Weekend Quick Tip: Do you Work 40 Hours per Week?
As a freelance writer you can set the number of hours that you work each week. Yes, it is true that you have to work enough to earn an income, but even then it is up to you to decide how often you sit at your computer to work on writing related projects.
More and more aspiring writers have been asking me whether or not I work 40 hours per week. One thing that I like about a freelance writer is the freedom. If I want to work 40 hours this week I can. But if I want to work 35 or 45 next week, that is fine as well. In other words, I do not work an even 40 hours per week. There are times when I work much more than this, and times when I come up short.
Do you need to work at least 40 hours per week to build a successful freelance writing career? In my opinion, the answer is yes. When I started as a freelance writer I was working way more than 40 hours per week. In fact, I would venture to guess it was somewhere closer to 60 hours. On one side of things it was fun to work this much. Since I was new to freelance writing I was always learning something, and was excited at every little detail. On the other hand, 60 hours per week is a lot. Soon enough I was feeling burnt out which was taking its toll both mentally and physically.
Even though being a freelance writer is not your average 9-5 job, I still feel that 40 hours per week is the right amount in most cases. This is what I strive for, but as noted earlier, my actual hours usually fluctuate.
How about you? If you are a full-time freelance writer I would love to hear about your work schedule, and more particularly how many hours you work per week. This information can help all of us set and maintain a better, more efficient schedule.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
It varies quite a bit for me too. The last two weeks involved a few “double shift” days where I worked from 5am to noon (my normal client day schedule, with noon till 1pm being my lunch hour before quitting), but then worked through the afternoon and into the evening too. That’s because a few deadlines were creeping up and I figured it was better to work late when I had the energy for it than to stress later. That’s something I’d say I do most often on Thursdays – work late then, finish my projects, and I can take off or quit very early on Friday. Ain’t it grand having flexible schedules?
Actually, my 5am start time is relatively new. I knew I was unproductive in the afternoons, and very productive in the early hours – so I made the decision and changed my schedule. I’m still available for clients during normal morning business hours, check email once or twice during the afternoon when I’m off, and frankly, I get much more work done. Freedom’s a beautiful thing.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I need to get into the habit of working more regular hours. I had my best month income-wise in September, but I probably only worked 10 days out of the whole month, with other days spent reading blogs, doing personal errands, etc. I’d make a lot more money if I worked consistently each day.
I’m thinking of starting to get up around 5:30 or 6:00 each day, as I am much more productive in the morning, like Jenn mentioned. Once it hits 10 or 11 and all of my favorite writing blogs are updated, I can easily spend hours reading them. At 5:30, nothing much is going on in terms of new blog posts, news, etc.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I am trying to make is as a freelance writer now, and work at least 40 hours per week. I mean, I do plenty of reading, but I am largely in a research phase and finding markets and sites where I think my writing would fit. I technically begin work at 10 AM as my business web-site says, but I am always working aroun 8:30. I work only when my husband is gone, however, so any days he takes off I also do. If he goes in at 4:30, I get up and make his coffee and start work when he leaves.
Starting out, I have been trying to organize my commitments an d goals so that I have 40 hours of productive time every week. I really know that I can make it as a freelancer, I just am in my crawl period and totally broke.
These responses are interesting about morning people. I like morning time, too, but by staying up all night and working until noon,then going to bed. I try not to do it often, but the hubby (military) is at pre-Iraq training so the other day, I woke up at 7:00 AM with him and started working at 8:00 AM and worked (10 minute breaks to mailbox or kitchen) on and on until noon the next day. I didn’t even feel tired, I had so much adrenaline going on. I don’t do this often, but when he is gone (which seems often) I take schedule fluctuations like this. I try not to burn out, but I am excited and thoroughly distracted so I put a lot of time in. Now, if only the hours equaled money. I am working on it.
Great post and topic. I am interested to see the responses of other freelancers.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
It varies with the work load. I’ve put in 80-hour weeks and I’ve put in 25-hour weeks. It would be nice to have the same number each week, but that’s just not the freelance life.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Jenn – I am the same way. As of late I have been starting my day earlier and earlier. For one reason or the next I am most productive very early in the morning. An early start means I can get more work done, or as you mentioned, knock off early from time to time.
Leigh – Definitely! Once you settle into a schedule it becomes easier to work your 40 hours per week.
Jessie – Everybody has a different schedule, and that is what makes freelancing so great. If you don’t like working early morning hours all the time you don’t have to!
LShep – You are right about that. Some weeks are full of work, others are a bit more “normal.”
October 13th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I aim for around 20 hour weeks and wherever possible just Monday to Friday (though Saturday sometimes gets overspill).
In that 20 hours I make at or above the same hourly rate as in my previous full-time job. Working this schedule (half the hours, half the pay)is a deliberate choice – I’m not cash rich in any sense, but make enough to have a decent standard of living, and consider the extra free time a suitable trade-off for the lower income.
I’m fairly confident that if I needed more income I could get it from longer hours (certainly up to a ‘full working week’), though at this stage it would likely mean taking on work I didn’t enjoy as much.
Obviously this isn’t an option for people with different life circumstances, but to me the beauty of freelancing is that, to a large extent, you’ve got a much better chance of finding the life/work/time/money balance that’s right for you.