This may sound like a funny question for a freelance writing blog, but are you getting enough sleep? I’ve been spending so much time catching up after SXSWi that I’ve been up a little later than usual. Last night I was so tired I went to bed at 8:30 and slept until 6:00 a.m. I have to tell you, I feel great. Normally I get about six or seven hours per night. In the morning I function just fine. Getting 8 hours or more of sleep each night really makes the difference between a good, productive day of work and just going through the motions.
Leads…
- Entertainment Web Expert
- Freelance Scriptwriter
- Freelance Writer - Tech Website – Bright Hub
- Freelance Content Writer – Economics
- Finance Bloggers – $10 – $18/post
- Co-Author or Ghost Writer
- Writers Wanted – $25/article
- Kids Game Content Writer – $300
- Reporters Wanted – Chicago
- Writers Needed - Las Vegas
- Proofreader Needed
- Freelance Writers Wanted – $10- $30
- Experienced Grant Writer - San Bernadino
- Marketing Copy Writer – $20/letter (I hate ads that tell you how much of your time a gig should take, FWIW)
- Entertainment bloggers
- New Manhattan Mag Seeks Writers
- Online Editor for NYC Theater Site
- Business Plan Writer
- Legal Proofreader
- Business Plan Needed for Bank Loan
- Proofreader/Writer- Philadelphia
- Writer for GreenCaptial.com – Seattle
- Managing Editor for E-Newsletter
- Home Business/Internet Copywriting Ninja
- Origami Writer - $20/article
- Research Analyst/Writer
- Write & Edit Product Descriptions
- GrowandMake.com Contributing Editor
- Creative Writing Camp Instructor - $600/week – Bay Area
- Urban Affairs Writer/Research – San Francisco
- Freelance Writer – Insurance Industry
Have a great day & good luck!
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I haven’t been getting sleep, but not because of work. On Jan 1 I took a header off my quad at the desert and landed on my head, then rolled on my shoulder. Life would have been great if I’d kept my chest protector on instead of taking it off to carry a camel-bak full of water.
As it was, I separated my AC and fractured my clavicle. (The chest protector also has a shoulder guard that, well, simply doesn’t work if you’re not wearing it…)
Anyway, sleep is limited to about 4 hrs a night, unless I’m on meds, which I’ve all but quit taking several weeks ago.
Thanks for the leads today Deb. I managed to find a client through your lists this week so thanks for posting them up. Oh, and I never get enough sleep. Insomnia is a frequent, and usually unwelcomed, guest in my home.
Anyone have experience with Bright Hub? I have heard about them here and there and had inferred a pretty positive connotation, but I’m surprised to see they only pay $10 for 3-700 words. How does the revenue share work out? Is it a good place to work overall?
Deb,
Week before last I ran the book fair at the boys’ school. I was at school all day every day and one night, too. I did all my writing after they went to bed and stayed up late. That Saturday night I went to bed at 8pm and slept until 7:30 the next morning (and completely forgot about daylight savings time and my whole family showed up for church an hour late).
I can’t help but wonder what happened to the girl who took a full load in college, worked 30 hours a week as a waitress, was the photographic editor at the college paper and managed to be social all the same time.
Nope, but I have a two month old, so I have a good excuse!
That was definitely a well timed post, Deb! I’m running on just a few hours of sleep today and I’m miserable. I couldn’t be having a less productive day, and goodness knows how much I’m setting myself back for the month by working so sluggishly today.
In fact, this is one of my biggest personal peeves about working from home. I’ve noticed that I find it very easy to just amble off to the couch or bed for a while. Maybe that’s because I tend to work in my “lazy day” clothes, nursing a cup of tea. Usually it’s fine but there is the odd day – like today – where I can’t seem to function like a human being.
Do you fellow at-home freelancers treat your work day like a regular day at the office? By this I mean do you shower and get dressed as if you were headed out early in the day, schedule a lunch break, etc.? I’m wondering if changing up my day a little might shake me out of the small rut I’m experiencing – which, unfortunately, has been going on for more than just today.
