An essential part of running your own business as a freelancer is reviewing your performance and setting goals at the halfway point of each year. A performance review will allow you to see how well you’re doing against your goals and give you information on where to focus in the future. In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about giving yourself a mid-year performance review as a freelancer so that you can ensure your freelance business is as productive as possible.
Take inventory of what you have done
As a freelancer, it can be easy to lose track of all that you have accomplished in a year. To get started, list down everything you have accomplished in the past six months. This will help give you a sense of your accomplishments and where you might want to focus your attention in the second half of the year.
Here are some questions to ask yourself as you review your work:
- What went well?
- What didn’t go well?
- What did I learn from this task or project?
- What is the feedback from the customer?
If you don’t take stock of your performance, you’ll have no idea where to go next — or how to improve upon what you’ve already done.
Evaluate your current goals
At the beginning of the year, you probably set some goals for yourself, but how are they going? It’s important to look at your current goals and see where they fit in with what’s going on right now.
Here are some ways to evaluate your current situation:
If you didn’t hit your goal, take some time to think about why that is. Were there obstacles in your way that were unexpected or out of your control? What steps could you have taken in order to prevent this from happening next time around?
Make sure you are being honest with yourself. It is important to be realistic when assessing your work. If you are too critical, you may become discouraged. However, if you are too lenient, you will not be able to improve.
Set new goals
Now that you have your current performance and goals in mind, it’s time to set some new ones. The first step is to figure out what you want to achieve over the next six months. Think about your short-term goals and long-term vision. What do you want from your freelancing career? How are you going to get there?
Write down things that are important to you personally and professionally. It could be earning enough money to pay off debt, becoming a top-notch copywriter or starting an online course so others can learn from your experience. You can also use this as a way to set business goals for yourself.
Once you’ve got a few ideas written down, think about how they’ll impact one another. For example, if one of your goals is earning more money while working fewer hours, then that might mean spending more time on marketing efforts and less time doing other tasks.
Once you’ve identified what needs to change and how it’s going to happen, start making a plan of action.
Outline action plan
Make a list of what you need to do to achieve your new goals. There are many ways to go about this, but it’s important to choose the one that works best for you and your current situation.
If you have a long list, identify the item that is most important to you, then prioritize them. Break down each plan into smaller tasks or steps. This can be done by creating daily checklists with specific timeslots for work that needs to be done throughout the day. It’s also possible to simply write down every actionable step needed for completion before moving onto another task; this has been proven as more effective than just writing out high-level goals without any details about how those goals might be achieved.
Monitor your progress
Make sure you’re on track with what you set out to achieve. If you find that your plans aren’t working, don’t be afraid to change your goals or plans (and yes, a new plan is always needed), and don’t be afraid to change your strategy too.
As a freelancer, it’s important to stay on top of your game and always be looking for ways to improve. One way to do this is by giving yourself regular performance reviews. This doesn’t have to be anything formal – simply sit down and reflect on what you’ve been doing well and what you could use to make some improvement. Doing this on a regular basis will help you fine-tune your freelancing business and make sure you’re always putting your best foot forward.