It’s been a little over four months since I left my 9 to 5 job to do freelance web development full-time. Since I became self-employed, I’m not accountable to anyone else for my work habits. Of course I’m accountable to my paying customers for the work I produce, but what about marketing, accounting, and all the administrative work involved in keeping my business afloat? There’s no one who knows (or cares) how I get these things done.

Part of that is a good thing. Such freedom is why I hung out my shingle for independent work in the first place. The bad news is that it can be tempting to let the less interesting aspects of running my business fall through the cracks. Does it really matter if I spend a full two hours on marketing today? Do I need to call everyone on this list? What if I just do the first ten?

In the short term, the result is that I have more time today to spend on other things. There’s no meeting later in the week where my boss will be demanding an explanation why so little work got done. But that meeting, which I surely would have if I still punched a time clock for someone else, had one important benefit. It gave me the motivation to work when I wasn’t in the mood. It provides immediate and predictable consequences for slacking off in my work.

Of course, I’m well aware of the long-term consequence that my business won’t run as smoothly. I’ll likely have fewer clients, and make less money. Unfortunately, those results aren’t happening this week, and they’re vague. How much less money will I make if I don’t follow up on this entire list of leads for potential work, anyway?

One of the paths to success in freelancing is to figure out a way to create some short-term consequences for failing to meet certain objectives. Perhaps you could convince a family member of friend to listen to a weekly report of what you’ve accomplished. You don’t need to make them responsible for doling out any kind of rewards or punishments. Just the prospect of knowing you’ll be baring your soul on the progress of the last week is sometimes enough for you to stop making excuses and get to work.

You may need something a little more formal. In that case it can be good to bring in a mentor or business coach. That person will be able to ask pointed questions about your reports and provide suggestions for meeting your business goals. You get some of the feedback that you would receive from a supervisor, without the employer-employee dynamic.

filed under: Running a Business