Being a freelancer as a parent has its advantages.
Your remote gigs and flexible schedule allow you to stay home with your children more often, and not having to commute daily means you can spend less time driving and more time playing with your little ones.
Working from home also lets you impart healthy professional habits to your kids.
However, balancing career and parenthood takes some getting used to.
You must identify and address the challenges accordingly to juggle your professional duties and parenting responsibilities.
Use these six practical tips to lead your double life as a freelancing parent well.
1. Hire a Nanny
Raising kids is a full-time job in itself.
It can consume most of your attention, time and energy — especially when your kids can’t play unsupervised.
It’s usually easier to work at home when you have an infant because they remain in the same spot and sleep most of the day.
Toddlers are different — they’re awake longer, they’re never motionless, they can be clingy, and they have demanding emotional and social needs.
Keeping an eye on children during toddlerhood while concentrating on work isn’t possible on many occasions. If your parents or in-laws can’t give you a hand, you can hire a nanny.
You can ask around your community for prospects before looking further.
If you do not want to hire one nanny, you can hire a few trusted sitters so someone can take over when another is unavailable.
Only some people willing to look after children are good at it.
Screen all candidates thoroughly to see their demeanor, witness their ability to follow instructions and see how they care for kids.
Your state may have a public registry you can use to determine whether your prospects have prior sex offenses and other criminal records.
2. Design a Dedicated Workspace
Living with children can be messy and affect your focus and productivity.
Designing a home office can ensure you have a tidy place to work. A good home office is quiet and well-lit. The best spot is a vacant room with windows not facing the street and away from high-traffic areas.
Moreover, your workspace should be functional and comfortable. Equip it with ergonomic seats, a spacious adjustable desk and organizers.
Although monitor arms are optional, incorporating them into your setup allows you to keep screens at eye level when sitting or standing to mitigate neck strain.
Dividing your home office into three work zones is also good practice.
A zoned workspace is easy to organize and is conducive to productivity.
The first zone should have the equipment you need for work so that you don’t need to stand up to access them. The second should have the items you may use throughout the day but don’t need as much as those in zone one.
The third should have the supplies you seldom use.
3. Take Advantage of Camps and After-School Activities
Being a freelancer has benefits when your children are in school.
You can make your own schedule, so you can be available to take the kids to and from school. However, you may not feel like you have enough time to get work done during the day before it’s time for pickup.
Signing kids up for sports or clubs after school can give you a few more hours to yourself during the day.
Summer camps can also be a lifesaver for working parents, and they are also beneficial for your child’s development and learning needs.
Instead of occupying your child with the TV while you work, enroll them in an extracurricular that will help them grow and thrive.
4. Set Clear Boundaries
Working from home doesn’t mean anyone can knock on your door and disturb you anytime.
While your work hours are flexible, others in your home must still respect them.
Some people may be unfamiliar with the struggles of home-based freelancers.
Be patient, and discuss your privacy needs with your loved ones and your children’s primary caregivers.
Explain to them that constantly getting interrupted can affect your job performance — especially when you lack good working memory to manage intrusive thoughts — and hurt your career over the long term.
Remind them to contact you only when it’s urgent or an emergency.
Your gigs can also interfere with your personal life.
Discipline yourself to work only a certain number of hours per day and on specific days. Conserving your bandwidth to attend to your family’s needs is challenging when you overextend yourself.
Plan when to unplug — and stick to it. If your little learners are pursuing formal education at home, schedule your work hours when they’re also busy with studies.
5. Only Take Workloads You Can Handle
The beauty of freelancing is you can engage with multiple clients simultaneously to boost your income.
However, biting off more than you can chew will backfire on you. Too many professional commitments may force you to work extremely long hours and be glued to your computer until the weekend.
In a feast-or-famine line of work, it can be tempting to get as much business as possible when you can.
However, accepting unrealistic workloads almost always results in work-life imbalance and burnout.
If you want to earn more in less time, review your rates to ensure you get paid what you rightfully deserve.
Prioritize higher-paying projects to use your time wisely. Upskill to raise your market value and justify higher rates.
Getting paid to do what you love on your time is a neat way to earn extra money.
For example, if you’re a bookworm, you can make up to $15 for every title you read and review.
6. Outsource What You Can
Balancing business commitments, parental duties and household chores can be unsustainable.
Pushing yourself too hard can affect your physical and mental health and compromise your personal and professional goals.
You only have 24 hours each day.
Decide which tasks are worth doing and which are worth delegating.
Outsourcing laborious tasks — such as cooking and home maintenance — allows you to accomplish more with less time.
Hiring somebody to do some of your household duties costs money. However, trying to do everything yourself may cost you more when you experience fatigue.
Succeed in Freelancing and Parenting
Fortunately, it’s just another skill you need to learn. With these practical tips, you can be successful equally as a freelancer and a parent.
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