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balance between your freelance writing business and your responsibilities at home.<h2 id="2624">Step one:</h2>This first step is the most important. Sit down and work out how many hours per week you are able to dedicate to your business.<ul><li>much time do you have during the course of your day?</li><li>Are you able to work during naptime?</li><li>Do your children attend childcare, kindergarten or school providing you with uninterrupted time to work?</li></ul>Find the bare minimum of hours you have per week for your business and write that number down.<h2 id="2468">Step two:</h2>Take that number you discovered in Step 1 and break it down into:<ul><li>Marketing.</li><li>Pitching.</li><li>Social Media (technically part of marketing but I like to work it out separately).</li><li>Working on your website.</li><li>Client work.</li></ul>When you are first starting out you may find that you spend up to 75% of your time on the first 4 points above.As your business grows and you gain experience the amount of time you spend on each area will change.<h2 id="c8da">Step three:</h2>Now you know how much time you need to spend on each of those areas you can create a schedule. Make sure you leave enough time for FUN!I like to use batching tasks for time management. This is where you group similar tasks together to be completed in one “task window”.Let us take Monday morning as an example. In my diary I would write out:<ul><li>Task Window 1: Outline and research blog posts for the month (usually in batches of 4–5 blog posts)</li><li>Task Window 2: Outline and research Client A website content.</li><li>Task Window 3: Outline and research Client B eBook.</li></ul>See how similar tasks are grouped together? It streamlines your thought processes and boosts your productivity….it is really amazing!Bonus tip: I also use this method to “batch” my household chores.<figure id="8fdb"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*oj3tLJpw_RtNBl28"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@stilclassics?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">STIL</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><h1 id="6a46">Organisation is KEY!</h1>I would be absolutely lost without a<a href="https://readmedium.com/the-best-organisational-tools-for-your-writing-business-349e302663ac"> few key tools </a>and techniques that help to keep me organized and on track.Aside from my all time favourite batching time management tool, to stay organized I love a paper and pen diary! Very old school, but I find the act of writing things down soothing and helps to keep it clear in my head.I also use Asana for project management (and I am just getting into using

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it with clients too)! You can set up your projects with smaller sub tasks and due dates so that you never miss anything.<h2 id="cb59">Other tools I could not survive without:</h2><ul><li>Excel spreadsheets (anything from finances and budgets, to post tracking, pitches and client details).</li><li>Invoicing service. I use Rounded, which is Australian based and aimed at freelancers. It is amazing!</li><li>Content calendars.</li><li>The ability to create folders and tags in Gmail. So easy to keep all those email conversations organized!</li></ul><h1 id="f8de">Keep your “mum role” and your “businesswoman role” separate!</h1>This is super hard, but is essential to a happy home life and successful freelance writing career. You need to <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-to-set-boundaries-as-a-freelance-writer-and-a-wahm-bd7cd2c1804">keep your roles separate.</a>You don’t want to constantly feel like you are being tugged in two different directions.You need to set your “working hours”, and ask that your family respect those. That way when you are working you can 100% focus on your writing business.When you step away from the office, you focus solely on your family.This means no checking emails, no quick browse through your business social media accounts, no writing out a blog post. Remove temptation by putting your computer away and your smartphone out of reach. Then you can simply be with your family.Every person is different. Every family is different. It may take some trial and error to find the right balance for you and your family. But it is so worth it!I love the freedom of working from home and using my passion for writing to help others (and earn some money). If I can do it, you can too!<figure id="e3fe"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*h9dPuo9QZI2uwbsoedvWjg.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Rachel Maree is a writer, mum and registered nurse. Bringing you the real truth to parenting, nursing and writing (even when it is downright ugly). You can learn more or hire her to write amazing content for you — <a href="https://www.rmwriting.com.au">Rachel Maree.</a>To grab your free essential eBook “Best Tips To Create Compelling Content” <a href="https://courses.rmwriting.com.au/medium-sign-ups-1">sign up here.</a>If you want to make sure you NEVER miss a great Medium story (by me or the other amazing writers here)<a href="https://medium.com/@r-m-writing/membership"> sign up here</a>. It’s $5 a month, and gives you unlimited access to Medium. Or you could tell your own stories on here and create a nice little side hustle 🤑.Full disclosure, when you sign up using this link I get a small kick-back from Medium. Hopefully enough for that cup of coffee I desperately need! ☕🤞</article></body>

How You Can Be A WAHM Freelance Writer Without Losing Your Mind

If I can do it, you can too!

Have you been scratching your head trying to work out a way you can earn money as a WAHM without going crazy?

I know when I first looked into freelance writing I was intimidated by how much work it seemed to be. However, I made the decision to try it anyway. And I have not looked back!

