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Time Management Tools for Freelance Writers by Cynthia O. (Contest Finalist Submission)
As freelancers, we theoretically have discretion in how we allocate our time, which is our most precious resource.
If we do not manage time effectively, we may well end up paying the firm or the client for the privilege of writing for them. In order to avoid this, it is vital to keep the amount of time we spend on any one job to a minimum, while still producing the kind of incisive and powerful prose our clients deserve.
For a non-technologically oriented writer, several very low-tech tools can help us accomplish this.
The first tool may be exclusively internal, but can be visible as well. It is crucial that everyone around us treat our work with the same seriousness that it holds for our clients. You need to regard your obligations as equal to the most demanding office job. This holds true even if you type in bunny slippers, or, shorts and a t-shirt. Everyone in your extended circle of friends and family needs to support you in order for you to be even slightly successful.
A loving but oblivious family can sabotage you decisively. Embracing the attitude that you are an important crafter of a needed product will go far towards encouraging others to treat you accordingly. Those around us will take us no more seriously than we take ourselves. How can one embody this? It could take varied forms.
You could use a locked door to separate your writing from your quotidian duties. Alternatively, you could set up a curtain or screen to demarcate your workspace and signal to the household that hard work is underway, and send a clear message that you are not to be disturbed. You could decamp to a public space, such as a library or a coffee house. You could adopt a distinctive work uniform.
This option has a wonderful literary antecedent, in that many writers have worn a smock or a smoking jacket while writing. Another visual signal is a special desk lamp that clearly shows your work-in-process status.
The second tool is probably in your kitchen already. Inexpensive wind-up or digital timers are readily available, can time the baking of brownies and other treats for the snack-hungry writer, as well. Such a simple timer can help us get over writer’s block and push past the urge to goof off.
The technique is applicable to many situations that challenge us. When a topic is unpalatable, confusing, or boring beyond the capacity of the human mind to tolerate, try setting the timer for 15 minutes and committing to writing (and nothing else) for that period of time. This, exercise, interspersed with equally carefully timed periods of doing something that fascinates you, will eventually get the blasted document written.
The assurance that you need not think of the unappealing material for more than a specified period, at any one time, can be just the relief you need. Try timing your breaks even when your topic is riveting and enjoyable, as well.
For example, a timed half hour of exercise will get the blood circulating and clear the fog from the brain. Alternatively, a measured hour of napping can set you up to work through the night, if necessary. Naturally, it is ideal to write on subjects that are sympathetic, and to avoid all-nighters, but we cannot universally accomplish this admirable goal.
The third tool is the ‘off’ switch on the telephone ringer, whether land line or cellular/mobile. Even a brief phone call can cause a delay of 25 minutes as you attempt to return to your peak efficiency. The danger of losing your train of thought, and thereby wasting your valuable work is too great. Your friends and relations do not do you any favors by contacting you during the time set aside for writing.
Let folks know, as you see and interact with them, that you are indeed now writing. Indicate gently your inaccessibility during certain hours of the day or evening. You could even record a voice mail message that states politely that you are at work and will return calls at your earliest convenience.
Visits that interrupt you are as damaging, and should be discouraged with grace and courtesy. Hanging a small sign on the door of your home or your workspace is one way to keep such interruptions to a minimum.
There are doubtless many high-tech tools to make freelance writing easier, and perhaps someday, this writer will learn how to use some of them…eventually. However, in the meantime, the equipment between our ears is most critical to successful time management. We may need to acquire a new state of mind before spending our money on new online tools.
A sense of the dignity of our work and some motivation to persist are the most critical assets we can possess. Freelance writing requires us to exert discipline over our minds and our social relations, more so than any technology.
About the author:
Cynthia O. – a full-time Philadelphia mom, has an MBA, and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her passion is elder-care, but she enjoys writing about anything intriguing. She is proudest of helping to edit a book on nutrition and aging, and achieving the amendment of state regulation. Her most fulfilling RWC moment was successfully preparing a client for a diploma exam.
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