It can be difficult to know when to stretch your existing team to fill out a project, start a new hiring process in anticipation of work, or simply hire a freelancer to help complete a project team. I’ve worked with companies as a project lead, temporary project manager, and full-time contract project manager, and it’s not always easy to get freelance hiring and fit right.

As a freelance project manager, I’ve jumped into projects at almost any phase: from projects a few days away from launching or kickoffs right after proposals are accepted, I’ve been a part of it all.

Contract project management isn’t as common in the tech world as freelance design or development is, and it’s still somewhat of a novelty.

How did you start contract project managing?

I was looking to leave my job at the time and had been pursuing job leads for a month or two. I received offers at a well-known agency in Boston and a few remote-based positions and realized a few things.

Over the next few weeks I’d like to document the process I’ve gone through to switch to working for myself full-time, the applications I use to stay organized, what I’m learning as I go, and how I’m managing my schedule. I always love looking back on this stuff for myself, and I have small hopes that some people might be interested in reading this as well! I know I’m always curious about what other people do and what their workflow is.