Over my 7 years as a freelancer and content specialist, I have learnt a lot about writing, running a small biz and how to balance everything as a WAHM. Most importantly, I have discovered the tricks to do it all without losing my mind and falling into a hot mess.

How To Balance Work And Life.

The secret to a successful life.

medium.com

Firstly, what is a freelance writer?

The simplest way to put it is a freelance writer is a pen for hire!

A business, company or individual hires you to write blog posts, articles, product descriptions, eBooks, emails, website content and so much more!

If you are a word nerd (like me 🙋🏼‍♀️🤣), freelance writing is a perfect side biz for you!

Why freelance writing is a great choice for WAHMs.

The best thing about freelance writing as a work-at-home-mum (WAHM) is you get to choose HOW much you work, WHO you work for and WHEN you work. This gives you the flexibility to fit your writing business around your family and choose how you run your business.

Only want to earn some extra cash on the side? Run your freelance business as a side hustle, or take on one off jobs.

Want to earn a full time wage? Take on bigger projects, hustle hard, find clients for repeat work, and work on long-term projects.

The power is yours! And yes, I did put my Captain Planet voice on!

How to balance freelance writing and motherhood.

There are a few simple steps to finding the balance between your freelance writing business and your responsibilities at home.

Step one:

This first step is the most important. Sit down and work out how many hours per week you are able to dedicate to your business.

much time do you have during the course of your day?
Are you able to work during naptime?
Do your children attend childcare, kindergarten or school providing you with uninterrupted time to work?

Find the bare minimum of hours you have per week for your business and write that number down.

Step two:

Take that number you discovered in Step 1 and break it down into:

Marketing.
Pitching.
Social Media (technically part of marketing but I like to work it out separately).
Working on your website.
Client work.

When you are first starting out you may find that you spend up to 75% of your time on the first 4 points above.

As your business grows and you gain experience the amount of time you spend on each area will change.

Step three:

Now you know how much time you need to spend on each of those areas you can create a schedule. Make sure you leave enough time for FUN!

I like to use batching tasks for time management. This is where you group similar tasks together to be completed in one “task window”.

Let us take Monday morning as an example. In my diary I would write out:

Task Window 1: Outline and research blog posts for the month (usually in batches of 4–5 blog posts)
Task Window 2: Outline and research Client A website content.
Task Window 3: Outline and research Client B eBook.

See how similar tasks are grouped together? It streamlines your thought processes and boosts your productivity….it is really amazing!

Bonus tip: I also use this method to “batch” my household chores.

Organisation is KEY!

I would be absolutely lost without a few key tools and techniques that help to keep me organized and on track.

Aside from my all time favourite batching time management tool, to stay organized I love a paper and pen diary! Very old school, but I find the act of writing things down soothing and helps to keep it clear in my head.

I also use Asana for project management (and I am just getting into using it with clients too)! You can set up your projects with smaller sub tasks and due dates so that you never miss anything.

Other tools I could not survive without:

Excel spreadsheets (anything from finances and budgets, to post tracking, pitches and client details).
Invoicing service. I use Rounded, which is Australian based and aimed at freelancers. It is amazing!
Content calendars.
The ability to create folders and tags in Gmail. So easy to keep all those email conversations organized!

Keep your “mum role” and your “businesswoman role” separate!

This is super hard, but is essential to a happy home life and successful freelance writing career. You need to keep your roles separate.

You don’t want to constantly feel like you are being tugged in two different directions.

You need to set your “working hours”, and ask that your family respect those. That way when you are working you can 100% focus on your writing business.

When you step away from the office, you focus solely on your family.

This means no checking emails, no quick browse through your business social media accounts, no writing out a blog post. Remove temptation by putting your computer away and your smartphone out of reach. Then you can simply be with your family.

Every person is different. Every family is different. It may take some trial and error to find the right balance for you and your family. But it is so worth it!

I love the freedom of working from home and using my passion for writing to help others (and earn some money). If I can do it, you can too!

Rachel Maree is a writer, mum and registered nurse. Bringing you the real truth to parenting, nursing and writing (even when it is downright ugly). You can learn more or hire her to write amazing content for you — Rachel Maree.

To grab your free essential eBook “Best Tips To Create Compelling Content” sign up here.

If you want to make sure you NEVER miss a great Medium story (by me or the other amazing writers here) sign up here. It’s $5 a month, and gives you unlimited access to Medium. Or you could tell your own stories on here and create a nice little side hustle 🤑.

Full disclosure, when you sign up using this link I get a small kick-back from Medium. Hopefully enough for that cup of coffee I desperately need! ☕🤞