You know that feeling when you have so much to do that you end up suffering from total paralysis?

You have deadlines to meet and yet, you end up giving yourself a telling off for being drawn to checking Facebook instead of working.

Frustrating, isn’t it?

So you try to make a plan. You might write lists, set up reminders on your phone, add more reminders about your reminders, categorise and colour-code your lists. Plus, how about downloading that really useful app that helps you do all of the above?

Now imagine that, instead of checking Facebook, you check your calendar and find you can fit in a quick pitch during your lunch break. It’s all about control and organisation.

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When you’re a freelance blogger, your time equals money in a way no 9-to-5er will ever experience.

Whether you’re working by the billable hour or the flat project rate, the more you’re able to get done in a day, the happier your bank balance will look at the end of the month.

It’s one of the reasons so many of us burn ourselves out.

Painfully aware of the fact that we and we alone are responsible for how much money we’re able to bring in, we’re constantly trying to squeeze as much as we can out of each day. We devour productivity tips, tricks and systems because we believe we can always do more, more, more if we just push ourselves a liiiittle bit harder.

But the trouble with a “more, more, more” mentality is it leaves us feeling empty, empty, empty after a while. And an empty freelancer has a productivity level of zero.

Guess how much money a productivity level of zero will earn you?

If you really want to maximize your productivity — meaning, “produce the highest amount of high-quality work each day” — you need to stop listening to all the gurus and hype that promise you the secret to cramming ever more into the same 24-hour blocks while your mind and body coast on fumes.

Instead, focus on creating a sustainable, personalized system that enables you to do your best work each day, every day, and keep that pace up over the long term.

Forget the latest GTD fads and promos; the methods in this post will help you find your best productivity groove and, as a result, create awesome work (and income) like never before. 

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When you first heard — perhaps right here on BAFB — about the burgeoning freelance blogging market, you leaped in with high hopes. You were already counting the income that would pour in from your favorite type of writing.

A couple of months later, the enthusiasm is smothering under a pile of discouragement. Jobs are few, rejections are daily, income is thin. And you’re wondering: “How did I ever get into this? I’m going nowhere. Why not cut my losses and quit?”

Though you may be tempted to think that every other freelance blogger is showered with high-paying work from the start, you’re actually in the majority. Most writers, including blog writers, belong to humanity’s pool of “creative” minds that ricochet from big dreams to big disappointments, taking stories of (extremely rare and often only apparent) overnight success as guarantees, and equating anything less with failure.

Don’t believe it! You may be making more progress than you think.

Created equal but not identical

Contrary to impressions given by many “how-to” articles — even many written by established freelancers — a surge in income and clients isn’t the inevitable quick result of becoming a freelance blogger.

If you’re lucky enough to be a natural entrepreneur or an expert on a high-demand topic, things may work out that way; but many of us need to grow in other areas first.

The one thing all full-time freelance bloggers have in common is good writing skills (okay, some Internet skills are also necessary). Everything else — topic focus, working hours, writing style — is unique to the individual blogger.

So, trying to copy perfectly a successful blogger’s career-building story, on the assumption that their result of $4,000 a month within six months is thus guaranteed to become yours, guarantees only disappointment.

Blame the legendary “butterfly effect”: One flap of a wing (one small difference in attitude or approach) is enough to unleash a chain reaction leading to a tornado (perceived failure of the whole project).

Every blogger needs to work out his or her own best approach, and decide how to measure progress. Obvious progress indicators include a record of guest posts or a growing bank account, but there are many other ways to keep track — even if you feel you’re not getting anywhere yet. 

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