Venturing into the world of being a freelance writer?
You’re ready to take action, move forward and get some awesome work from home jobs.
But wait –
You can’t do this alone – you’re a parent and you have little kids to take care of.
This means distractions and the thought of making sure this works…the first time around.
For many parents and moms that start freelance writing and work from home jobs, the one thing that becomes a big challenge is balancing motherhood/parenthood with a business.
And the next challenge is ensuring that the time you are devoting to freelance writing pays off.
For some, freelance writing HAS to pay off or else it’s no longer a viable option for them.
I hope you are not in the predicament, but if you are, I want to help you!
Learning how to work from home as a freelance writer with kids in tow takes some planning and scheduling. I’ll share with you my schedule as a work from home mom, my support network that helped me through this (and continues to help me) and how to maximize your time for some freelance writing jobs so that you can finally get paid to write.
Work From Home Schedule
I started freelance writing when my twins were napping twice a day.
I found that I could work when they went down for their naps and when they went to bed at night. This gave me almost six hours a day!
But, then the day came when my twins dropped their nap and only napped once a day and those 6 hours turned to 4 hours a day.
So for most of my freelance writing business, I was hustling 4 hours a day, or on a part-time schedule.
And, to this day, six years later, I still only freelance write for my clients on a part-time or ad-hoc schedule.
I enjoy this schedule as it gives me time to be with my twins, do online schooling and start other project like other blogs.
The best part is, I can make money freelance writing because I have premium rates and my average projects is around $600.
So, in the beginning my work from home schedule looked like this:
- 10-11:30am – look on job boards and apply to 10 freelance writing jobs
- 3-5pm – write a guest post and submitted via email
- 7-10pm – write a personal blog post, read other freelance writing blogs and find more writing gigs
This was enough time to find some great writing projects, guest post to get my name out there and creatively write on my personal blog (which is this blog!).
Not every day was this exact schedule, but generally I pitched to jobs, wrote guest posts and wrote blog posts for my blog.
When I had time I would hop onto other freelance writing blogs and read more about freelance writing and marketing.
And that left me time to be with my twins and be a stay at home mom.
I used this schedule for many years, but it changed once my twins attended school.
This left me with undistracted time to work.
So now I work from 9-2 M-F and I have the weekends off. I enjoy this schedule since my husband works from home as well.
Having undistracted time to work is glorious but I do have time with managing my tasks and getting myself motivated to do the work.
So it seems the more time I have, the less productive I can become.
That’s why I have to have a planner to plan my days. I like using my Freelance Writing Productivity Planner.
I’m able to set the tasks for the day and then break them down in my planner.
And it comes in handy when I can’t be at my computer. I can have my planner in the kitchen while I’m preparing supper and jot down content ideas or article projects that are due.
How to Maximize Your Time for Freelance Writing Work
When you have work from home jobs the most important thing is having a schedule that you actually follow.
If you are finding you can’t follow that schedule then you need to change it up.
Maybe your ‘zone of genius’ isn’t until 8pm. This means you need to save all your writing for that time and for other blocks in your day you pitch and hustle.
For me, my schedule adapted with my children’s needs.
During the summer I worked less on client work and personal work.
With what’s going on in the world with lockdowns and social isolation, I focus most of my writing work from 9-12 and the rest of the day to homeschooling and being with my twins.
If you have little ones to take care of what worked was having activities to keep my kids busy.
Sometimes as a parent or work from home mom you have to do your business during those fringe times. This is what I had to do when my twins were transitioning from two naps a day to one nap a day.
Some days I only had 10-minute blocks to think of blog post ideas or look on job boards.
And even today my twins often disrupt me or a I stop working for the day at 11 am.
I’m able to create a fluid work from home job schedule because I’ve created a sustainable freelance writing business and I’m so happy for that!
And I know you can do the same too!
A Strong Support Network is Key
One thing that helped me immensely when my kids were little and I was working from home was my support network.
My mother-in-law would relieve me of my twins and take them to the park or do a stroller walk – almost every day!
I would either work on my freelance writing business or prep dinner during this “free time.”
My husband also worked from home so he helped me with child care and any tech challenges I had with my online business.
Finally, I had an in real life IRL freelance writing friend Lorraine of Wording Well to talk to!
We met in the first year I was a freelance writer and found her on Twitter! I learned we live in the same town and I reached out and we meet regularly at our local Starbucks to talk business and life.
I absolutely love this because this gets me out of the house and I can really talk about freelance writing. My husband isn’t too keen on my business so I don’t want to bother him with the ins and outs of client work.
Lorraine, on the other hand, is an editor and I love hearing about her editing work and I’m sure she enjoys any new freelance writing jobs I pick up.
I suggest you find a strong support network when you start a work from home job.
It will be hard to do this on your own!
Work From Home Jobs for You
When you begin to work from home as a freelance writer and with kids to take care of there are some things that will make your work more streamlined.
For me, having a home office or dedicated workspace helped me tell myself that I was a professional here, not a hobby blogger.
I had my own space to work from home and be a freelance writer.
It doesn’t have to be a whole room either. When I first started I worked in my master bedroom practically in our closet! But, it worked!
For you, it might mean a desk in the kitchen, a nook in the living room, or your closet!
Another thing to help you with work from home jobs are good resources.
To help you check out these posts to find jobs at home:
Finally, remember to give yourself grace during this process.
Working from home with kids is tough!
I’m not going to lie – I was stressed out a lot of the time.
I was juggling a lot and even though I had a strong support network, I always felt that I could be doing more.
I wasn’t giving myself grace and it hurt my success in the beginning.
I don’t want that to happen to you! Give yourself grace and allow for self-care too! If you want to do this for the long-run, then have a plan to nurture yourself and creativity.
Over to you – do you have little kids at home? What strategies work for you to help you gain more time for your work at home business as a freelance writer?
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