Could this really be the best way to work?

Over the last few years, I’ve worked in a variety of different roles while being a freelance writer, from an MIS Officer through to a consultant for a technology company.

Up until 2011, all of my freelance writing work was carried out on an evening and weekend.

It started off as a way to fill some spare time I had, developed into a way for me to be able to work for myself and has now opened up a range of opportunities, both writing and non-writing related.

At the moment, I’m a freelance writer for half of the week and I’m in a salaried role for the other half.

For both, I’m predominantly home based.  While there’s a lot of travel involved with the salaried role and I do have to travel occasionally for the freelance writing part of my work, I spend a lot of time working from home.

This started in the summer of 2011, working a day or two from home and in November 2011 it grew to being working from home for most of the week.

At first, I thought it was great and to a certain extent today, I still do think it’s great – the freedom is fantastic and I’m not restricted to working 9am to 5pm.

One of the major pitfalls I’ve discovered about working from home, however, is that it can be particularly lonely, something I’ve discussed previously.

While I thought I’d be able to get past this loneliness, it’s actually proving a lot more difficult than I first thought and before Christmas I started to make more of an effort to get out of my house, spending more time on-site and visiting clients.

This last week, however, I’ve started to wonder whether I’d be better suited to going back to an office based job – a writing / communications one – even for a day or two a week, simply for the social aspect.

What’s slightly confusing for me is that I love my own space.  Sure, I love spending time with my Better Half and seeing friends, but I’m quite happy to be left by myself to do whatever I want.

When it comes to work, though – and I never thought I’d say this – I do miss the general day-to-day interaction with others.

My work doesn’t suffer in any respect by working from home and I don’t think it ever will, as I love the work, but it’s just that it can be slightly difficult, on occasion, to get motivated without anyone to bounce ideas off or to simply have a chat to.

For those of you who have worked both from home and in an office, which do you prefer?

And for those who’ve only worked in one or the other, have you considered working in the other?  Do you think it would be more beneficial to you as an individual?

Image:  fancycwabs (Flickr)

Do you really understand just how lonely a freelance writing career can be?

I didn’t always know that it was freelance writing I wanted to do as a career, but from being 8 or 9 years old, I’ve always known that I wanted to be my own boss, something that I always thought would lead me to working as and when I wanted, whether from home or my business’s offices.

To me, it was always the way that I would know I’d ‘made it’ – if I could choose where and when I worked, that meant I was the boss and could make my own rules. It was as simple as that.

When I started freelance writing – and for many years to start with – I worked freelance alongside a full time, salaried position.

I’d go to the 9 to 5 job during the day and then spend all evenings and weekends writing. Yeah, it got to the point where I was really struggling to keep all of the plates spinning, but I managed to do it, as I knew that it would eventually lead to me achieving my goal of being self-employed full time.

Earlier this year, I accepted a part time salaried position that was extremely flexible. I took it because aside from being tired of what was then my current salaried position, the flexibility meant I could work as and when I wanted, which was one step closer to me achieving my overall goal.

And that’s when I realised my goal had to change somewhat.

With the new salaried role, I had to – and still do – work from home. Great. It sounded perfect to start with.

However, it started to get a bit problematic a few weeks in.

Sure, it was great not having to get up early to shower and get ready for work – I could (and hey, it’s turned into a bit of a habit) get up a little later than normal, do some work for an hour or so while having a coffee and then go get showered when I’ve caught up with my e-mails – but after a few weeks of spending all day behind a computer, I realised something that I never thought I would – I was missing people.

I can be a sociable guy. I like hosting parties and I like chatting with friends and family. I’ve even got a bit of a penchant for meeting new people at the minute. But I do like my own time and I’m just as happy reading a book completely on my own as I am mingling with a group of people. It’s because of this reason why I always thought I’d be absolutely fine when it came to working by myself full time.

I don’t think anyone can actually prepare you for it, though.

When you’re working in an office job for 8 hours a day, although you’re in the office, you don’t actually work for all of those 8 hours. You have a lunch break. You make coffee a few times. You go to the toilet.

Sure, you do all of those things when you’re working from home, but without one thing – human interaction.

