How to manage 2 long term projects.

[ibtesamsadiq]

I don't know If freelancers forget to close the contract or they are still working on 3 projects at a time.

I saw a lot of profiles where people have 4 to 5 jobs in progress and some even have more.

But I am a little bit afraid that I might not be able to do more jobs at once.

I would like to if there is any specific way to handle more projects at once especially long-term jobs and ongoing ones.

[moonraker]

People handle it differently. 

Personally, I deliberately overbook because it's very unlikely that all of my clients will give me work at once. If they do all want something at once then I cross that bridge when I come to it - it's a nice problem to have. 

If you don't think you can handle a higher workload then don't take on any more work - simples.

[ibtesamsadiq]

so when you take another job do you inform your current client about it. or just take the job without informing them.

[petra_r]

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Ibtesam S wrote:

so when you take another job do you inform your current client about it. or just take the job without informing them.

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You're a freelancer, not an employee. Clients expect freelancers to work with many clients unless agreed otherwise.

[ibtesamsadiq]

how do you manage your project if there are more long-term projects?

do you divide the time and give certain hours to both projects daily?

[jr-translation · Accepted solution]

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Ibtesam S wrote:

how do you manage your project if there are more long-term projects?

do you divide the time and give certain hours to both projects daily?

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You discuss all this before accepting  a contact.

Personally, I never block myself 100% with one project. For scheduling I estimate 50% of my weekly hours for it so I hardly miss a deadline and have the flexiblity to manage reoccuring clients. But this does not work for all freelancers.

You are having a completely different problem at the moment. You have no freelancing exerience and before you take on more jobs than you can handle, you should learn to manage one job and your time. Once you can handle that you can start looking for a second client.

[moonraker]

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Ibtesam S wrote:

how do you manage your project if there are more long-term projects?

do you divide the time and give certain hours to both projects daily?

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Do whatever you need to do at the time to make sure you meet your deadlines (and deliver quality work). This should really be common sense. If you need to ask then you might be overthinking it. 

This is a skill you will need to have as a freelancer. You need to be able to manage your clients yourself, otherwise you're likely to struggle if you have more than one client. 

[feed_my_eyes]

It should be pretty easy to determine whether you have the capacity to take on extra work or not. If you need to work at least 20 hours per week and your one client is only giving you 10 hours per week, then obviously you'll need more clients. Your first client can't really object to this unless they want to pay you a 20-hour per week retainer in order to ensure your availability.

And then it comes down to managing a client's expectations. I always try to build in extra time, because even though I know pretty much exactly how much time a project *should* take, it's impossible to know whether a client will like something immediately, or request numerous rounds of revisions. So if I think that a project will take two days, I'll quote the client 4-5 days. And I'm always clear about what I need, and when, from the client. I work backwards and say, if your deadline is on this date, then I'll need your files by this date, your feedback by this date, and your final approval by this date. Be clear that any delays on their side may result in delays on your side. 

But even with the most careful time management, there will be days when I have no work and days when I have way too much work. It's just the nature of freelancing. I think that anyone who wants a steady 9-5, Monday-Friday lifestyle is probably not well-suited to being a freelancer, especially not with clients all over the globe (not with the type of projects that I have, at least). 

[tlbp]

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Ibtesam S wrote:

how do you manage your project if there are more long-term projects?

do you divide the time and give certain hours to both projects daily?

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You need to have some idea of how long each project will take and make note of its deadline. Then, work back from that deadline to schedule when to start and how much time to give each project. 

Say you have two projects each due at the end of two weeks. You can choose to work on one project the first week and the other the second. Or, you can work on one project in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Or, any combination of days and hours that fits your work style. 

I'm a writer. I don't like to have to write about two different topics at the same time. But, I don't mind researching one topic while I'm writing about another. So, I usually split my work by task. If I am doing the focused writing work for one client, I will do some light reserach to prepare for the next project. 
In your case, you might do your outline for one piece while doing the final color work on the other. It breaks up the day. 🙂

[gina-herrera]

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Jamie F wrote:

Personally, I deliberately overbook because it's very unlikely that all of my clients will give me work at once.

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Same here - as a packaging designer, the nature of my work involves a lot of random pauses due to legal / FDA related reasons, clients not submitting necessary materials in a timely fashion, etc. - I have about 20 to 25 projects going on simultaneously most of the time, most of which last more than a month, sometimes significantly longer, and about half of them are on pause.

So, the real answer which I've found helpful is as mentioned above - overbook yourself, and make it very clear to your clients from Day 1 that if they cannot get you what you need, exactly when you need it, there may be delays in timeline. It has worked very well for me because I have great relationships with all my clients and good vetting skills. As long as you are working with good clients who aren't cheap, rude, or too demanding, and value your skills it will be okay to let them know they are causing their own delays.

Then of course I always prioritize hourly contracts since they are more consistent (obviously I also let people know if they want to do fixed rate, that's fine, but it may result in the project being pushed if they don't release the milestone money in a very timely fashion - Most people have quite the bad habit of receiving concept work and then waiting as long as possible to actually approve payment, even though I specifically state in the milestone payment is due upon submission of concepts and revisions are included in the next milestone).

Through being clear about this in advance, I have always managed to balance whatever comes at me. When I get too busy, I just up my rates.