As a freelance writer, you enjoy the luxury of working from anywhere you want, and you get to choose your clients and your schedule. This has its perks, but it’s not free of challenges.
This article will help you stay productive as a freelance writer.
9 Practical Ways to Stay Productive as a Freelance Writer
You’re more prone to distractions and a lack of organization. You have to manage your routine, time, and projects, as you don’t have the support of a traditional work system, all by yourself. This can be tough and make you lose steam, especially if you are not self-motivated.
Therefore, to stay productive as a freelance writer, you have to be disciplined and organized with a functional work system. If you need help with this, let’s keep reading.
1. Set Clear Goals
Every worthy venture should have a goal. So, as a freelance writer, you must have yours. You monthly and yearly goals to fit into your short-term and long-term goals. Your goals and objectives will help you work towards something, as opposed to working without an end in view.
Also Read: Effective Ways to Be More Productive as a Full-Time Writer
2. Create an Effective Workspace
As a freelance writer, you don’t have a regular office. So, you need to create a work area for yourself; this can be a room or a space in a room. It should be free of clutter with adequate lighting and ventilation. Your workspace should have a good ambiance and be free from distractions.
Your workspace also mustn’t lack supplies, so stock up your essential tools and supplies. It’s wise to invest in a good and comfortable chair and desk as well because you spend a lot of time using them.
3. Cut Distractions
Working freelance is blissful, but then you’re more vulnerable to distractions. A glance at your phone can turn into 45 minutes if you are not mindful of it. You can cut down on such distractions by turning off notifications on your devices. And by limiting access to social media and other non-work-related websites.
Then there are also household distractions; you can avoid these by setting household boundaries. Let your family or house members know you are not available for a certain period of time except in cases of an emergency. Let them know that your work area needs to be quiet and free of distractions.
4. Functional Filing System
If you’ve ever spent time searching for a document, then you’ll know that a proper filing system is a lifesaver. As a freelance writer, you are the file manager for your documents. To easily access them, you need to title your files and save them properly. If you don’t have a grasp on your files, you’ll lose your research, drafts, and projects. There are apps that you can use to organize your files and documents; take advantage of them.
You can save space by decluttering and archiving old files. It’s even better to use digital storage and cloud services to store your files. You won’t have to worry about losing them, and you can access them from any device.
5. Time Management
You’re the architect of your time as a freelance writer. You need to map out your time properly because you don’t have a defined work schedule like a 9-to-5 job. So you should allocate time for all your tasks and projects; you can rank them by importance and urgency. This will help you meet deadlines and improve the quality of your writing.
And make sure the time stipulated for work is strictly for work; try as much as you can not to be distracted with something else. To help, you can get time-tracking or productivity tools to monitor and boost your work output and to automate some work processes.
Also Read: 7 Best Writing Apps You Need to Own as a Writer
6. Establish a Routine
As a freelance writer, your routine is your responsibility and yours alone. By establishing a structured routine, you’ll stay productive as a freelance writer.
Your schedule is your list of tasks with time slots to meet your daily targets and objectives. To achieve this, you can create a comprehensive to-do list.
It’s important to include other non-work-related tasks into your routine because they are inevitable in freelancing. This could be for fixing a quick meal, taking your dog for a walk, or feeding your toddler.
An organized routine will help you develop an effective workflow.
Also Read: Effective Ways to Organise Your Day as a Writer
7. Self-Discipline
The liberty that comes with freelancing can be your undoing if you don’t exercise restraint. You’ll need willpower to achieve your goals and objectives and to withstand distractions.
And since you have no manager watching over your shoulders, you’re responsible for everything. Especially the quality of your writing and your ability to meet deadlines.
8. Track your Finances
There’s no gainsaying that you need to guide your cash flow. In the absence of a traditional pay slip, you can lose track of your finances. You are your accountant, so having basic bookkeeping skills will help you.
You should be able to track and record all your expenses and income to know your profit and file your taxes. This will help you determine if you are smashing your financial goals or not.
This leads to the need for planning your pension benefits if you haven’t started. Depending on your country of residence, you might only be eligible for a meagre state pension without a private contribution.
9. Continuous Improvement
You must keep developing and honing your skills. Be flexible and stay open to trying new writing techniques. There’s a lot to learn from your client’s feedback, so never underestimate it.
Take advantage of writing workshops, courses, or any opportunity for professional development. You’re liable for your development since you’ve had no access to in-house training.
Two-Way Street
A flexible work schedule is appealing, and so is the prospect of working in your pyjamas. But you must be mindful of this liberty because it can easily derail you. And this will affect not just your writing but also your means of livelihood.
You need to have an effective writing atmosphere if you want to stay productive as a freelance writer. These strategies will provide a support system for you to thrive.