There’s no going for lunch with a colleague. No having a quick gossip while the kettle boils. No bumping into a colleague for a chat when you’re going to the toilet. None of that.

You can’t even bounce ideas off a colleague without having to jot them down in an e-mail, send them across and wait for their reply.

And the truth is, it’s actually really, really difficult to cope with.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve taken on more projects where I can actually get out of the house and the agency work I talked about last week is increasing day-by-day, which means more meetings, more trips to the office and more interaction with others.

It’s not great all the time, I say that openly, but when you’re given the option of sitting behind a computer by yourself for 8 hours or doing some travelling to a meeting, I know which one I now choose.

Don’t get me wrong, I love freelance writing and I always will, but I think it’s important for new writers to be aware that it can be a lonely career and it could be worthwhile getting into the mindset from the start that you shouldn’t be aiming to working from home all of the time.

Image:  diamond geezer (Flickr)

I’ve written here in the past about what do when overwhelmed by writing work. But what do you do when you’re doing so much juggling that the balls start to drop? It’s time to take action fast otherwise the consequences could be dire: to your health, your finances, and your reputation.

Because freelance writing goes from feast to famine and then to feast again on a regular basis, many writers have trouble saying “No” to work. We don’t typically have job descriptions and a set schedule because most times, no two days are the same for us. The fear of famine is what gets so many of us in trouble. Sometimes we just overbook our schedules because work presents itself and we can’t bring ourselves to turn it away.

Life as a juggler, especially if you work at home and have family responsibilities, ain’t easy. When you start to drop the balls, it’s scary and things can domino out of control. It has happened to me more than once. Here’s what I do when I need to regain control:

Clean the Desk and the Desktop

When I’m feeling flabbergasted with my work load, my desk and my desktop both tend to get messy. When my environment is cluttered, I have trouble focusing.  Taking ten minutes to clean up your desk can help you focus.

As for the desktop, I’m often teased about the fact that there can be more icons on my Windows desktop than room. When it gets like that, I know it’s time to reorganise. Sit down and clean up the files on your computer and you’ll be more organised when it comes to working as well. I use a system of files that go by client for freelance work and a separate folder for my own blogs and projects, and another folder for administrative stuff.

Email

If my email inbox has more than 1 page of emails, I know I need to wade through and figure out what really needs to be there. Taking a half an hour or so to clean up your email inbox will do wonders for you because it’ll help you see what you really need to get done.

To-Do List

Writing a list of what needs to get done in order of priority is a smart thing to do. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, I find that this often comes as not having a full grasp of just what needs to be done and when it has to get done by. By writing it down you can also cross off things as they’re finished. With each checkmark, you’ll feel better.

Tip: It might be tempting to get rid of the easy stuff on the to-do list first but my strategy involves getting rid of the hard stuff first. A writing client of mine had me help him with a self-improvement book last year and the thing from that book that stuck with me the most was a suggestion to get the dreaded things out of the way first. This really helps me focus because the cloud of dread doesn’t linger over me.

Get Moving

Once you know just what you need to do, it’s time to do it. Don’t let distractions get the better of you. Avoid all things shiny and just go.  Then, once the backlog is looked after, plan to take the better part of a much-deserved day off for you.

I’m taking my own advice today as things have gotten a bit too hectic for my liking after my taking some time off over the holidays. If you have any tips for how you handle chaos in your writing life, please share! I’ll be trying to avoid  “all things shiny” for the rest of the day, though

I am a writer, blogger and editor. I am an avid reader and a keen Scrabble player. I am a mother and wife. I am a black woman. All of these things are part of who I am but no single one defines me. I was reminded of this when I read James Chartrand‘s amazing story about changing her name and online persona to enable her to care for her family.

In some ways, this story made me sad, because it reminded me that there are always those who want to put us in a box and define how we live in it. They see the externals, make judgments and behave accordingly. I have turned up to interviews where people have been visibly shocked to see a black woman. “Your name doesn’t sound black,” I was once told. (Just what is a ‘black’ name, anyway?)

