Watching the clock

Even though I generally don’t bill by the hour, I still record how long I spend on each writing task.

I track time using the Toggl app. I activate its timer just before I start writing something. Then, when I’m done writing, I stop the timer. Rinse and repeat.

On one day earlier this week, for example, I spent about 4.5 hours working on three tasks:

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I also label each time block with the project I’m working on and the work I did.

This way, for any given project, I know:

• How long I spent on research, writing the first draft and editing it, etc.
• How long I spent on the project in total

Why bother keeping track of all this?

Call me time-obsessed, but watching my hours helps me know:

The number of writing hours I have in one day

This is the number of hours I spend on client work every day. It doesn’t include the time I spend replying to emails, writing LinkedIn posts, doing my books, etc. It also doesn’t include breaks in between writing sessions.

And the answer is: only about 2 to 4 hours on average out of the typical 8-hour workday. This number surprised me when I first started keeping track.

The number of days I need to write first drafts

First drafts take up the bulk of my work, so I pay close attention to the amount of time I need to write them—not in terms of hours, but days.

Shorter, straightforward articles may take 1 to 2 days to write. For some clients who want long, detailed pieces, I need as many as 4 to 5 days for the first draft.

The amount of work I can take on in a month

When new projects come in, I block off my calendar to match the number of days I think I’ll need for their first drafts.

If a project’s first draft needs 2 days, I’ll block off 2 days.

And if I’ve blocked off 5 days…guess what I’ll be working on for the whole week 😂

I continue blocking off my calendar until I’m full for the month, and then I start scheduling projects for the month after.

(Or, I might start negotiating with myself on whether I can squeeze in more work on certain days, but that’s another story lol)

My hourly rate

As mentioned, I usually don’t charge an hourly rate for work. But if I need to, I use my monthly revenue goal and number of daily writing hours (or “billable hours”) to calculate the rate.

Here’s how to do this:

Let’s say your monthly revenue goal is $5,000 and you work 20 days a month. This means you need to do roughly $250 worth of work every day to hit your monthly revenue goal.

Then, if you work 4 billable hours a day on average, your hourly rate will need to be at least $250/4 = $62.50/hour.

This figure is different—and obviously higher—than if you were to calculate your hourly rate based on your total number of work hours in a day. But I find it provides fairer compensation for the time you spend on client work (which is also the time that directly generates revenue for your business).

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It’s surprising how tracking time at the micro level can inform the macro aspects of running a freelance business, huh?

You don’t have to constantly track time to the last second like I do. Still, try to get a good idea of how long you spend on tasks so you can take on more work as your capacity allows and set fairer rates—and earn more $$$.

More freelancer news

Wise accounts can now hold up to S$20,000

If you’ve set up a Wise account for overseas clients to transfer foreign currency payments to, you can now hold up to S$20,000 in your account!

The previous limit was S$5,000, which could be a little low if you:

• Get paid large amounts, and/or
• Are waiting for the exchange rate to improve before converting your payments to Singapore dollars

The max amount you can send from your Wise account—this includes withdrawing payments from your Wise account to your Singapore bank account—has also gone up. It’s now S$100,000 every 1 April to 31 Mar the following year (previously S$30,000).

​More details on the new limits here, including your options if you might exceed them.

I use Wise to receive US-dollar payments from clients, and then withdraw the funds in Singapore dollars using the latest exchange rate for a reasonable fee. If you’re curious, use this link to check out Wise and transfer up to S$900 for free!

This is an affiliate link, so I may get a commission for the referral at no extra cost to you.

Protecting yourself as a freelancer

How do you ensure you don’t get taken advantage of, and that you get paid for your work, when freelancing?

Jean See, director of NTUC’s Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit, shares tips like:

• Negotiating a fair working arrangement
• Having a written contract that covers key project terms
• Doing due diligence on clients by e.g. asking other freelancers about their experiences working with the organisation

​Read her full answer here.​

P.S. The preview text for today’s post is from the tick, tick…BOOM! musical, which I caught recently and loved 🫶 Go watch the Netflix movie adaptation starring Andrew Garfield if you haven’t seen it!