Scheduling Your Time as a Freelance Writer

Video Transcript

"REBECCA SATO: Hi. I'm Rebecca Sato with ExpertVillage.com. As a freelance writer, you're going to find that you have to deal with some challenges that other types of writers, and certainly other fields and professionals don't have to deal with, and that is managing your time and organization with your family life. And the reason why it's a little bit different is freelance writing is very rarely a 9 to 5. Sometimes, it's 6 a.m. to 12 or till 1 a.m. Seriously, depending on the type of job and how much you're getting paid and how much of an incentive you have to get it finished by a deadline, you'll find that you'll be working very long hours and other times, you might have a week where you're working three hours a day. So it's very important as a freelance writer to learn how to be discipline and learn how to manage your work time with family time. Because another thing is a lot of freelance writers work from a home office, and sometimes family, friends, boyfriend, girlfriend, they don't understand the concept of deadlines. So you really have to help them understand and help them to respect that when you're working against a deadline, just because you're at home, it doesn't mean that you're available for tea time, to watch reality TV, to go for a walk. And sometimes, I think it's hard because your friends will stop by and they know you're home, and so why can't you hang out, and they don't understand that, "Yeah, I'm home but I have a real job with real deadlines. I need to work." So make sure that your friends and family understand that, and if everybody is on the same page, your life will be a lot simpler."