In others, it inspired me, because it shows that we don’t have to buy into those definitions, to allow others to say what’s right for us. We CAN fight back, even if not all of us choose to do it in James’s rather unorthodox fashion.

In much of my time in the UK, particularly in the work environment, I suffered for the double whammy of being both black and female. “Why didn’t you apply to work for one of the ‘ethnic’ papers?” asked one interviewer. “Because,” I replied, “the colour of my skin is does not define who I am and what I am interested in.”

I’d be lying if I said it was never an issue. There are ways in which the treatment of people of different ethnicities is so unequal as to forever create divides. (As a former lecturer on cultural studies, I have studied inequality as well as lived it.) I have been called the ‘n’ word, I have had accommodation evaporate before my eyes, I have had people try to pay me less despite my experience and skill. For me, those experiences do not give me the excuse for blanket hatred, for blaming others and for opting out of taking responsibility for my own life.

Unlike James, my picture is all over the internet. Unlike James,  I use my real name for my online interactions. It’s true that there might be people who don’t hire me because I’m a black woman – their loss. Those who do hire me will find that like James, I know my value and I accept nothing less.

So you’re looking to get started in freelance writing? This is a favorite theme of mine and I’ve been offering advice on this topic for almost four years on this blog and longer than that offline. Here are ten things you can do to get your writing career off to a flying start.

1. Get a website or blog so people can find you.
2. Find the right tools for the job
3. Create your workspace
4. Build a portfolio
5. Network with writers and potential clients
6. Start bidding
7. Avoid the scams
8. Hone your writing skills
9. Be disciplined
10. Keep your clients happy

This post has been written for Problogger’s 31 Days To Build A Better Blog project.

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Everywhere I go online these days, people are asking where I’ve been. I didn’t think I had been that absent, but then I looked at my blog’s archives. Last January I posted 24 times; in November, that was down to 2. Shocking, I admit it freely. That absence was mirrored on many of the social sites I call home. So what happened? Lots of things.

What I’ve Been Doing

Back on track

I was working on a course which took up a lot of my time. I’ve now put that on hold for the time being and am thinking of using that information in a different way in the New Year.

I started a corporate blogging job in September – just a couple of posts a week, but I am also building up the company’s social networking presence, (to the detriment of my own, as it turns out). That’s another area where a lot of the ground work has now been done.

I was hired to work as a journalist for a couple of online trade magazines. Most of it is providing news, but some of it means interviewing people in different time zones. (I discovered that it’s difficult to interview someone in Dubai when there’s an eight hour time difference.)

The Aftermath

I didn’t take a holiday, got tired and had to take a break from some of my online activities to keep my head from exploding. For a couple of weeks I didn’t read feeds or do much else but the essential client work. I put some of my social stuff on autopilot and posted occasionally, but was nowhere near as present as I had been during the summer. The short break did me good and some of you will have spotted me here and there in the last couple of days.

Where Do I Go From Here?

Now I’m feeling reenergized. I’ll be spending time with my family over the holidays and will also make some plans for the coming year. I’ll be thinking about how frequently I post on this blog (more than the last couple of months, but probably less than in January 2008), reviewing where I spend my social time online (much as I love trying new sites, I can’t keep up with 20+ sites) and streamlining my writing business (I haven’t decided how yet, but I need to set some priorities and work towards those).

BTW, as I was catching up on my feeds in between writing a couple of paragraphs, I found a great post related to this on Men with Pens. It’s called Balancing Work and Work.

The right way to work at writing from home

I work from home; I love my job; I consider myself very lucky – the three preceding statements are all interconnected because I’m a writer who works from the comfort of my home. I’m doing what I love the most, penning my thoughts and getting paid to do so, at hours that are convenient to me. So now you see where luck plays a part in the above story?

So far, so good – the article reads like a fairy tale, but here;s the part where the wicked witch makes an appearance, in the form of wasted time. Believe me when I tell you that even the best intentions to stick to a schedule and never waste a moment of your time go awry more often than not. I should know better than most – I try to keep dedicate work hours like a 9 to 5 job would demand, but I.ve never been able to keep up this resolution 99 percent of the time. Of course, I do meet my daily target, but then I often find that I have to stay up late in order to do so.

