If you’ve gone to college, there is a good chance that you were constantly busy- between projects, tests, going to class, and having a social life it’s hard to find time. That’s not including the extracurriculars you do. So how can a college student possibly be a freelancer? Well, it’s all about finding the right balance.

As I’ve stated here I started freelancing in high school, which in terms of time was a pretty easy task. I didn’t have the highest grades, but I did well and I was able to balance my light freelance work pretty easily. Even in the first couple years of college I could handle my freelance work without having to put forth too much of a balancing act. But then I got more clients and my school work started to get harder. And as a graduate student even more so. So what do you do?

Well the first thing you need to do is gage your semester. Once you have a couple under your belt, this should be a relatively easy task. Get the scoop on the professor. Is it a major, or a gen ed class? Look at the syllabus to get an idea of how much work you’ll be doing. Also take into account how many credits you’re taking. Once you have a good idea of how busy the semester looks, you can get an idea of how much work you can take on.

Estimate how much time you will have for projects. And under-estimate, just to be safe. And when figuring out how long a project will take, over-estimate. I haven’t talked about it here yet, but what I do is take the number of hours I think it will take for a project and multiply it by 1.5. That should give you a more accurate number to work with. Once you do that, it’s time to budget.

I make weekly to do lists and plan projects using Backpack by 37signals. This has really helped me get a good overview of what I need to do and prioritize things. I also have a lot going on, so it’s easy to forget something- so Backpack helps me remember.

Finally, a few tips:

• Be honest with a client. In my experience, they’ve cut me a little slack because I’m a student, as long as I didn’t take advantage of it. If you’ve got a major test or project coming up, they will understand.
• Learn how to say “no.” This is a tough one for me because I hate to turn away money. However, at the end of the day school is more important and you don’t want to overburden yourself. I’ve got a couple other developers I can call if I get too busy, and that helps because I am at least pointing a client in the right direction.
• Take some time to yourself. Both college students and freelancers tend to overwork themselves. If you work yourself too hard you will surely burn out. So remember, working 7 days a week does not always make you more productive.

Are/were you a college freelancer? What’s your experience? Comments are open!

Tags: clients, college, student, tips, work | Posted in Advice |