Your Typical Work Day?

[dragonfly2428]

What is your workday like? I know it depends a lot on if you have kids at home and other responsibilities but I am curious how you tackle your work every day. In the past I just work whenever I get the chance but lately I have been slacking off a lot and my last payment was so low and need more motivation.

Basically what I considered on doing is setting specific hours for "full time" work combines assignments on MC, articles for other sites, working on my website, marketing myself on CL, etc. Where I force myself to work continuously for a certain amount of time every day regardless of what else is going on, just like I would have to with a "normal" day job.

[rjweaver10]

I have kids and my day is never the same. I also babysit and sometimes there are four kids here. I work when I can but mostly when they are sleeping.

Honestly, I take each day at a time. My kids needs come first but I still manage to bring home 3-400$ each week. It's stressful, tiring and exhausting but so worth it. I just read someone had to take their kid to daycare from 7 AM to 7 PM....working from home is so worth the fight

You will find something that works for you. As for motivation....you have to find something that lights a fire in your butt...

[anng]

For me, I get up at 5am with my hubby and hop in the shower when he's done taking his. He has to be out of the house at 6am, so I start waking up one teen (my daughter never needs a reminder), get together my son's sandwich and set out a protein bar for his sister. Grab my cup of coffee and turn on my computer. I often have to issue a reminder to my son so that he doesn't make the morning carpool driver late.

I always start my morning reading Questionable Content, the local news and then emails. Once those are done, I'll check emails regularly. Work loads actually depend on the day of the week for me.

Weekends and Monday, I usually have work to complete from a private client, so I'll write whatever reviews they need and then invoice them. My other private client keeps me busy throughout the week editing, having phone conferences and updating spreadsheets. Thursday I usually get invoices started so that Friday morning I'm just plugging in numbers before submitting them to my boss.

There's no high school bus service here. We actually don't have a high school in our town, so teens choose from a selection of five high schools in this end of the state. No bus service means I have to leave at 2pm to find parking in the nearby city and they wait for school to let out. I drop off the boy whose mom does the morning run, then recently I've been driving to another high school to pick up my neighbor's son since she broke her back and is in the hospital and can't pick him up.

Once I'm back, I'll usually get my kids to help me clean the house quickly and then start prepping dinner. While that's cooking, I'll check emails and answer any questions before shutting my computer off for the night to spend time with my family.

[Kiernansmom]

I usually spend the first 2 hours of the day feeding my son, waking up with coffee, and applying for jobs,. During his first nap, I write 2-3 articles where I have to concentrate, and once he wakes up around noon or 1, we have lunch. Then I try to write maybe 2 or 3 easier articles that do not require much research or focus. Depending on if the day has been a productive one, I might work out during this time, or do some chores around the house. During his next nap around 4 or 5 pm, I write a couple more harder articles that require focus. When he wakes up around 6, I write easier articles until about 7 or 8, when DH gets home and I make dinner. After LO goes to bed around 8:30, I relax til 9 or 9:30, and then write maybe 2 more articles until bed around midnight. On the weekends I write half as much so we might go hang out with friends in the afternoon or night. I try to make around $700 a week.

[karmicwindows]

My day doesn't start until around noon, 1pm. Mostly because I'm a night owl and do my best work in the wee hours. I often see my hubby off to work at 5 am.

I get up, get Pepsi, turn on my computer. I usually do some sort of a brief housework task then talk a walk down to get the mail (long driveway). I go through my email, cruise through here, and make any phone calls that need to be made.

I'm fortunate that my boys are grown and gone so I don't have to do the kid thing anymore. I do, however, have a half dozen rescued cats that sometimes act like children and can be just as distracting.

After the wake up routine, I print out the lessons I'll need for my tutoring classes and respond to any messages or questions my students may have left. Then I take of any research that may need to be done for articles. I start my classes and wrap them up about 7pm or so.

