The One Thing Most Freelancers Forget When it Comes to Saving Time

Want more time-saving systems tips every fortnight? Subscribe to the FWO Newsletter and get SOP templates, AI prompts, process-boosting tips and more delivered straight to your inbox.

I’ll never forget the night I sat staring at my screen, trying to upload multiple thumbnails to YouTube so I could A/B test them on the new video I was publishing. 

I’d uploaded thumbnails before, but for some reason the settings weren’t right, and I couldn’t remember which thumbnail upload option was the right one.  I wasted almost an hour retracing steps, second-guessing myself, and Googling instructions.  

And the really frustrating thing was that I knew I’d have to go through the exact same mess again next time if I didn’t write down all those steps.

And that’s when it FINALLY clicked.  It was going to be well worth investing my time in actually documenting the steps, because I would save myself so much time and frustration later.

I’ve talked about the need for systems before, but now I want to talk a bit about SOPs.

What Exactly Is an SOP? (And Why Do They Matter?)

The acronym, SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), sounds fancy, but really, it’s just a recipe.  A step-by-step guide for how you handle repeatable tasks, from outlining a blog post to invoicing a client.  It’s your external brain, the one that never forgets, never gets tired, and never rolls its eyes when you ask, “Wait, how do I do this again?”

Think of SOPs as checklists that future-proof your sanity.  They make sure you handle tasks the same way every time, even when you’re tired, distracted, or juggling five deadlines.

Some quick examples from my own work:

YouTube Upload SOP

My checklist walks me through the process of exporting the final video cut in the right format, writing an SEO-friendly title and description, adding cards/end screens, picking the thumbnails I want to test and scheduling the release date.  

Because it’s written down, I never have to re-learn YouTube’s interface or worry about forgetting a crucial step.

Freelance Writers Online Newsletter SOP

Our team follows a simple living document that covers ideation, drafting, editing, link/CTA checks, and the welcome sequence we use for new signups. 

The result? Most of the time, each edition ships on time and on-brand, with no last-minute scrambles.  

I say “most of the time” because sometimes life happens and the people we love take top priority over a newsletter.  And that’s the way it should be.  

But most of the time, having that SOP helps us do things in a way that lets us spend more time with our families.

But Why Bother With SOPs If You’re a “Company of One”?

Here’s the thing … when it’s just you, you can’t afford wasted time or missed steps.  Every hour lost hunting for files or rewriting an email is an hour you’re not getting paid, or worse, an hour you’re edging closer to burnout.

With SOPs, the process lives outside your head.  You open the checklist and get straight to work … no second-guessing, no wasted brain space.  Quality stays consistent.  Deadlines stay under control. And your energy goes where it belongs, right into the writing itself.

When last-minute client changes land in your inbox (and they always do), a clear roadmap means fewer surprises and faster fixes.  SOPs are like insurance against chaos, especially when you’re a company of one.

Real-World Examples (Borrow What Works)

Podcast Production with ChatGPT
My fortnightly podcast production process used to literally take more than a day.   I’d scramble for guest outreach emails, outline drafts, prep the transcripts and show notes. Now a Google Doc SOP paired with a few ChatGPT prompts handles all of that.  

These days the whole process takes me about 3-4 hours AND I’m also able to repurpose each episode into more pieces of content, all within that same 3-4 hours.

It’s still a lot of work, but it’s worth it and I now have time for other things as well.

Asana for Government Projects
When I was running a pilot program for the Australian Federal Government a few years back, there were a lot of people that needed to be kept up to date and a ton of tasks to coordinate.  Not to mention reporting.

We kept every SOP we used in Asana and made sure the team knew where they were.  

The result?  We more than hit our milestones on time and on target.  We exceeded them. Because nobody had to ask, “What’s next?”

The Humble File-Naming Convention
It may sound boring, but when we started that same pilot program I just mentioned, we did not have a file-naming SOP.

It almost sounds silly, doesn’t it.  I mean, who cares what you name your files, right?

Well, actually, it ended up mattering a lot.  Both my team members and I ended up wasting a ton of time every day digging for files we knew were there but couldn’t find.

I was frustrated.  And my team was super frustrated.  So we sat down and did the maths.  And we figured out that we were losing around 2.5 hours EVERY DAY.  

So we took the time to create our file-naming convention and then, once again, made sure everyone knew about it and used it.

And that particular time-wasting problem disappeared.  Boring thing to do and not flashy, but my goodness, it worked.

Quarterly Writing Audit SOP
Years ago, when my children were little, I used to write to bring in a little bit of cash.  One year of experimenting with writing styles and pitching approaches turned into ten.  And suddenly I had cardboard boxes full of ideas, published articles and “almost-there-but-not-quite” writing samples.

Recently, I dragged out those old cardboard boxes of writing and did an audit.  Which took forever.  But while I was doing the audit, I created a spreadsheet that helps me track what I’ve written, when, who published it (or not) and how much I got paid.

