Freelance writing is a job that most do at home. As independent contractors, some may choose to spend their work hours toiling away in a public library or coffee shop, but most will work in the comforts of their home for long hours each day. Some freelance writers have the luxury of living with a partner who runs off to work every day, leaving him or her with hours of quiet time to work. Many others, however, must deal with the interruption of kids, a spouse, roommates, aging family members and more on a regular basis. Freelance writing can provide you with the flexibility to choose your own work hours and control your own schedule, but you do have to put in some serious hours of work each day if you want to be profitable in your position. By following a few tips, you can more easily work as a freelance writer in a busy home.
Find a Quiet Place
Ideally, you will have a space in your house where you can run off to be alone and work in peace and quiet. This may be a little nook in a less busy area of the house, an outbuilding that may have electricity, heating and cooling, or even your own bedroom. However, even quiet places can become loud when siblings argue, roommates turn up their favorite tunes or family drama erupts throughout the house. A quiet place in your home is ideal as a starting point for working in a busy home, but you may need to apply further strategies to enjoy the best results for your work efforts.
Make a Quiet Place
Running off to a quiet area of your home may help you to find a few extra minutes of peace to work in each day, but the busy nature of your house may seem to follow you. If people are not actively walking into the room you are in, you may be disrupted by the sounds they create throughout the rest of the house. One idea to consider is to use noise-canceling headphones while you are working. These essentially will provide you with the ability to work in peace and quiet even when others are shouting throughout the house or playing the TV or radio loudly.
Work In Shifts
One of the key things to consider when working in a busy home is that it may not be possible to work a full eight-hour shift as you would like. Asking others in your house to leave you alone for such an extended period of time may even be impossible if you are sharing your home with kids or an aging relative and need to care for them during the day while you work. You can, however, consider working a split shift. For example, you may get up a few hours before everyone else to work in quiet, and you may work a few more hours around lunch time when kids are resting, napping at school or something else. Your family may want to see you during certain times of the day, but they may not want to spend every minute of the day with you. A split-shift is the perfect solution.
While your friends may envy your ability to work from home and make a decent living, the fact is that it can be a challenge to work from home when you live in a busy house. Consider putting these tips into practice today to make working from home easier.