At this point my brain kicks into high gear and I write, work on my websites (putting together 6 at the same time, different subjects), and do the multitude of other things I have to do to earn a paycheck now and a passive income later.

I do reserve Fri & Sat for my hubby and to recharge my brain.

[writermomtomax]

I only write part-time. But on the days I write I am up about 7:45. I get my son breakfast and get him to school by 8:30. Stop for a coffee and get started about 9:00. I usually check emails, craigslist, this forum and work on my higher paying articles first, for about 2 hours.

Than I take a break to go to the gym, or go running. I am back about 12:30, than shower and make lunch. I write a few more easier articles like MC, Yahoo or WG until about 3:45 than go pick up my son. Once a week or so I may skip the afternoon writing to go have lunch with a friend. But if I do this I work all evening.

Usually after that we hangout and play or depending on the time of year, he may have soccer or t-ball practice. Next is homework, dinner and hopefully a little family time when my husband gets home. After my son is in bed about 9:00 I hangout with my hubby for a while and than look for jobs, apply for work look for titles that kind of thing and maybe work on an article a little more.

I also try to do research at my medical job when I am not seeing patients. I work for an hour or two on Saturday mornings trying to do my own thing, like a book proposal or query letter to magazines. Other than that don't work the rest of the weekend.

[inkkognito]

I have to force myself to wake up early because I'm a night owl by nature. Usually I start working as soon as I get up, although sometimes I take the morning off and start around noon or 1 p.m. I almost always end up working more than 8 hours. It's one of the worst hazards of working at home.

[BamaScents]

I would love help with a schedule. I work full time, a full time student and mommy to a WILD three year old (who is a lot like her mommy and is BOSSY! ). I would love to figure out a way to make what I need to bring home each week. I don't have a lot of time for intense research, etc so maybe I am doomed to make more than a couple of pennies.

Did I also say that any and everything thing surrounding bad luck generally happens in between all my other daily happenings?

LOL Im working on a "plan" for the new year. I need more money!

[megank]

I try to be at my desk by 8 a.m. I have a kitchen timer set for 45 minutes of work, and then 15 minutes of getting up and doing anything that doesn't involve sitting - usually housework. I try to have my daily assignments done by lunch, and then after lunch I focus on private projects such as my own websites. Afternoon tends to be a bit less scheduled so I can play with the kiddos or go get groceries.

I also do the Google rating but haven't spent much time on it, so I am trying out doing that for an hour each night when I'm too tired for anything else. We just signed back up for TV and although I don't like watching it, it makes a nice backdrop to rating for another little bit of income each day.

I'm lucky that hubby takes care of the kids, so I am able to focus on working for at least the first half of the day. All of this has gone out the window in the past couple of weeks though, so now we're adjusting to a new baby and I'm working sporadically until bedtime. Today is only my second day working since the baby though, so I'm sure our routine will return in a few weeks.

[Del S]

On school days, I'm up about 6 and getting the kids ready for the day. Once I'm back from dropping them off, I spend about 1/2 hour job searching, then another 1/2 checking forums and email. Then I start writing and try to write for at least a couple of hours. I take a break and a walk, then come back to write for another couple of hours, sometimes less. I usually eat lunch at my desk. Sometimes, depending on what's going on, I don't have to do that second part of writing, or if I do, it's writing for myself (fiction) or looking for fiction markets. After that, I pick up my kids, and with sports, homework, etc., I'm pretty much done working for that day. I try my best not to work when they're home, since the reason for me working at home is to be there for them. If I absolutely have to work when they're home, I try and wait 'til they're asleep.

As a general rule, I don't take on work that requires a lot of research so I don't spend a lot of time researching -- most of it is straight writing, and I can type and proofread fairly quickly. So clearly, I'm working P/T hours, which suits my family.

ETA: During the summer, I try and cut back my working hours as much as I can; I usually get up early and finish what needs to be finished within a couple of hours, or work late at night. Obviously I'm not trying to make six figures, but I'm hoping that the fiction eventually pays off.