It’s amazing how many people assume that work at home moms have it easy.  Nothing could be further than the truth, however.  If those people ever lived even one day as a WAHM they would know how wrong they are. WAHMs have to take care of the children, keep the house clean, buy all the groceries, cook the food, wash the dishes, and make sure everyone has clean clothes to wear every day. If that weren’t enough, they also have to make time to do their home business!

Being a work-at-home mom may not be easy, but it’ not impossible, either. You can use some simple time management tricks as a freelance writer to “get it all done!” Every mom working at home should have is a planner. Be sure to schedule your family time first! Next schedule the time you will work your business.  Planning your freelance writing at times the children are away from home may be the easiest way to get your work done. Once your “work time” is scheduled, stay focused on your business during those “office” hours. Unfortunately it’s easy to get sidetracked as a WAHM no matter what your home business is.

As a freelance writer, you will have many tasks to perform. To get a handle on your day, try to group similar tasks together. For instance, as a writer you may have one day to do research. You may have one day per week that you concentrate on writing. You may even have certain days that you submit queries. Don’t get bogged down with phone calls or email, set aside an hour in the morning and an hour in the late afternoon to take care of those activities. By scheduling time effectively, you will find that you are able to get more work done and feel less scattered.

Consider outsourcing some of the activities. You may find yourself spending too much time on responding to email, returning phone calls, or updating your website if you have one.  Why not hire a virtual assistant to do those tasks for you? Not only will this free up your time to work on your business, you may be able to increase your profits, as well.

Save time by blocking off time each week to do your “regular” errands:  grocery shopping and banking. You can also plan your meals for a week or more at a time.  You can make a shopping list and go to the grocery store once.  When you’re cooking one meal, why not cook enough for leftovers?  Banking can probably be done at the same time as some of your other errands that take you out of the home.

Don’t feel like you have to do everything all by yourself. No one expects you to be Wonder Woman. Ask other family members to help out with household chores. Children are able to do a lot of chores without your supervision, depending upon their ages.  Let them take some of the tasks you would normally do.  You’ll all be happier if everyone chips in.

Finally, don’t forget to take time out for yourself. Everyone needs to take a break from working to maintain a sense of peace and calm. You aren’t expected to do freelance writing 24 hours a day.  You deserve a break so make sure you take one when you begin to feel stress getting the better of you or when writer’s block becomes a problem you can’t shake.

Posted under Articles and Tips, Freelance lifestlye