Having a freelance job sounds to many like being a great career. Working from home allows the freedom to be able to balance your working and family commitments as you see best. However you need to be able to carefully plan how to make the most out of this freedom that you have achieved. For example working as a freelance graphic designer requires not only the creative design skills but also self discipline and time management skills to become a success.

To have a successful freelancing career you have to be able to structure your working day so it suits not only your clients and employers but also your family. If you need to be taking time out of the day to look after small children or toddlers when might you be able to put some time aside to do your work? If you have teenagers they should be more able to look after themselves (theoretically!) so you might be able to devote more time to your work. You have to be realistic so as to not be working when family are home from work or school. Make sure that deadlines are achievable and fit around your family’s life and don’t get upset when timings clash between work and home.

Once you start working at home you have to be able to have two different personas, one the freelancer who happens to work from home and the other is the parent who takes care of the cooking and cleaning. You have to be able to set time aside for work and not get distracted by doing other jobs round the house. Would you start cleaning the bathroom if you were going to the office so why are you doing it if working at home? A separate office space is good for keeping you focused so when you sit down to begin work you are not looking at a pile of dirty dishes sitting in the sink.

Your family has to be supportive of your freelancing career. They have to be aware of and respect your working hours, so both you and they have to know when you are going to be working, you have to stick to these times and they have to leave you in peace when you are working. As with all other jobs there has to be a certain degree of flexibility but the structure needs to remain in place to keep up with the work you will be getting.

If you have a laptop and a wireless connection then the beauty of being a freelancer is that you can just about work from anywhere you want to. So use this to work a little more creatively by working out of normal office hours. If you have kids then can you work while they are asleep during the early morning or later into the evening. If you are a night owl don’t try to get up early to do the work as you won’t be very productive during this time. One thing to think about is school holidays. If the kids are about then are you still going to be able to get all the work done or do you need to reduce the work load during this time or perhaps even take a holiday at the same time.

Freelancers are by no means the perfect parents. You have to understand that it is important to find a balance between getting the washing done and getting that important piece of work done, so you can’t always be the most perfect parent. If that pile of dirty dishes is building up in the sink, or the work deadline is looming close, or perhaps you need to go to the kids school play, you need to make sure that your priorities are right for you, your family and your work.

Use your friends and family to keep you motivated as you won’t have colleagues peering over your shoulder keeping you moving along. Remember the reasons you decided to become freelance in the first place and let those things motivate you to get the work done in the time you have assigned to it. Be creative, create proper structures for yourself and remember to be disciplined, get the important things done.

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