A full time business

[DavePalumbo]

Personally, I can have trouble with structuring my time if I'm not tied to a deadline. I try to work at a "full time rate" or more, and sometimes I over-shoot, sometimes I fall short. I'm wondering who all out there in the freelance comunity grapples with this problem. I've heard of artists who use time sheets and things like that, but I know it's not my style. Personaly, I mentally berate myself for being a lazy bastard if I dont feel like working and that usually does the trick. What do you do?

[jfwalls]

I like tight deadlines. Without them I find myself wandering off and doing other things. Yet at the same time I like to have the option of being able to go do something else if the need arises. For example, a friend of mine works on a charter boat, and offered to take me fishing sometime. He said he'd give me a call in the morning when they had room. Now if I had a deadline looming I'd probably have to say no, but I try to stay on top of things so I can leave the option open to wander off and play. I don't like timesheets, and I try to just get flat rates for projects.

[Qitsune]

Using timesheets has more advantages than drawbacks, not only it ca help you keep track of how much you work and when you have the most trouble working, but it will help you evaluate how much time you need to do a project. You can pull usefull stats that will let you make more precise quotes in the future.