The Importance of being Efficient

As you enter the freelance world, everything will be bright, fun, and freedom will be abundant. Your hours will be short and your smiles will be bigger. But, at some point, just like everyone, you'll get used to it and you'll get lazy.

I have this tendency to wake up later and later and do less and less. 

I was listening to a class by Brian Tracy about time efficiency and after all the overwhelmingly great ideas he said, "If there is one thing you should take from this, it's this one point. Ask yourself, "Am I using my time efficiently?". 

He went on to state facts that very little of us use time efficiently. Majority of the things we do in a day, they aren't really efficient things. We aren't thinking about long term. We're procrastinating or doing somethings that just don't need to be done.

So, if you're a freelancer and feeling the lull. Here's my suggestion.

1) Wake up earlyish. Earlier than you normally wake up is early, it's all relative.

If you're body thinks it's early, it will wake up. USE THAT WILLPOWER. If you have to snooze, do it twice. But, GET UP!

2) Plan out your day in increments. 10 minutes or LESS

Audition for an hour, eat for a half an hour, contact production studios for 15 minutes. If you know you only have a specific amount of time, you'll work ONLY on it.

3) Do Something physical. 

I have crossfit scheduled because I literally can't will myself to do this. Go for a run. Do a motivational audiobook while you run. It can be 30 minutes, maybe even 15. This will clear out your system to make you ready for VO. A groggy VO is not going to get the job.

4) Start Your Day.

Try and stick to the plan as much as possible. If you push your ass and get things done quickly, reward yourself. Do something fun. An efficient 3 hours in a day is more than an inefficient 3 days. You'd be surprised how much time people waste.

5) HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE

This doesn't mean beat yourself up. It's kind of a mind thing. Make it feel good to get stuff done. You are investing in yourself. This is the one thing that will pay off dividends.

6) REALLY think about what you want.  And be willing to change things.

Some people want to delve into work and make money. Great! Some people really want to meet someone. GREAT! Some people want to connect with family more. AWESOME! You can want all those things and schedule them in. Schedule 20 minutes of a call with a family member. Schedule 20 minutes of online dating research or online messaging. Challenge yourself to go out and meet people.

We get into a sticky situation when we do one thing to get another. Do something that you know will directly affect what you want.

I know this kind of felt like a motivational thing, rather than a voice over thing. But, efficiency is what makes successful people successful. SO DO IT!!