9-5ish Work Hours for Freelance Writers

I know that one of the primary benefits of freelancing is escaping the 9-5, but having “work hours” is beneficial in freelance writing too.

Work doesn’t consume all your time. Without a set time for working, you’ll find that you start working when you wake up in the morning and don’t stop until you go to bed at night. It might not seem like a problem at first, but you can easily burn yourself out that way.

Easier work/life balance. If you have a family, you have to balance freelance work and home just like you would if you working outside the home. Work hours lets you clearly define the time you have for work and the time you have for family. That way, you’re not neglecting either.

You get more done in a shorter period of time. When I actually worked a 9-5, I would never actually workthe entire 8 hours. There were frequent breaks, conversations with co-workers, internet browsing that would take up time in the day. I was going to be there 8 hours, what was the rush? Setting your work hours to something like 10-2 forces you to complete your work inside those hours.

You can tell people when not to disturb you. Once I started working at home, leisure phone conversations were not an option anymore. With work hours I can tell people not to call during those times. Otherwise, I would be annoyed anytime the phone rang day or night.

Clients know when to best contact you. There may be times when clients need to contact you by phone, IM, or even email for some immediate information. You can communicate your work hours to your clients and they never, or at least seldom, have to question your availability.

Your work hours don’t necessarily have to be the same everyday. You control your schedule so if you need to work from 6am to 10am one day and 12pm to 8pm another day, that’s up to you. The key is to have some time dedicated solely to writing so you separate your work from the rest of your life.