Put Time into Properly Managing Your Home-Based Writing Business

Time Management for Home-Based Businesses

With all that full-time writers have to do in this day and age, managing a home-based writing business may not seem like a big deal to some outside the business, but it can be overwhelming for some small business entrepreneurs.

So, if you’ve gone from the corporate world of writing and/or reporting to operating your business out of your residence, how can you best manage the time necessary to meet the needs of both your clients and yourself?

If you have found yourself in this quandary, use these tips to write a better outcome for your home writing business:

• Determine what the major differences are between working at an office and working in your office. While being on the corporate schedule can be challenging, you typically are under a coordinated 9 to 5 schedule or something similar, one that is relatively easy to follow. When transitioning to a work-at-home business for similar work, compile a list of pros and cons you see popping up. If the negative list is much larger than the positive list, then you may need to think twice about such a move;
• Keep a similar schedule – It is imperative that writers going from a corporate office to a home-based business keep similar schedules so that the work gets done. If you previously worked in a 9 to 5 writing gig do not start your home business by working two hours one day, four hours the next, three hours the following day etc. It is important to keep similar hours as you did for someone else so that laziness and distractions do not set in;
• Eliminate distractions as much as possible – When working from your home office, it is easy to become distracted by family members, personal errands and more. Make sure that family or not, you do not become distracted by all you have to do in your personal life and use some of your work time to accomplish those matters. Keep a similar schedule to a corporate office by giving yourself a short morning and afternoon break and either a half hour or hour for lunch;
• Put aside time for yourself – Just as you would take a day off here and there or vacation time in an office job, make sure you don’t suffer from burn out working from home. While working from home may seem like the peach of all jobs, remember that you too have deadlines to meet. That being said don’t run yourself into the ground where you’re working night and day on the job. Assuming you did not do a lot of overtime in a corporate office setting, don’t do it either at home;
• Dress the role – Whether or not you will be interviewing subjects from home in-person, it is important to play the role of a full-time employee from home. In too many instances, writers who work full or part-time from their residences end up feeling comfy in not dressing up as they would when going to an office. This can lead to lax efforts, etc. While you don’t need a three-piece suit to do the job from home, remove the pajamas and robe so that you’re not tempted to nap more than work;
• Advertise your business – Unlike in a corporate setting where there is more exposure to a business and/or office locale, working from home will prove more challenging. Utilize whatever advertising skills you have, including social media tools, to promote your business. Social media is an especially important tool given that it provides real-time information to both current and potential clients.

At the end of the day, working from home as a full-time writer can be particularly rewarding, especially if you pen things out the right way.

About the Author

David Thomas, who discusses among other subjects’ vehicle insurance and business credit cards, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource site for businesses of all sizes to research, locate, and compare the products and services required to run their businesses.