the task was 100% done it additionally got crossed out. I also had a column to enter the estimation of the task’s fulfillment in percent and I color coded the task’s rows accordingly. In the first rows, the header of each sheet’s columns, I did time and progress calculations, mostly summing up the diifferent numerical values for progress or durations. Buffers and uncertain tasks were also added in advance based on previous experience from similar projects. Each sheet had a column for tasks and one for a rough estimation of how long each task would take. I created a new sheet in the document for every project. I’ve used Google Sheets for that in the past. Where most tools fall short is being able to do some basic form of calculations to sum up how much time in total is budgeted, spent and what the progress is. I know from my own consulting practice that planning my time and commitments beyond that time is forgetting that time demands coming from clients will make any longer-term plans unreliable. It’s all a matter of training yourself to spend time each week looking out over a planning horizon of 4 to 6 weeks. I wouldn’t waste the effort to shoehorn time budgeting into software – you know your work and you know the gotchas. This is an exercise you can do on paper, or in Excel / Numbers. This kind of scenario playing at the high level can give you an idea of when you can slot commitments into your work plan.Īt that point, you need to come down from the 10,000 foot level and spend time with the calendar. In that scenario – you have no time for a new project to complete, but if you slide the four week horizon forward to looking at the four weeks starting in two weeks, you might. Overhead tasks (time accounting, billing, etc.): 20 hrs Required tasks (get this info from OmniFocus estimated durations): 180 hrs Available work hours 240 (freelancers never work 40 hr weeks) If you can get a rough handle on standard project budgets, then the 10,000 foot view is a matter of knowing: For the next four weeks: Standard Time Budget for "Editing Projects": 80 hrs I’m talking about developing a method where I can confidently tell a client that I can take their project on and deliver something to them anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months from the time I talk with them.Īre your projects similar enough that you can do standard time budgeting? E.g., Project Category: Editing Is there a method or tool out there that I haven’t found yet? How does everyone here solve this problem in their professional and person life? I’m talking about developing a method where I can confidently tell a client that I can take their project on and deliver something to them anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months from the time I talk with them. I enjoy time-blocking as much as possible, but that’s very much in the weeds and day-to-day stuff. They all haven’t really been super helpful, and require a lot of upkeep, it seems. I’ve messed around with timeline views in Notion, calendar groups in Fantastical where I only have project calendars, and use all-day events to indicate which projects I’m working on when, and few other various tools. I’d obviously like to fill as much time as reasonably possible to put food on the table, but I don’t want to pull all-nighters either. I have, however (and unsurprisingly), gotten myself into trouble in the past, and am wondering if there’s a better method out there to prevent future over- or under-committing my time. Usually I just kind of scan through my due dates in OmniFocus, do some terrible napkin math, then accept or decline the job depending on whether I think I’ve got the bandwidth to get it done on time and at a high level of quality. When considering new projects/clients, I need to take a good look at my calendar, see my general availability, and compare it to when the client wants their deliverable. I’m a freelance video editor and manage a lot of individual projects. I’ve been wrestling with this for a while now, and I can’t seem to figure out a good way to achieve what I’m wanting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |