One of the biggest advantages of being self-employed is having the flexibility to dictate your schedule. But many freelancers find themselves frittering away their days, unsure of how to leverage their autonomy. One way to be more efficient is to cluster all your client meetings on the same days. Those days will be long and intense, but they’ll allow you unfettered productive work on the other days. This is especially important if you have to travel for your meetings: If you can tackle multiple meetings downtown on one day, you’ve saved yourself hours of painful commuting. And before you even agree to that in-person meeting, make sure it’s a good use of your time. Ask questions about the agenda, and only attend if an important issue needs to be discussed and decided. Otherwise, gently suggest that you’re available by phone or email.
Adapted from "Scheduling Meetings Effectively When You're Self-Employed," by Dorie Clark
