Over the years I’ve held a lot of different Day Jobs, all of which required me to be there during set hours. As a result, I’ve had to schedule my writing and creative work for whatever time I had left over.
This led to some interesting workarounds over the years: for example, I went from working mostly after dinner when I worked in an office to working mostly in the afternoons when I taught in Japan, as well as sneaking in whatever creative work I could during my free periods.
You might remember, though, that before I moved to Japan I spent about three months without working any Day Job at all, and during that time I had free reign over my time as I revised MFA Thesis Novel and edited a writing anthology. During this time I set my own schedule of working on the novel in the morning when I felt fresh, taking a long break, then doing whatever other email or editing work I had to throughout the late afternoon and evening.
I now find myself in a similar position: because I earn most of my income from editing and writing coaching, I can schedule that work mostly whenever I want. For the first time in my life, this puts me in a position to schedule my own worktime for an extended period, meaning that I can create the best work schedule that works for me.
Here’s what I came up with:
Awesome Work-From-Home Writer/Editor Schedule!
I’ve tried to keep my schedule as consistent as I can since I started back in on my Secret New Novel in May, and most days end up looking something like this:
~8:00am: Wake Up
8:00~9:00am: Get Ready
~9:00: Make the Day’s Plan
9:10~12:30pm: Writing Time
12:30~1:15: Lunch
1:15~6:00pm: Email, Zoom Calls with Clients, Editing, Novel Marketing, Other Tasks
6:00~7:00pm: Dinner
7:00pm~9:00pm: Free Time/Work Time/Online Calls or Games
9:00~11:30pm: Reading, Journal Writing, Relaxing
Let’s look at each stage one at a time:
~8:00am: Wake Up
I try to wake up at about the same time every morning without an alarm clock, since this has been helpful for setting up a consistent sleep schedule. To be fair, I will sleep in an extra thirty minutes or so if I’m tired (like I did this morning), and occasionally I’ll have an early call that requires me to get up earlier, but I try to keep my waking-up time as consistent as possible.
8:00~9:00am: Get Ready
In the mornings I’ll shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and make my bed (in that order). This is the way I feel comfortable starting the day while also allowing me enough time to properly wake up and clear my head.
After making my bed I’ll usually respond to text messages from the night before, or that have come in during the night. I don’t love that I do this right before my writing time, and I’m thinking about not doing it anymore, since it means that I’m starting my day by thinking about little things that aren’t writing. I don’t like the idea of being entirely unreachable until lunchtime, though, which is why I try to check and clear out any texts before disappearing into the writing void. I might change this in the future, but for now, text-checking time is sticking around.
~9:00: Make the Day’s Plan
This is small, but incredibly important. As soon as I sit down at my desk I’ll start by writing a daily To-Do list in my schedule book of everything I want to accomplish that day, in the approximate order I want to accomplish it in. This serves two purposes:
- It frees my mind from having to remember what I want to do that day, since I’ve already written it down
- It holds me accountable to my daily goals
Most days will have anywhere between four and twelve tasks, and as I finish each one, I’ll check it off to keep myself on track. If I’m not able to get through something that day, I’ll draw a box around it to remind myself that it still needs to get done, either the next day, or at a later time.
9:10~12:30pm: Writing Time
I’ve been blogging about my writing time in my Secret New Novel status posts, so I won’t repeat much of that here. Realistically, it’ll often take me until 10:00am or later to get started (especially if I’ve slept late!), but I’m almost always able to get in a good two and a half hours where I’m primarily focused on the novel and nothing else.
Focused in this case means no email checking, no internet surfing, no social media, and no phone notifications of any kind. I talked to my roommates about keeping interruptions to a minimum during this time, and I always write with the door closed. The purpose is to avoid distractions as much as possible, and I can’t imagine writing any other way.
12:30~1:15: Lunch
Immediately after writing time I break for lunch. This is mostly because I don’t like diving directly from writing into emailing or other work, and like to give my brain time to adjust. For lunch, I’ll always leave my office for a change of scenery, and I’ll usually listen to a podcast or watch something relatively mindless on TV.
1:15~6:00pm: Email, Zoom Calls with Clients, Editing, Novel Marketing, Other Tasks
My afternoon time is basically everything else time.
If I have a Zoom call with a client, I’ll try to schedule it as soon after lunch as possible so I can dive right in. I’ll also check my email after lunch (for the first time that day!) and see if anything important’s come in that might affect the day’s plan. Otherwise, I’ll open and reply to messages as needed, or mark them for later if they require more thought so I can keep my inbox neat.
After email and calls, I’ll work on manuscript edits, other writerly duties, or miscellaneous work last, so that email admin occupies the middle part of the day. Once my email is sorted and dealt with, I find that my mind’s much freer to work on other projects, since it’s not wondering if I’ve missed something important.
6:00~7:00pm: Dinner
Because I live with roommates and we usually eat together, in reality, my dinnertime starts between 5:00 and 6:30 and could run between 30 and 90 minutes depending on whether I’m cooking or if there’s a lot to clean up. In any case, I like to keep dinner as a break from the day when I can relax, unwind, and not think about work for a while.
7:00pm~9:00pm: Free Time/Work Time/Online Calls or Games
Again, my after-dinner schedule varies depending on the day. I might make another video call (either work or personal), or I might work more on editing or unfinished tasks, or I might just curl up in a chair with a book or play a game. I try to play my evenings by ear depending on how I’m feeling, and DEFINITELY try not to work too late (though sometimes this is unavoidable if I have a deadline…).
9:00~11:30pm: Reading, Journal Writing, Relaxing
Again, I set aside the end of the night for screen-free time as often as I can, and this is when I do most of my reading. I’ll also write in my journal, or in general unwind and reflect—any number of chill activities to help me sleep better, rather than staying glued to a phone or computer.
Final Thoughts
I feel like I’ve been mentally preparing myself for this kind of schedule for years, first in imagining my ideal work schedule, then consciously planning for it as I was getting ready to leave Japan. This helped make the adjustment easier once I started scheduling out more of my own time again, rather than forming a huge leap from structured Day Job time to self-structured work time.
After I’d been following this schedule for a while, I picked up Antony Johnston’s guide The Organised Writer and found that he recommends a similar system of writing in the morning, then checking email and handling admin tasks in the afternoon. At the time, I recalled a saying about great minds thinking alike, and thought it was super-cool that Johnston and I were independently driven to such a similar work schedule.
If you’re at a point where you’re able to schedule more of your own time (or hope to soon!) I encourage you to check out Johnston’s book, or at the very least, try to develop consistent work habits that work well for you. While there’s always going to be variation, finding what works for you and sticking to it will definitely be helpful in the long run.