As spreadsheets go, it’s not glamorous, but those columns at the top act as an SOP to remind what information to record what is essentially my working portfolio.

And what was once a dreaded task is now a short routine that frequently sparks new pitch ideas.

Pitch-to-Payment Pipeline
And because I don’t want to let ideas slip through the cracks, I use that same spreadsheet system to track every idea from brainstorm → draft → sent → follow-up → accepted → invoice → paid.  

Combine that spreadsheet with email templates and follow-up dates built in, there’s no longer any excuse for opportunities to vanish into that hazy void of “I-forgot”.

The One Habit Most Freelancers Forget (That Could Save You Hours)

So if you’ve been following along, you already know that creating your SOP "recipes" for managing processes is only step one.  But here’s the catch … over time, even the best SOPs get stale.  

Tools change, better shortcuts turn up, and what once saved you time might actually now be slowing you down.  And when your SOPs are out of date? That once-clear path to getting things done can become a confusing maze filled with quicksand traps.

Maybe you’ve updated how you pitch, added AI tools, or switched from Trello to Notion.  If your SOP still references the old steps, then you’re back to square one … trying to remember what comes next.  And the time-saving power of your once fresh new SOP is gone.

The Fix: A Simple 90-Day SOP Review Ritual

Instead of letting that mess happen, schedule a 15-minute review every 90 days to keep your systems tight, accurate, and useful.  You don’t need to overhaul everything.  You just need to treat this like a quarterly oil change.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Pick 1–3 SOPs to Review – Choose the ones you use most often or that carry the highest stakes. Think pitching, onboarding, or content delivery.
2. Ask: “Is this still serving me?” – Read it as if you were doing the task for the first time. Are there friction points? Steps you’ve replaced or shortcuts you’ve added? Time to update.
3. Trim, Tighten, Simplify – Remove unnecessary steps, merge overlaps, and keep the language clear and fast. The easier it is to use, the more you’ll stick with it.
4. Look for Upgrades – Can you automate part of it? Use AI to draft? Add a plugin to eliminate repetition? This is where a good SOP becomes a great one.

Bonus: Let AI Help You Optimize Your SOP
Try this simple prompt series in your favourite AI tool:

• Prompt 1: “Here’s my current SOP for [task]. The goal is [insert goal]. I use [list tools]. Please review and tell me if any steps are missing, redundant, or unclear.”
• Prompt 2: “Based on that SOP, can you suggest ways to make this process faster or simpler without sacrificing quality?”
• Prompt 3: “Can you convert this SOP into a checklist format with brief steps and helpful links?”

You’ll be surprised how many small tweaks AI can catch, and how much time that ends up saving.

Quick-Start: Your First 3 SOPs (in Under an Hour)

And if you don’t already have SOPs in place, now is the time to take action.  Have a crack at the steps below and then celebrate how much time you’ve just saved yourself by creating your first SOPs.

1. Spot the Time-Wasters – Choose a task you do at least three times a month that eats 30+ minutes or creates chaos when it goes wrong.
2. Capture in Real Time – Next time you do it, record yourself going through that process with Loom or Zoom or just jot rough bullets. Do NOT trust your memory.  Using video to capture what you actually do will help make sure you don’t miss anything
3. Turn Bullets into a Checklist – Drop those bullet points into Notion, Asana, or even Google Docs. Add links to templates or prompts so everything lives in one place.
4. Run It & Refine – Use your new process immediately. Be sure to delete redundant steps, merge overlaps, and tighten wording until it fits on one screen.
5. Set a 90-Day Review – Put a calendar reminder to check in quarterly. And when you update your SOP(s) think about new tools you’ve started using, any lessons learned, or any shortcuts you’ve discovered.

Systems Save Time

You may have initially thought that SOPs are just annoying corporate red tape.  But they aren’t.  They’re more like time machines.  Each documented process is a gift to your future self, saving you from wasted effort and mental clutter.

But the magic isn’t just in creating them, it’s in maintaining them.  Build, use, review, repeat.  That’s the cycle that keeps your systems sharp and your workflow smooth.

The bottom line is … document once, review often, save forever. Your future self, and your sanity, will thank you for it.

If this post gave you an idea or a shortcut you’re excited to try, pass it on to a writer friend who might need it too.

Want quarterly reminders, template walkthroughs, and AI-optimized checklists? Subscribe to the FWO Newsletter—your inbox will get smarter, not harder.

Author's Bio

Trudy Rankin is an online business strategist and content creator who loves writing about quirky or funny experiences that teach life lessons. She helps service-based business owners attract the right leads using smart systems, quizzes, and AI, without adding to their sense of overwhelm. She and her husband live in Melbourne Australia and enjoy renovating camper vans and traveling, especially to visit family.