Having multiple clients is a common goal among many self-employed professionals. We automatically assume that the more we have, the more money being made. However, while this can be truthful to some degree (unfortunately, not always), it can also mean life becomes a little more chaotic.
Having more clients can mean you’re juggling a number of plates at once. You may find that you have to bend over backwards to satisfy specific clients and meet expectations, which can have a significant impact on your mental health, especially with burnout being a real thing.
It can also lead to you spending more hours working, which can be counterproductive. In fact, the key to handling multiple clients is all about being in control. If you can control each client effectively, chaos can be maintained, if not eliminated.
As a self-employed professional with multiple clients in my own field, I can appreciate it can be a lot easier said than done. However, I truly believe that being organised by having systems in place that can help you to prioritise, spend an allocated time on each client, and set boundaries can all help you to juggle the strain a big positive can have.
Yes, some of these techniques and strategies may reflect my own opinions, but I believe they are practical, and I’ll be honest about how they can help you to manage multiple clients.
Why Managing Multiple Clients Feels So Overwhelming
If you have ever had multiple clients, you’re likely to have felt overwhelmed, highly irritable, emotional, and burnt out. Trust me, it’s completely normal to have those feelings, and something that many self-employed professionals go through.
Depending on the type of work or industry you’re in, you may be one of many who have to complete work in order to be paid. Working as a self-employed individual, you may not have the luxuries that PAYE employees receive, such as paid holiday. If you take a break or don’t work, you don’t receive a penny. This can have a significant toll on our mental health, as we wonder whether taking a break is going to be viable. Can I still afford to pay my monthly outgoings without taking on as much work?
On the flip side, if you have multiple clients, it can be overwhelming when trying to meet deadlines, as each one starts to feel urgent. Sometimes, you may find that every client has the same deadline that needs to be met. It can be unavoidable at times, which is why you need to be organised and prioritise your work as best you can. Doing so can help you to remain in control in numerous ways.
Think about it in a simple equation: if you don’t have a clear structure + organisation + clear mind, then you can’t balance it out with an effective workflow. If there is no structure, you’re likely to experience constant stress, as you won’t know what to focus on or how to focus to complete the task at hand. At the same time, the actual workload you have will seem insignificant compared to the amount of energy and mental toll you start to go through because you can’t process things clearly.
You’re not alone if you feel overwhelmed trying to juggle multiple clients. Many of us have this ongoing battle; it’s simply all about how you manage them and stay in control.
The Real Problem: You’re Working Reactively
For many, it can be very easy to fall into a trap of being reactive rather than proactive when working as a self-employed professional. Of course, many professions may only allow you to be reactive, but there’s always a better way in which things can be done.
For example, I’ve been given plenty of notice about a deadline for a requested article. However, knowing that I’ve got a week to complete it, I’ve let it sit on the back burner and forgotten about it until the day it’s due or the day before. I was like it in school and university with coursework, and I still have a tendency to do it now.
I’ve found that planning and being organised has helped me to reduce the number of times I do this, helping me to prioritise my workload and get things done as soon as possible. This has helped me to be more reactive to tasks, thus allowing me to stay in control. If I didn’t plan, I’d be in permanent catch-up mode.
Some can fall into the trap of working out of their inbox and working on things in mail order; others may let clients dictate their day. Both of these can impact productivity, as constant interruptions can disrupt your workflow.
What Actually Works When You Have Multiple Clients
How Do I Prioritise Work When I Have Multiple Clients?
If you have multiple clients, it can be hard to know how to prioritise them. For me, using a system can help identify which tasks are more important and require some urgency to complete.
I will look at everything by each one’s deadline and then rank them by the client’s importance to me. Various factors can come into my ranking, but each helps me stay organised and juggle them as efficiently as I need to.
For instance, once I have each deadline listed in order, I’ll consider factors such as expected revenue, the time a task is expected to take, the client and their importance to me, and sometimes the client’s newness. If they have been acquired recently, I might prioritise them at the beginning to make a good first impression and keep them on board, then gradually adjust their priority ranking. I do prefer to work on tasks based on the expected time it will take to complete, though, as I know I can be more productive at specific times of the day.
What I’ve learned is to stop prioritising based on who shouts the loudest and work on the clients who appreciate the work you do more than others.
What’s the Best Way to Organise Work Across Different Clients?
The best way I’ve personally found to organise my work is to use one tool. I use a simple free tool like ‘Notes’ on my MacBook to organise my week, using a plan of action for each day and following it. I add tasks to each day as soon as they come in, so I know what I’m doing well in advance.
By doing it this way, I have a weekly overview, which gives me enough time to move things if I need to and enough flexibility to work on things as soon as possible. Should they need to be moved, at least I know I can still complete tasks within the deadlines set.
As a must, avoid having scattered notes that don’t contain all the important bits of information you need. You should write things down so you can see them, as visual notes won’t let you forget tasks you have to do.
How Do Self-Employed People Manage Their Time Properly?
One of the biggest challenges of self-employment, especially with multiple clients, is managing your time. In an ideal world, we want to work for eight hours, then spend eight hours doing something else, and then eight hours sleeping. Of course, this isn’t always realistic, especially when self-employed.
Still, you have to manage your time effectively to avoid burnout and produce satisfactory work. To achieve this, the best thing you can do is to block your time: set aside blocks of time to complete your work. For example, work is to be completed between 9 and 5. Outside of these hours is your free time.