Here.s the thing- I do know what needs to be done in order to achieve a perfect work schedule even when you work from home, but I’m just not that dedicated to making it work for me. However, I’m willing to share my thoughts with you, in the hope that you’ll gain something positive from the experience. So here goes, a list of pointers to improve your efficiency if you’re a writer who works from home:

• Switch off the ringer on your phone. I know it sounds a bit extreme, but I know from experience that this communication device is the biggest time stealer ever. Make people understand that you’re working during those particular hours and that they should respect this and not expect you to answer their calls. You can always return calls during your designated lunch hour as you munch on a sandwich.
• Provide an emergency number where your close family members can reach you if there’s a pressing need.
• I know you’re always connected to the Internet, but do your best to control yourself from checking your email, Twitter account and blog comment section every five minutes. Do not encourage friends who send you instant messages and expect you to engage in idle chitchat.
• Don’t wear out the floor between your workspace and your kitchen by refilling your coffee cup or munching on a snack every few minutes. It’s not only fattening, but also a concentration killer. If you have kids at home, make them understand that you need to work and that you must not be disturbed.
• It’s best to hire a babysitter if you end up spending most of your time running behind your rambunctious children instead of writing as you’re supposed to do.
• Discourage people from visiting, especially those neighbors who drop in for casual visits because you’re at home.
• And last, but not the least, treat your home-based job with all the seriousness you would give to one that’s office-based.

This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of distance learning universities. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com

If you’re a work at home parent, as I am, then you’ve probably been making some trade-offs over the summer. It’s great to have our little darlings at home, but it’s also frustrating when we can’t work in the usual way. For me, the summer has meant paring down to essentials. I have kept working, but I have had to skimp a bit on promotional activities and new projects that have been in the works for a while.

A New Routine

Once school has started again, there’s a different kind of routine, bounded by the limits of the school day, rather than whatever time you can carve out from parenting. At first, the time seems almost limitless, but it can ebb away if you don’t have an action plan. Knowing what you want to do when is half the battle in getting anything achieved.

Getting Organized

I’ve been doing a couple of things to improve my short term organisation and to help me reach my medium and long term goals. One key change is the way I handle email. I’ve been using a GTD (getting things done approach) and I’ll tell you more about that when I see if it makes a permanent difference to productivity.

Project Plans

Another project that I’m currently working on is using the nearly 500 blog posts I have here in a different way. You’ll be hearing about one way to do that some time in the next couple of weeks. I also plan to use some of the content to create ebooks. (I know I’ve said that before, but this time I plan to finish one of my own rather than simply writing for clients.) I am going to chase up recent clients for more testimonials about my writing and I’m also going to overhaul my rates.

Working For Clients

And those are just the tasks I’m handling for myself. I also have a couple of blogging and promotion gigs for clients which will lead to big things. What are your plans now that you have a bit more time?

(Photo: Gekreutzigt)

When I asked the other day for freelance writing questions on Plurk, AllenaTapia wanted to know about my schedule. It’s been some time since I wrote about my daily routine and a lot has changed in the last two years. My daughter is now in school and that has changed the shape of my work week. Instead of cramming my writing into two whole days and any spare time, I now work mostly Monday to Friday, doing a couple of hours only over the weekend. My day looks a bit like this:

6.30am – quick email check, especially for anything from the UK market

6.45-7.45 – get my daughter ready for school

7.45-8.00 – quick chat with my mum

8.00-8.30 – check out friends on social sites, check job ads

8.30-12.30 – write, write, write with occasional breaks

12.30-1.00 – lunch

1.00-school pickup (which can be anytime between 2 and 3.30) – write some more

school pickup – 7pm – supervise homework, play, get dinner

7.00-8.00pm – do anything urgent; check email

10.30pm – final email check.

During the school holidays, which have justed started, I cut my work day a bit or work out alternating schedules with my DH who also works at home. This year my daughter is going to gymnastics camp for a couple of weeks, which means that the workday will end at 2pm. That means I’ll probably do slightly fewer jobs, but it’s worth it to spend more time with my family. What’s your workday like?