Work from Home Writer Success: Working the Workday

Slotting Your Time for Effectiveness

I am a full time freelance writer. I work from a home office. It wasn't always this way. I mean, I have always been a freelance writer (since 16) with a home office, but I didn't always work from said office.

Did I read plenty before I actually worked? Yes. I found, however, that the old adage about planning and failing? It was quite true.

Ever necessary, I popped out the gilded edge business plan (okay, so it is a presentation binder with handwritten pages in a kaleidoscope of ink colors and scribbles) and thought back to my days as an office manager and bookkeeper. I maintained a strict daily schedule. I had one time block for the bookkeeping duties, four hours total, and spread marketing, networking, recurring administrative duties, and of course lunch. This had worked in my days as a worker, so why not try this out for my days as a self-employed creative professional. It is much too easy to get off track and to get nothing done, so I hopped to work.

My objectives for my business were met with until now previously unattended strategies. I needed to market my services, network with other professionals, and actually write. I scratched my head and thought back...what was my peak writing time? For me, my peak writing hours are in the afternoon, and I block in four billable hours per day. I also knew that my marketing peak hours were first thing in the morning. I studied my business plan and created myself a daily a routine. 

I am not saying that this is the routine for every freelance writer. I know that some of us creative professionals would call this much routine stifling. I am of the opinion that even creativity will foster under strict discipline, and with such beliefs created this schedule.

Here is an example, my work schedule. By no means am I saying that every freelance writer should work this way. I know that some writers out there cringe to see this! I simply recommend making use of slots, as I do, to maximize your efficiency.

My Average Monday through Friday
-8 am to 10 am is marketing time. 
Monday I market with cold calls.
Tuesday I market with cold emails.
Wednesday I market with queries.
Thursday I market with walk-ins or cold visits.
Friday I market with forums, bidding sites, and classifieds.
-10 am to 12 pm is networking time.
Each day varies, and I tend to do a little of each of the following every day.
Navigate Linked In - see what others are up to, search for connections of interest, updating my profile.
Visiting blogs and commenting.
Socializing on Twitter with other freelancers. 
Reading articles about my craft and my business (and often sharing these with others on Twitter.)
Emails, messages, and phone calls to my network of freelance writer friends to see how they are doing, how business is, and often discussing collaborative efforts of interests.
-12 pm to 1 pm is lunch.
Hey, when you work for yourself, taking an hour for lunch should be required.
-1 pm to 5 pm is writing time.
Any writing to be done is done during these four hours.
*On the 1st of the month, I write all of my blog posts for the month from 7 am to 8 am.
*On the 15th of the month, I update my website copy for the month from 7 am to 8 am.
*On the last day of the month, I do any necessary collections activities, close my accounting books, and reconcile my accounts.

For me, this is the ideal schedule. I haven't been able to fulfill my gloriously hopeful business plan any other way than to strictly adhere to a schedule that requires me to work on all of my priorities each and every day. 

I also work on Saturday and occasionally Sunday, if I feel like it. This is when I deal with any necessary administrative work or work on some writing project that has put ants in my pants.

If you are looking to add more structure to your work from home writing workday, consider using slots. These slots originate in your business plan. What are your integral goals? What can you do month, weekly, and daily to meet them? In these answers, you can find your balance of productivity and routine with your free spirit freelancing day.