How to Give Yourself an Appraisal as a Freelancer: A Step-by-Step Guide

AD – This is a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As a freelancer, everything you do is managed by you. Your workload, your time off and your goals. This is one of the things I love about freelancing – but it does mean you have to push yourself to set goals and track your progress.

One of the best tips I received from a freelancer friend is to give yourself an appraisal every three months to set yourself goals and celebrate your wins. It’s really helped me think about my work and understand how I want to direct my freelancer career.

In this blog post, read everything you need to know about giving yourself an appraisal as a freelancer – including a few top tips for your first self-assessment!

What is a freelance appraisal?

If you work in a traditional job, an appraisal gives you a chance to speak to your supervisor and flag any concerns. They might talk to you about your goals going forward or something that needs to improve.

You can talk through your work and make sure your career is on track – and you can think about anything that needs to change, too.

As a freelancer, you don’t have to miss out on this handy career progression tool. Giving yourself an appraisal is a useful way to think about your freelance work, understand your client load and make any changes to your processes.

A freelance self-appraisal involves writing down your thoughts, feelings and goals from a set period – and it’s a great way to evaluate your work.

This self-evaluation may give you new ideas about how to manage your time and your work – or it might simply encourage you to stay committed to your goals when you need motivation.

It gives you clear goals for a set period of time – and it can even help you avoid burn-out or spot any freelance red flags, as you’re staying on top of your business and your work.

How to give yourself an appraisal as a freelancer

Giving yourself an appraisal is a simple process. It can be as little as talking through your goals with another freelancer or writing down everything you want to change in the upcoming months.

I’ve put together exactly how to give yourself an appraisal as a freelancer, including a few ways to personalise your goal-setting process to suit you and your business.

Step 1 – Create your appraisal document

First things first, you need to create your appraisal document. This is the place where you’ll write down all your thoughts – and it’s up to you whether you want to use paper or an online platform like Google Docs.

There are a few different sections to add to your appraisal, including:

• Short-term goals
• Long-term goals
• Achievements
• Things you could do better
• Your clients: Are you happy? Is there anyone you’d love to work for? Is there anything you need to change?
• Your processes as a freelancer

However, it’s important to personalise your appraisal. Think about what you want to achieve and where you’re going to take your freelancer career.

Do you want to give yourself a specific focus until your next appraisal, or do you have several goals you want to achieve? Do you have ideas about increasing your income or do you want to focus on how you feel about your work?

Step 2 – Set aside time to complete your appraisal

Next, you need to set aside time to complete your appraisal. There’s no point in giving yourself 10 minutes or even half an hour to do your appraisal. This is a big job – and you should carve out a good amount of time to complete it.

You might need an hour or two – or you might want to clear your afternoon so you can really get into who you are as a freelancer – and what you want to accomplish.

I always find these types of tasks daunting, but it’s so important to spend a little time just thinking through your work and making sure you’re happy.

You could even take yourself out for a nice lunch while you complete your appraisal or treat yourself to a coffee break.

Step 3 – Make notes about the past three months

Now, you need to start filling out your appraisal. Make notes about everything that’s happened in the past three months (or since you started freelancing if this is your first appraisal).

The different headings can help to direct your “conversation” with yourself, but it’s also okay to just do a brain dump on the page and organise it afterwards.

Your notes will help you understand where you are, what’s coming up and how you want to improve in the next few months.

Step 4 – Look to the future

Now, it’s time to review what you’ve written. You can use your notes to look to the future and set yourself goals for your next appraisal.

There are a few different goal-setting procedures to follow, so make sure to use a system that works for you.

I like to set short-term and long-term goals. A short-term goal, for example, could be how much I want to make by the next appraisal date. A long-term goal could be the kind of clients I want to work with.

You could think about when you want to raise your prices or a dream client you’d like to contact. There are so many different goals you can set yourself – and you can choose your next appraisal as an endpoint or set a timescale that works for you.

Step 5 – Set your next appraisal date

Finally, it’s time to set your next appraisal date. Typically, you’ll complete your freelancer self-assessment every three months – but there may be a different process that works better for you.

You can choose a date that coincides with the quarters of the year or simply pick a time that works for you. Freelance life gets super busy, so it’s a good idea to have a date in the diary for when you can take a second to stop and think.

When you complete your next appraisal, you can compare and contrast your previous notes with your notes for your current performance review.

This is a great way to see if you’ve achieved everything you want – and you can think about how your career has changed since your last appraisal.

Tips for your freelance appraisal

Setting objectives and assessing your freelance career is an important part of freelancing – and it can help you stay on track.

I’ve put together a few tips for your first freelance appraisal, including a couple of ideas that might help you get started.

1. Personalise your freelance appraisal

As with anything in freelancing, you’ll need to personalise your approach to your freelance goals review.

Ask yourself questions that work for you and your career. Personalising your freelance appraisal process will encourage you to think about what you need in the upcoming months, and you’ll focus on what feels most relevant to you.

Whether you offer great translation services or you want to redirect your work to find new clients, personalising your approach will help you get the most out of your appraisal as a freelancer.

2. Think about everything – not just your work

This might sound like an odd one, but thinking about everything is a great way to track your mental health, burn-out and work/life balance.

All of these things play an important role in your freelance career – so it’s important to keep on top of them. Write down how you feel about your work, review your client relationships and think about how you’re managing your workload.

This can help you identify any issues and stop burn-out before it develops – and you can effectively manage your time, even when work is a little quiet.

3. Don’t put pressure on yourself

It’s important to avoid putting pressure on yourself when completing your freelance appraisal.

Everyone measures success differently – and it’s the same for freelancers. It’s a great idea to set yourself goals, but it’s important to remember that your freelance journey might not always be linear – and you may need to alter your goals as you look forward.

Although it’s great to highlight things that you need to change, make sure to write down a few positives from your past few months, too. You might feel your appraisal getting a bit negative as you identify things to improve, but choosing to celebrate your wins can help you feel good and motivate you.

How do you like to track your freelance milestones? Would you like to give yourself a freelance appraisal? What’s your favourite freelance tip?

Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

Happy reading x