TPC Team
Anyone who has a portfolio career knows that the lines between life and work can get a bit squiggly. And that fits well with how we like to live. But that also means we fall into the trap of working harder, not smarter, i.e. working late, working overtime or simply never not working.
According to The European Commission, the self-employed work roughly 10% more hours per week than traditionally employed people, though this is arguably underestimated due to hidden, untracked hours.
When you work for someone else, the boundaries are a bit more defined – work starts at X and ends at Y. But when you work for yourself, the only one in charge of that time is you, and that’s where things can get a bit messy.
So how do we learn to stop hustling and start working to our strengths?
We recently hosted a Fireside Chat about the many ways you can stop working harder and start working smarter, which had some brilliant insights from panellists Fiona Chorlton-Voong, Ben Legg and Holly Ashford on how to be more strategic with your time. Let’s explore some of those tips in a bit more detail.
It starts with understanding the true value of your time
We’re all guilty of bad time management. Sometimes this is down to procrastination. Other times, we take on more than we can handle because we’re afraid to say no. That comes at a cost.
When you quote for a project, you think about the work you want to deliver, but it’s easy to forget all the extra time that goes into actually getting that work done – the planning, the back-and-forth communication, the research, etc.
Tracking your time helps you understand whether your efforts align with their return. That’s where tools like spreadsheets or time-tracking apps can really come in handy – they provide the tasty morsels of data that raise questions like, “Why does this client consume 70% of my time but provide only 20% of my income?” or “If I work remotely more often, what could I achieve in the time I usually spend travelling?”
That’s why it’s so important to reflect and adapt
When Fiona came back from her maternity leave, she realised that her time wasn’t as flexible as it was before having a baby. So she minimised unnecessary meetings and restructured the rest, thereby relieving her schedule significantly – this had a knock-on effect on the rest of her team because it meant less meetings for them as well.
There are a lot of things that can happen in your life that shift the way you work. That’s why it’s important to stop and reflect on what energises you and what makes it harder to get things done. Then, adjust accordingly.
Properly evaluating the impact of your working practices could be the investment of time you and your business really need to evolve.
Of course, that’s just the tip of the productivity iceberg. Here are a few hacks from the Fireside Chat to help you find the right working style for you.
1. Leverage technology to keep you disciplined
Not everyone is naturally disciplined. That’s why so many portfolio professionals lean on technology to get those productivity juices flowing. If you know you’re bad at keeping on top of tasks, you can leverage things like timers or apps to help you follow the Pomodoro Technique. Better still, if you’re easily distracted, you can find apps which make boring tasks fun – gamify where possible.
Many project management tools and calendars have reminder functions so you don’t forget important deadlines or milestones. So use them to your advantage!
2. Invest in an expert
Paying money for something you could do feels extravagant, but when you value your time well, getting expert support allows you to focus on what you should do.
During the Fireside Chat, Holly gave a great example of why she uses an accountant: “I’m sure I could do a simple tax return myself, but I don’t want to spend the time learning how to do it, I don’t want to spend the time thinking about it and I don’t want to risk getting it wrong.”
Luckily, the TPC’s community has 14,000+ professionals who can do literally anything. And it’s a great place to find support when you need it.
3. Shape your routine around your energy sweet spots
This can be as simple as outsourcing the stuff that drains you. It also means being aware of when you work best and creating space for key types of work. That will have such a huge knock on effect on your life because it means you’re focusing more on things that boost your energy rather than deplete it.
Holly shared how she separates tasks out by type because the different areas of her business require different thought processes and ways of working. One day is dedicated entirely to creative thought. She then batches daily tasks on the other days to avoid context switching.
“I’ll have an hour where I do emails and then I’ll move on to something else rather than answer every single email when it comes in, which is really you focusing on somebody else’s priorities rather than what you probably have plans for.”
4. Prioritise intentionally
As Fiona pointed out, it’s important to prioritise tasks that align with your selfish aspirations. You can do this by applying a strategy like the Eisenhower matrix or SMART goals to figure out what to focus on and what to forget about.
Not everything on your list needs to get done by you (or even, done at all!). So spend some time each week deciding what to prioritise. If something isn’t contributing to your goals in a positive way, drop it or outsource it.
5. Find people to hold you accountable
Working for yourself can be a lonely business, which is why it’s helpful to find people who can hold you to the things you said you’d do. Ben is a huge advocate for this, and he puts it into practice in his own portfolio career.
“The reason I get a lot done is either I’m holding someone accountable or they’re holding me accountable. There’s a check-in rhythm to make sure things don’t slip.”
Productivity comes when we agree what we want to get out of our time, document it and hold each other to our promises. Even solo workers can seek collaborations that foster mutual accountability and keep projects moving forward.
So find someone in your network or community to check in with to make sure things don’t slip.
6. Don’t know where to start? There’s an app for that!
There are so many tools you can use to help you be more strategic with your time. Here are a few of the top recommendations from the TPC community:
or Google calendar now has an even simpler version.
get AI to do the graft then add your magic.
Flow Club and Focus Mate
some people just work better together.
Superhuman and Fyxer
for people with busy inboxes and no energy to deal with them.
have AI organise your crazy calendar.
never start an email from scratch again (Ben reckoned this turned a 60 minute job into a 5 minute one!)
collaborate in a fun way! Gamify boring tasks.
for all your image generation needs.
In the end, it’s about finding what works for you
Being strategic about your time and energy can be hugely transformational to how you work in your portfolio career.
AI informs us this article takes eight minutes to read. With the Fireside Chat being 58 minutes, we’ve saved you 50. In return for that time, we’re asking you to share your hacks for working smarter with the collective. So get involved in the community and let’s collaborate!
Think this sounds like the right path for you? Come along to our monthly Get started event for new members to find out what a portfolio career could look like and how The Portfolio Collective can help you take those first steps towards professional success – and don’t forget to connect with our community!