I get up around 8. I spend an hour checking e-mails and reading the news, then I work out for an hour (12 miles on the elliptical + pilates and weights). Cool down, have a shower, make breakfast, and spend from 10:30 or so until noonish browsing sites, checking job leads, making blog posts. I usually start “work” around noonish and go for 3-4 hours. Then I break for a bit, watch a show or play a game for an hour or two, then get in a couple hours worth of pleasure writing. Wife gets home around 8 and depending on the night we watch our shows, or she works on her blog/crafting in which case I’ll do some more pleasure writing.
Schedule changes a bit day to day, but I pretty much work in my “home” clothes. I’ll go a week without shaving. I’ll have a couple of beers with lunch, or a half bottle of wine at 3 in the afternoon while I’m working. That’s the beauty of working from home. I don’t have to shave, dress up, smell nice, look good, impress anyone. The quality of my work is all that counts.
I generally go to bed around 1 or 2 a.m., and I get up at 8 consistently. Sometimes I’ll get up earlier, but only if I have a deadline for a project, just to get an extra hour’s worth of work in.
So yes…I treat my working from home the same as an office, in some respect. I have a “schedule” that I adhere too. I don’t sleep all day, that’s for sure. However, I’ve had those days where you wake up, don’t have a pressing deadline, and just kind of look at the world and go “meh”. Matter of fact I had one last week. I literally laid in bed all day Saturday from 8 a.m. until close to midnight, only getting up to eat and shower/bathroom breaks. I watched shows all day, just completely and totally vegged out.
If I have a bottle of wine in the afternoon I tend to want a nap after that, though
And there’s nothing quite like an hour or two snooze in the afternoon! But on the days I do that I make sure to catch up on the writing later on that evening while my wife is working out or on her blog work or crafts.
But there’s definitely a relaxed factor about working from home. No boss telling you “30 minutes only for lunch!”, you can take a sick day whenever you want, totally skip and go out to the movie theater instead, or whatever. I went out on Monday and had lunch with my wife between her classes, plus went to three different craft stores browsing for goods. Was about a 30 minute walk there, a couple hours for lunch + browsing, and 30 minutes back. I came home, took a nap, woke up, and got some work done.
I find my work-from-home schedule to be a little isolating
Since I moved to the US (MA), I’ve left behind all of my friends and family because it was kind of on a whim that I decided to move. The only friend I made out here was my ex-roommate, and she moved back to Oregon because she missed her bf. Since I study online from home as well, things can be a bit lonely because I’m not in a situation where I can actively make friends.
It has been very tempting to just sit around in PJs and work some days, but since my new apartment is down the street from the local park, in the summer I tend to grab my laptop and a few snacks and sit in the gazebo all day
I think I’ll be doing that more frequently given that I just realised this apartment has absolutely NO natural light, which is drastically affecting my sleep schedule. It’s easy for me to just spend all day in my bedroom working, but I’ve been doing that for the past month and a half – this morning when I went into the living room (the only room that has natural light) my eyes actually HURT…!
My online researcher job depends on customer traffic and is based in the UK, so UK nights (late late US nights) are the busiest, so I’m often up until 7am most nights. My husband has just started working from home, but he’s finding it difficult. He’s been really distracted by the sitting and snacking/having the TV on the background bonus of this lifestyle!
My favorite job post today was for the kid’s game writer. But alas, they are seeking an imaginary writer and I am a very real person!
Heheh, my hardest is listening to music while I work. I find myself far too often getting caught up in whatever it is I’m listening to and then 45 minutes later realizing the article that was supposed to take me 10 minutes to write has now taken me an hour because I listened to the whole album lol
I never get enough sleep! I have two small children (3 and 2) at home, plus my husband is here all day (which you`d THINK would help with the kids, but just adds to the distractions).
My day starts around 5 when my kids get up, I make them breakfast, we do our “homeschool” for an hour or so and then I get to work. Of course, it`s extremely broken up during the day, so I do most of the actual writing at night . . . daytime is for applying for jobs, working on my blogs and sites and doing research . . . . along with the responsibilities of being a mom and wife (gotta feed the people in my house!). If my youngest has a nap and my hubby is home, I`ll lay down and have a nap for a couple of hours with him in the afternoon.
Often, I end up working until midnight, watch a television show or something to wind down and hit the sack at one. Which gives me a grand total of 4 hours sleep at night. I expect (hope) things will get better as the kids get older!
Thanks for the leads, as always a great job.
Just thought I’d let you know in case you didn’t, “Write & Edit Product Descriptions” is a no-pay gig.