Tips For Freelance Writing Success Even With Constant Interruptions

Through school closings and back-to-back illnesses, I've found my writing business being pushed to the backburner. It's important to me to not lose everything I've built thus far. My brand is growing and I am making money along the way from my writing. However, I have come against many sudden stops that are out of my control that has disrupted the time I dedicated to writing.

Changing Your Approach To Keep Your Business Going

My children are all at home again. Their school is closed, again. They are sick, again. I found that my writing time is interrupting much more, making it hard for me to find time to write. My bank account is hurting as a result.

Something has to change.

I had to regroup and decide how to move forward, factoring in the new scenario of the constant interruptions that come with multiple children and a husband in the home. I found answers.

I'll admit, at first I did get very frustrated. I thought, how in the world can I do this when every other second, someone is talking to me or needing me to do something for them. Then, I remember how far I've come. Last year was my top-performing year. I don't want that to be my only performing year.

Here's what I'm doing differently:

Writing In Short Time Periods

When my children are in school, I have close to 40 hours a week to work on my writing. Now, that time has diminished drastically. I'm lucky if I even have an hour or two during the day. There are chunks of time when I can write. I try to take advantage of that.

Even if it's a quick paragraph or an outline, it is one paragraph closer to a finished blog post or article for a freelance client. You have to take advantage of those short times you have. Sometimes that's all you will get until bedtime. This brings me to my next point:

Changing The Time You Write

I am not a morning person in the least bit. However, my goal this year is to try to get up earlier to write. The problem I am running into is I normally stay up late to write.

Importantly, you need to define a time for writing that will work for you, then stick to it. I've had to adapt almost three times to new writing schedules due to my husband's work schedule changing, my children's back and forth illnesses, and school closures due to rising COVID cases.

Unless I have a big deadline to finish, I try to do more office tasks, such as checking emails and responding to replies, though I have been horrible at keeping up with this lately because I've been sick, too!! My ideal time to work is a late evening to early morning. I've found a sweet spot in the afternoon that worked. Then, that became undoable because of the kids being back in the home more.

Nowadays, I write on my phone 85 percent of the time. That has enabled me to get so much more work done when the kids are here. After they go to bed, I get the real nitty-gritty work completed.

Give Your Children The Attention They Want

There is no stopping my daughter. When she wants something, she keeps going until she gets it. This includes my attention. To avoid some of the interruptions, schedule periods that you will stop working and dedicate to them. What have your children been asking you to do that you were too busy to do at that moment?

Do that one activity they have been bugging you about. It will be a memorable experience for them and may even lead to you getting some uninterrupted time to work. For those times you really need to get work done, plan some things for your kids to do. I know when I don't do this, the entire house becomes a mess.

Everyone Needs Quiet Time

Think of how much of a better place it would be if everyone had a moment of silence to take a breath or a much-needed nap. Depending on the ages of your children, a naptime is a viable option for writing work time. I have to fight to get my children to take a nap, though they will. My older son will play quietly but doesn't normally take naps too much anymore unless he is sick.

Make a set time that this nap time or quiet playtime will be so you know you can count on that time to work.

No matter what you plan out, nothing is set in stone when it comes to children. Learn to make adjustments. It's necessary if you want to make it as a writer as a busy mom .