It’s much easier to take consistent action toward your career goals if you establish a regular routine.
If you have a full time day job and you’re trying to transition to full time freelance writing, right now you may be able to follow your routine just a few hours a day or maybe only a few hours per week. That’s okay. The main thing is to get a regular routine in place.
When you establish a routine, it’s also much easier to create your marketing plan and writing schedule every Sunday night or Monday morning. Then, when the work week starts on Monday, all you need to do is follow the actions you’ve set up in your routine.
For example, my weekly routine includes:
1. Working on a current work-in-progress. Generally, I set aside 1 hour every morning, first thing (before I do anything else), to work on a novel, short story, or other writing project that’s not under contract (it’s just something I’m passionate about writing).
2. Completing regular marketing tasks every weekday morning – this includes writing & sending out The Morning Nudge, checking and responding to emails, updating my blogs, scheduling events for the Working Writer’s Club, which I started several years ago, and posting information to the Working Writer’s Club site online.
3. Working on current writing assignments every weekday afternoon. Usually I have at least 3 or 4 writing assignments at any given time – with scattered deadlines. I allocate time every afternoon to work on each of these assignments.
4. Acquiring new assignments. Many times these days, new assignments and clients come to me. But I also spend time each week sending out queries and proposals to get new assignments and clients.
5. Coaching clients – I schedule one-on-one coaching sessions between all my other work. It’s nice to take a break from writing in the afternoon to talk to a client. I also enjoy talking to a client midmorning (after I’ve spent time on my current work-in-progress) before I get started on my marketing tasks for the day.
That’s pretty much the work routine I follow. I do these same actions day after day, week after week. Each of these actions is designed to take me closer and closer to achieving my 3 major writing/career goals for the year. I always have these 3 major goals before me during the day (on an index card or at the top of the page in my spiral notebook for my “to-do” list for the day), so when I’m tempted to get offtrack, I just look at my goals and remind myself of what I’m trying to achieve.
What does your work routine look like?
Have you established a routine yet?
If not, create one today, then just start following your routine to make it easier to be consistent in your efforts to reach your goals.
Try it!
Immobilienmakler Heidelberg Makler HeidelbergSource by Suzanne Lieurance