Start Your Freelance Writing Journey: Write Around Your Day Job

Most freelance writers, including me, start by working around their day jobs. They give a few hours everyday and only quit their day jobs for a full-time freelance writing career when they are absolutely sure of it.



Of course, the most difficult part is getting started. When you are already spending over nine hours in a day job, finding motivation to work as a content writer part-time is a struggle, to say the least.

In this article, we will be discussing how you can work around your day job to start freelance writing and when to know it’s time to move full-time.

Freelance writing around your day job gives you a safety net, even if things do not work out. Here's how you can start a successful writing career

  1. Set aside a fixed time for freelancing (and stay persistent)

The first and most important thing you need to do is set aside a fixed time for part-time writing.

If you go to the office a little late, you can try waking up early and work in the mornings or you can work late at night. Whatever it is, you should at least be spending 2-3 hours freelancing everyday. On weekends, you could give much more time.

Most importantly, you need to be persistent with the schedule. You cannot give it all in the first week and then completely sizzle out in your next week.

2. Define a monetary goal

Are you paying rent? Do you have loans? Do you need to have a fixed amount of savings every month? Calculate how much you need to earn through freelance writing to go full-time.

In your calculations, you need to take the time factor in account as well. For instance, if you are able to earn around 70% of your day job’s income by writing part-time, then you can obviously earn a whole lot more than your current income by full-time freelancing.

If you are living in big city and paying huge rents to stay close to your office, then you can also think about cheaper living arrangements since freelancing doesn’t require you to stay at a specific location.

3. Finalize your pricing according to your goals

Once you have your monthly monetary goals, you need to set your pricing accordingly. Since you are rather new to freelance writing, charging premium rates will get you nowhere.

To be honest, it might leave you with no work. At the same time, you also don’t want to charge so low that there is no way you can meet your goals.

4. Sync your emails with your phone

Working around your day job means you will not have your personal laptop with you most of the time and it can take you a long time to get back to the clients.

That is why, it’s best to sync your email with your phone so that you can respond to clients as quickly as possible. Its also best to keep your work files on the cloud with apps like Dropbox or Google Drive which will make it easier for you to share or email files, even if you don’t have your laptop with you.

5. Don’t sabotage your day job

Just because you got your first big client through freelancing doesn’t mean you can get overconfident and start sabotaging your day job. Until and unless you are sure of quitting your day job, treat it with respect and perform all your responsibilities.

If your employer has a non-compete clause then its also best to not mention the part-time freelancing thing at your workplace because it could get you in hot waters.

 

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2 thoughts on “Start Your Freelance Writing Journey: Write Around Your Day Job”

  1. I agree with everything you have said. But after working 9 hrs/day plus commute, if you then try to spend 3 hours writing every day, well, when do you find time to do anything else?

    1. Hey, Nupur I’d say, start with 5 minutes of writing or perhaps 100 words of writing and reward yourself for it. Getting into the habit of doing little every day can lead to a lot over time.

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