Working From Home? My 7 Tips After 4 Years As A Freelance Writer

working from home coronavirus pandemic

If you’re new to this work from home thing, scared about the new virus and not sure where to start, I get you. I do! I’ve been working from my home for over 4 years now, so I know a thing or two about how to do this. Remember that I am single and have no kids, so if you’re a mom or a dad with 2+ kids… may God bless your lost soul! Maybe these will still work for you though.

I’ve come up with 7 ideas, tips, whatever you want to call them, all designed to help you out if this is your first time working from home. You know, just because you have to as there’s a virus pandemic outside and it’s not safe to go to the office. Let’s just imagine that. Oh, wait, we don’t have to. Needless to say, here is how I have been working from home for more than 4 years.

Check this one out: Probably the coolest thing you can do during a pandemic!

  1. Dress up

In order for the telework thing to function properly, you need to properly divide work from personal life. Which is hard when you’re working from home. The first thing you have to do is to dress up before “going” to the office. Regardless if it’s a real home office, or if you’re working at the kitchen table. Dress up, not in a suit, but dress up with anything other than your pyjamas.

  1. Use commuting time wisely

Now that you’re working from home, there’s no time wasted for commuting. Using those 30-60 minutes wisely will make a ton of difference for your productivity at work. Instead of wasting time on Facebook or Youtube, meditate, for example. Just sit with your thoughts and let them be. Follow the breath. Or read a few more pages of that book you’ve started. Do something useful.

  1. Prepare the night before

When we’re at home working, it’s extremely easy to fall out of our normal schedule. My trick to staying on track is to use my notebook, physical notebook, to write my entire working schedule the night before. It takes 30 minutes at most, but it saves me A TON of time and troubles. It gives me an almost hourly situation of my day. Which makes everything easier when working.

  1. Take children/Instagram breaks

You’re working from home. Even if you’re isolating yourself in an office, there’s still going to be noise around. If you have children, there will be a lot of it around you. Still, when the hour turns, take 5-10 minutes for breaks every single time. Check Instagram, play with your kids (or with your cat, if it’s the case) and then do deep work for the rest of the hour. No phone, no kids.

  1. Schedule everything

At Tip #3 I told you how important it is to prepare the night before in order to keep you on schedule. But how to do this? Simple: you’re still working the same thing, so you should know how it’s best for you to schedule your daily work based on your skills and tasks. My tasks are numbered and written as I’m going to tackle them. Once done, I just ☑️ them and move on.

  1. Call rather than email

We’re living in unprecedented times. Now, more than ever, we need to speak to our partners or clients with words, rather than in written form. I always request a Skype call when I can in order to sort things out with my clients. It has worked wonders so far, and especially now, seeing them face-to-face is 10x better than talking via emails or Slack. See people, don’t just write to them.

  1. Money management

It’s natural that, in times like these, some of your finances will go down. Luckily if you’re working on the web, chances are most of your business is still going on based on your domain. I’m a freelance writer and, so far, my business has seen zero decreases. My rule now is, I save as much as 66% from my income for harsh days. Save as much as you can during this crisis.

Hi! My name is Gabriel, nice to meet you.

I run Gabriel Iosa Writing Services, my online dream business that’s now 4 years in the making. I’ve also worked as a journalist for 9 years and counting. My job is to come up with the best content for you regardless if it’s for your blog, website, book, social media posts or anything else. I can also help you with organic or paid reach so that you can put your products or services right in front of your future clients.

If you enjoyed this article, shoot me an email with a few details about your project. We’ll take it from there.

2 comments
Gabriel Iosa

Foreword

Hi,

I’m happy for you being here! I enjoy blogging as much as I did 10 years ago, at the start of my writing journey. If you want me to write something for you, hit the Services page. You can find some snippets of my previous work on the Portfolio page, as well as what my clients have said about my work on the Testimonials page. Hit the About page for some more info on myself and my passions, and when you’re ready, send me an email at the address you’ll find on the Contact page.

Awesome to have you here!