To help you use your time effectively, consider when you are most productive and batch similar work together. I tend to work a morning shift of a few hours (when I’m most productive), take a few hours off in the afternoon for personal time (gym, “me” time, etc.), and then work a few hours in the evening. I’m not saying it will work for everyone, but it allows me to enjoy each day, and it’s a rigid routine I stick to daily.
How Do I Deal with Multiple Deadlines at the Same Time?
If you have multiple clients, it won’t be uncommon to encounter multiple deadlines at the same time. This can be where many lose their cool and find it hard to keep their emotions in check. One reason for this is that they are unprepared, haven’t been as organised as they should be, or have left everything to the last minute because they think they have more time than they do.
There are many simple things that can be done to combat this and to stay in control. Communication is the best thing and the starting point. Most clients will likely be understanding, depending on the work/industry you’re in. If you tell them in advance that you might need a slight extension of a deadline, most will find a way to accommodate it. Those who can’t can then become a priority.
Just stay calm and don’t panic; that’s the worst thing you can do, as it will just send you spiralling.
How Do I Set Boundaries Without Losing Clients?
Going back to what I mentioned earlier as a challenge of self-employment, not working can be one of our biggest fears. While taking a break can be hard to do without constant worry, let alone set boundaries and make clients aware of them. However, it’s something you must do in order to remain in control.
You should aim to establish response-time expectations and task-completion turnarounds as soon as possible. You can always suggest that a task be completed as soon as possible, but it’s advisable to set a reasonable timeframe that fits your schedule and doesn’t leave you overextending yourself to meet demands. Don’t allow for a precedent to be set based on one task by not stating your terms first.
You can do this by suggesting you have office hours and stating the times when you will and won’t be available. You can also share whether you only work Monday to Friday or include weekends. Clients who are aware of this are more likely to respect these boundaries and not ask you to do things others may, such as working on the weekend or having something completed within 24 hours.
How Do I Stop Clients Expecting Instant Replies?
Much of what I mentioned in the section above also falls under this part. By explaining how you work and your boundaries, you can prevent your clients from expecting instant replies. While you will want to seem professional, that doesn’t mean you have to be available at all times.
The nature of self-employment can make things complicated at times. An urgency culture has emerged for many, and some reward it. It’s best not to reward this where possible, as it can become detrimental when working with multiple clients. Set the norms that are to be expected and respected through your behaviour.
How Many Clients Should I Have at Once?
A million-pound question for many self-employed professionals. There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to how many clients you should have at once. It’s simply down to how many you think you can handle and manage without becoming too stressed or finding that you don’t have enough time or a work-life balance.
The main aim should be to have as few clients as possible who offer the best combination of continued work and the highest revenue. If you can combine these two, you may not need too many clients. However, if you have clients that don’t pay too well and you find you’re topping them up with other clients, it can become too much to manage, which can make it feel like you’ve taken on too much.
How Do I Know If I’ve Taken on Too Much Work?
You’ll know you’ve taken on too much work when you have. You’ll be spending the majority of every day working, leaving little time for your own interests or family. You’ll be falling behind with some clients and continually playing catch-up to meet the demands required to keep them happy.
You’ll simply become stressed all the time, which will significantly impact your mental and physical well-being. Your sleep will be affected, and you’ll have no energy or focus to work efficiently or even to enjoy life to the fullest. Sounds deep, but it’s just a fact.
The Hard Truth Most Self-Employed People Avoid
As self-employed professionals, we often ignore questions we know the answers to but don’t like. Questions like “Is it better to have fewer clients and charge more?” and “Why am I always busy but not progressing?” are all too common.
We know it’s better to charge more and have fewer clients, but we’re scared of relying on just a few clients or of being deemed expensive, even though we know our worth. We also know that being busy isn’t a true reflection of progress, but we’ll use it as a measure of success.
Indeed, more clients doesn’t equal better business. In fact, saying yes too often can create more chaos than good. You may earn more money, but at the expense of time. Are the several hours you’re having to put in worth the extra few quid that is being made? Maybe in the short term, but what about long term? It’s a question I’ve only just recently started looking at myself seriously, despite being self-employed for around a decade.
You need to ask yourself the important questions and face the hard truths, as being self-employed isn’t for the faint of heart.
One Simple System to Regain Control This Week
I made note of my simple system above and thought it would be best to reiterate it below:
Use a free tool to track what tasks you have to complete and the deadlines that you have. Plan the week ahead by listing each day you’re working and writing down what you need/intend to complete on those days. Then, on those days, simply follow it as your plan of action.
Remember to keep disciplined and use time blocks to help you stay focused and on track. If you need to adjust things, account for them on other days by being flexible. Communicate with clients as early as possible if you anticipate any problems, as most will be understanding.
The main point is to keep your system as simple and repeatable as possible; this will help you to manage multiple clients and remain in control.
Final Say
If you feel overwhelmed because you have multiple clients you’re trying to juggle, you’re not alone. It is completely normal to feel this way, and it’s something that every self-employed professional has gone through at some point.
The key to remaining in control is to be organised and to follow a structured plan daily. If you can do this, you’ll have all the ingredients to avoid chaos and limit the stress that comes with having multiple clients.
Remember, while multiple clients can be great, it can also be disadvantageous. You don’t have to work more to be successful; you simply have to be able to manage your time and remain in control.
