Writing spans a wide variety of formats and careers, from technical writing to novel writing. Each writer brings their own style and voice to a piece of work, no matter the medium. A writing career can be gratifying with the right fit, as it’s flexible and provides a sufficient creative outlet in daily life. However, the market is quite saturated with writers, and it can be challenging to find a decent role, leading to many freelance or work-from-home writers with a wide variety of clients. Remote writing does have its perks, like flexibility and client choice. However, it can be challenging to be a productive writer when personal and business lives mix. If you’re worried about staying productive while writing from home, you should evaluate what negatively impacts your workflow.
Find a Private Space
Working from home doesn’t mean working in the middle of your family’s chaos. You’ll likely have trouble focusing if you’re trying to write with people talking, the TV blasting, and kids running around in the background. Designate a private space just for work. You can turn your bedroom into an office during the day or create a designated office space in a guest bedroom, shed space, or extra room. You’ll want the space to be private and relatively quiet (music or background videos are fine). A private space will allow you to work peacefully without distraction or interruption.
Have an Ergonomic Setup
You won’t put out your best work if you’re hunched over your computer screen painfully or sitting on pins and needles. You’ll likely even want to write as little as possible. Make the space comfortable for your work environment. Buy a relaxing chair that stays that way throughout the day, perhaps with some support cushioning. Utilize keyboard and mouse rests if necessary. Keep the temperature comfortable and adjustable (fans and heaters can help regulate a temperature without adequate airflow). Try to include space that allows you to stand up and stretch your legs often.
Use an Efficient Program
Using a confusing program can put a dent in your daily writing quota. Programs that aren’t accessible or flexible in layout or settings aren’t ideal. If you’re writing longer pieces, you may even want to utilize a program to help you format and stylize your writing by headers, fonts, and page breaks. While most programs offer this, you’ll want one that is user-friendly and cost-effective. You can try this writing software to make editing and formatting quick and seamless.
Create a Writing Schedule
Staying focused on your writing can be difficult when you don’t know when to write. If you write too much, you can risk burnout, an inadequate social life, and stress. You’ll miss crucial deadlines and ruin your paycheck if you write too little. Make sure you plan a weekly schedule to allow yourself to get a good night’s sleep, a decent work-life balance, and ideal workloads. Your schedule can be flexible, but you should have one. If you enjoy writing at night, go for it! Just make sure you have a good balance of everything you need.
Get Enough Sleep
Have you ever compared your writing quality when you feel well-rested to when you barely slept? Sometimes, getting words on paper is impossible when you’re too tired. Getting a good amount of high-quality sleep is vital for a productive writing session. Try to aim to go to bed at the same time each day and get at least six to nine hours of sleep (whatever feels best for you).
Take Breaks
When you have a large workload or multiple clients, writing as much as you can as fast as possible may seem smart. However, this can backfire and lead to burnout, a chronic state of overwhelming stress and fatigue related to your work. It can be challenging to get rid of burnout once it occurs, so taking as many breaks as possible is best to ensure your brain and body can rest. You’re not a machine, so don’t treat yourself like one.
Create an Outline
Sometimes, finding inspiration to write the first word down is overwhelming. Where do you start? What direction should your writing go? If you’re struggling with writing the first sentence often, you may need to create an outline—or improve the ones you’re already making. Outlines help map out what your writing will look like so you aren’t working solely from memory. Outlines help jog your memory and serve as a template for your work to make the process easier. You can create an outline using a bullet list, create headers, or do anything else that helps you write more efficiently.
Avoid Multitasking
You’re not going to want to write multiple projects at once. You’re also not going to want to edit, format, and outline at the same time that you’re writing. Focus on one task at a time. Start with planning and outlining, then writing, and then editing at the end. When you multitask, You may feel like you’re being more productive, but you’re just diluting your skills. Focus on staying productive by taking your time and honing your abilities!
