Guest Post: Working from Home? Well, Get to Work! by Pamela Hilliard Owens
Today I welcome professional writer Pamela Hilliard Owens. Pamela is sharing her advice on one of the hardest things about freelancing: making sure your work-at-home lifestyle actually includes a bit of work.
Working from Home? Well, Get to Work!
As I write this today, it has been snowing all night here in Michigan and there are several inches of snow on the ground. But why should I worry? I don’t have to warm up my car, navigate snow-covered streets, beware of careless drivers, or arrive at work late (again). I work from my home office! I got up, watched all of the “winter watch” warnings on the local morning news, did my yoga practice, got dressed, ate breakfast, and was at my desk ready to work at 9 am; all without any mess or stress.
Working at home gives you flexibility and freedom, but it comes with its own set of challenges; not the least of which is learning to properly structure your time so that you actually get some work done! Depending on your situation, you can work early or late—matching your work hours to your natural biorhythms. Or, you can work in several spurts—a few hours at a time.
It is just important that you decide on what schedule works best for you and stick to it. It will take discipline and the ability to keep distractions to a minimum. In the situation I just described for myself, if my children weren’t already grown and on their own, I would have not been as happy with the snow as I am. My children would have had a “snow day” and been home all day moaning: “I don’t have anything to do!” If you have school-aged children, I hope you have made contingency plans, just as if you had a “real job”, because you still have work to do.
Each work-at-home situation is different. If you work almost exclusively online, you may be able to rearrange your work hours when necessary. If you are under deadline, you are under deadline, no matter what. Only you know what has to be done and when your projects are due. But only you have the ability to set your own schedule. Just remember that you still have a “boss”; but as I always say, I work for the best boss in the world: Me!
After a career of 35+ years in education, collaborative sales and sales management and marketing, I started my own freelance writing and editing business in July of 2008. My company, Writing It Right for You knows that “It Matters How You Say It”! I work with individuals, graduate and post-graduate students, and businesses throughout the United States, Canada, the Middle East, India, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom on a variety of academic and business writing and editing projects.
My specialties include working with graduate students–especially ESL students, anything involving education, ghost-writing and working with authors, writing web content, social media marketing and networking, direct sales, and writing and editing various papers of any length involving research and/or APA citations. I also do affiliate marketing and maintain more than three personal, political and business blogs and guest blog for several clients around the world.
My office is open Mondays-Fridays 9am-5pm US ET; I can be reached at any time by phone, fax, Skype, Gtalk, Yahoo IM, and email. I am a full-time, mature and experienced researcher, writer and editor; my office is fully equipped with the latest hardware, high-speed Internet, FTP and MS 2007 Office Suite. I am also proficient in Web 2.0 apps and social media.
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Categories: Uncategorized, writing
Good luck to you both Pamela and Jen…keep up the good work!!