By guest author Nia Sowden author of Survival Wytch

I am a freelance writer and this is my perspective on working from home. I’ll share with you what I have found to be the advantages and disadvantages.

I began working from home when the kids were little, having part time jobs cleaning or selling products or preparing and selling food to cafés and being a day care mom. This meant that I could be at home for my children after school.

I loved the freedom of being my own boss and having my own hours. I always made sure I had something freshly baked for afternoon tea, I loved having time to potter around or tidy up in the garden or create a mess. I love sculpting in clay and styrene so having time to practice my art was important to me, working from home means I can do whatever I want to do.

What I have always loved about working from home is the choice of having my own schedule, creating my own time and being my own boss. I can shop when I want to, visit my friends, see a movie and go to the beach.

I have returned from working full time outside the home, to working from home writing articles.

The Time Management Myth

Again my time is my own. I have to be disciplined though. The first step to success is time management.

So I read the articles available on realistic expectations of working as a writer from home, being committed to working from home, looking after my health, eating properly and exercising, taking time away from the work desk to do something unrelated to the task at hand.

These accounts are all very different to what is my reality.

Do one thing at a time, that is the time management secret, and devise a plan. The plan of my day looks like this:

• I write a heading and main ideas, then wash the dishes, flesh out the first paragraph, make the beds, get involved in the article, hang out the washing, save article and cook lunch.
• Rewrite bits that don’t fit for whatever reason, prepare afternoon tea for the children, stare at the screen.
• Bring in the laundry and fold and put away.
• Prepare the evening meal.
• Adjust the article for readability.
• Talk to someone about their day.
• Return to the article and send it off.

I am finding being a freelance writer is quite different to the romantic way this particular employment choice has been portrayed.

My evenings are filled with interruptions because I guess I am neglecting my parental responsibilities and as for being a loving partner…

I thought I would interrupt the family during something they love to watch to demonstrate the ‘no interrupt’ policy I need for writing success.

It didn’t work.

My family switched off the television to talk to me because, they claimed, they never see me. And besides, if I am away from the computer for 5 minutes they figure I have finished and then they want to use it.

I get engrossed in a story, investigating and researching an idea and just ‘exploring my craft’. After all the story doesn’t get written if I don’t make a start. And then I get interrupted by my family, ‘Are you finished yet?’ or ‘Can I use the computer?’ or ‘What’s for dinner?’… Dinner already?!

My husband has pointed out to me that the evening meals have all had something that is not quite right about them lately. The pasta was hard on Wednesday, the rice was only half cooked, mm crunchy rice on Thursday and the beans and carrots on Friday were only warm and still raw. (Memo to me, stop thinking about writing when cooking dinner).

I have read other writers accounts of how they manage their time, how they justify the time in front of their computer, how they do things in stages so that they can improve on it.

Take breaks from the computer the guides all say, but when I’m on a roll I just can’t. Unfortunately my family is on the back burner while I get my article finished.

Make sure you exercise often, stretching and moving around to increase blood flow and oxygenate the brain.

My exercise breaks consist of hanging out a load of washing, or vacuuming the floor. I’ll do household chores whilst I rework an idea.

These exercises don’t appear in the keep healthy manuals, they just aren’t written for work at home mums! I felt that I wasn’t maintaining my fitness because I wasn’t doing crunches while talking on the phone or squats while searching through the filing cabinet and as for lunges or running on the spot, does running to the stove to save some forgotten meal count?

Exercising by doing my housework is a great strategy to rework an article in my head, or when I get discouraged with they way an article looks, I can still ensure my responsibilities to the family are met with house work done and the batch of cookies for afternoon tea.

But I’m always working, I can’t switch off. Maybe I’m obsessive about writing and I’ve become a Zombie mum working from home, Distant and aloof.

“Can I eat everything in the house?” asks my 9 year old daughter. “Hmm?…yeah sure” I absently reply

Maintain a healthy diet

I make sure I eat properly, albeit with one hand while I type with the other and I haven’t enjoyed a hot cup of tea in days.

I’m sure I’ll find a balance, perhaps when I finish this article.