Tips for Freelance Writing Jobs for Beginners – Managing Your Time
As a work at home parent,it can sometimes feel like you're being pulled in five directions at once. You sit down to write a blog post, only to be interrupted because someone needs their pajama washed before bedtime, someone else is hungry and will only eat a grilled cheese "cut into triangles, please", and before you know it, your idea is gone completely. Or maybe that's just MY house.
Either way, no matter what your mother in law, your ex, or all your friends want to think, it's not easy to make money from home online. In fact, it's damned difficult to get anything done some days. But if you need to do it, you can carve out the time to make it work. Here are a few tips I've learned along the way.
1. Never Underestimate the Power of Small Chunks of Time
I'm absolutely amazed at the power my mind has to trick me. I'll look at an item on my to do list and want to put it off. "That will take forever!", I think. Then I sit down and actually apply myself, and 15 minutes later, the item is done and I'm off to doze in the sun. Ok, maybe it's not quite that easy. It IS incredibly easy to overestimate how long a project will take, though.
When I'm struggling to work on something because I'm flat out lacking the motivation, I break out my small chunks of time theory and start chipping away at the project 15 minutes at a time. I set a timer, and I remind myself that I only have to work on it for that 15 minutes, and then I'm done for the day. I frequently find myself still plugging away an hour later, almost finished with the dreaded work, and wondering what was so bad in the first place. It's amazing what the mind can do.
2. Block Out Distractions
To the best of my ability, I work to block out distractions. I live with my partner, a three year old, and a five year old, so sometimes that's easier said than done. Noise cancelling headphones are my friend. SimplyNoise.com is my friend. Even if I'm only using white noise and blocking out the sounds of video games, cartoons, or general chaos for the aforementioned 15 minutes, it's still focused time that I wouldn't otherwise have
3. Work Old School When Necessary
There are times when productivity just seems impossible. I'm trying desperately to brainstorm, the kids are running around like monkeys and I'm staring out the window at a beautiful sunny day. Or, y'know, it's evening and I don't want to sit at my desk anymore because Law and Order is on. Whichever. If I'm just not feeling an entire blog post or don't want to be confined to the computer, I sometimes find that turning OFF the computer, grabbing a pen and paper, and sitting down to brainstorm, mind map, or simply journal can actually be incredibly productive. It allows me to take a step back from all the buzz and bustle of the online world and just think about what I need to do next. Even if it's just making a to do list, I'm already ahead of the game for the following day.
