While freelancing and working from home gives me more flexibility with my schedule, it still takes quite a bit of organization and discipline to do everything I need to do each day. Being a divorced single parent makes it a little harder than if I had someone else here to help but I am also cynical enough to think that the 2nd “helper” would cause a different set of problems for me. ;-)

While some days are a little different because my daughter might have been at her Dad’s the night before so I don’t need to take her to school in the morning or she might have an art class in the afternoon, which gives me a longer work day, this is what a typical weekday is like in my house.

5:45am – 6:30am – I have my alarm set for 6:20am. I usually wake up before it goes off, especially this time of year when it’s already so bright outside.

6:30am – 7:00am – Make and drink coffee (#1 priority) and check email. I don’t usually answer emails but I organize it – delete things I don’t need, file to do’s for later, see what has come in that might change my schedule for the day. Sometimes I answer blog comments at this time. And since I got a smartphone sometimes I organize my email via the phone while drinking coffee in the kitchen rather than doing it at the computer.

7:00am – 8:00am – Wake up the kid, make school lunch, make breakfast, nag kid to get up and get ready, make beds, various chores, get dressed. The kid doesn’t need a full hour to get ready to go but I start trying to wake her up at 7am because sometimes it’s really hard to get her up. On other days she wakes up super early and starts chatting with me before I’ve had enough coffee ;-)

8:00am – 9:00am – Walk the kid to school. Sometimes I drop her off at a friend’s house and they take her with their kids and sometimes I walk those same kids to school. So, depending on the day I am either home at 8:20 or 8:45. And we walk no matter what the weather. Well, our friends have a car so once in a great while he will drive them if there is a big thunderstorm or something. When I walk the entire way I usually stop at a cafe near school on the way home and chat with the woman who works there.

9:00am – 12:00pm – Work. I try to do the hardest task first. This isn’t necessarily the one that will take the longest but the one that will take the most thought. As you can probably tell by this schedule so far, I am definitely a morning person. So, I try to do the most difficult work when my brain is working properly ;-) I try not to schedule calls during this time and I don’t check email too frequently unless I’m not that busy. I don’t answer unscheduled calls either. When I am really focused, which is 3 or 4 of the 5 workdays, I get A LOT done in 3 hours.

12:00pm – 1:00pm – Eat something. I usually eat at my desk. I know it’s a bad habit but since I usually have 6-7 solid work hours per day I need this time. Check emails. Check Facebook and Twitter. Some days I use social media earlier in the day – it depends on how busy I am and if I have anything interesting to post or say. This is also the time of day where I will test new WP plugins or other code, take screenshots and notes and read other informative articles. I guess it’s the eat, email, research hour.

1:00pm – 2:00pm – More work. This is when I will do things that take less thought – things I can do in my sleep like backing up a site, upgrades, fixing CSS issues. If I have paperwork, such as proposals, contracts to sign, etc. I will also work on those during this time.

2:00 – 3:00 – By this point in the day no brilliant thoughts, code or solutions are going to come out of me. It’s the time by body usually wants to nap but I don’t. I will continue working on the same types of tasks I did the previous hour. If I have a post to write, like this one, I will often work on it at this time. That doesn’t mean that I’m such a great writer that I can write when I’m pooped but I usually have it planned out from the research I’ve done and it’s just a matter of putting it together.

3:00pm – 4:00pm – Walk to school, pick up the kid, and run errands. This can be going to the park, the library or the co-op. It depends on the day and on the weather. On days my kid has an art class or is going to her Dad’s house I usually stop working at 3:00pm unless I am super busy or have something I have to get done. I used to always work til 5 or 5:30 but I learned that’s it just not productive time because my brain stops working well around 2pm. I’m better off running errands, doing chores, going to appointments, or doing nothing. Also, now that is getting warmer it’s usually pretty hot in the house by this time of the day and I am always try to not use air conditioning.

4:00pm – 5:00pm – This is when the kid does most of her homework. I check emails again and do any tasks that either won’t take too long or can handle interruptions. I’ve repeatedly asked the kid that if she gets stuck on something to move on to the next problem and then we will check it together later. But, I can’t seem to train her to do this – she has a hard time leaving it and moving on to the next problem. I get it. I can be stubborn that way too even though I do know that walking away for a bit can be the best way to solve one of these issues.

5:00pm – 8:00pm – Family / chore time. Dinner, more homework, cleaning up the kitchen, laundry, baths, hanging out together, playing cards, etc. Around 7:30pm the kid usually calls her Dad and then I read aloud to her for 30 minutes or so. Currently we are reading The Golden Compass, which has been a little slow going. The kid also gets annoyed when the book differs from the movie even though I keep insisting that the book came first and they are always going to change or leave things out in a two hour film.

8:00pm – 11:00pm – The kid goes to bed between 8 – 8:30. She usually reads in bed for 30 minutes or so before she goes to sleep. Some think her bedtime is early but she is usually exhausted and she’s a sleeper – I think she is still making up for not sleeping at all the first year or so of her life. Very very very rarely do I do any work at this point in the day. I will if I am unusually busy and want to clear some things off my to do list before the next day or if I am being paid extra for a rush job but this isn’t the norm. I’m just too tired by this point in the day to get much done. I can get more done for three hours in the morning than I can for 7 hours after 2pm. Sometimes I play a video game or watch a movie but I usually read until I fall asleep, which tends to be between 10-11pm.

Rinse and repeat. Of course, there are some variations to this. For example, on Friday nights there isn’t homework so that is movie night and when the weather is super nice we will go to the park for longer after school. And this schedule is different in the summer because the kid is home more (and that’s a whole separate issue in trying to get work done).

I have to be really organized to manage this schedule but it’s working out really well. I manage to get a lot of work done in as little time as possible and I have plenty of time to spend with my daughter.

How about you? Is your schedule anything like mine?

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

A Day in the Life of a Freelancing Single Mom

Last week is the first time I’ve had to deal with sick days since I started freelancing full time almost two years ago (I can’t believe it’s been almost two years …)

I’ve had a couple of days here and there where I didn’t feel great or was overtired or my daughter was home sick from school but overall I’ve been mostly healthy and haven’t needed to take almost an entire week off from work.

It was hard but here’s how I handled it.

Fortunately, I was on top of my projects and didn’t have any looking deadlines. A couple of smaller things were due but it wasn’t as hard to postpone them.

The Tips

1. Don’t procrastinate – I’ve never been much of a procrastinator (except for doing my taxes this year) so this isn’t usually an issue. I always say, “don’t put off until tomorrow that which you can do today because tomorrow you might feel like crap”. If you have been procrastinating on a project, the deadline is approaching and then you get sick, you are going to run into problems with the clients understanding. So, try to stay on top of things when you do feel well.
2. Notify clients as soon as possible – I have a number of clients that I work with on a weekly basis. As soon as I realized how bad my tooth infection was and that I wasn’t able to work, I sent an email letting them know about the situation. They were all really understanding. The one mistake I made was thinking I would be all better as soon as I started taking the antibiotics. I thought I would be back to work in 2 days and I ended up needing the entire week. Even now, 10 days later, I am still run down and don’t have the energy level that I had before all of this started.
3. Notify clients of current projects that are close to being due – I had two Facebook pages that were due a day or two after I got sick. Fortunately, my policy is that a “page will be completed within one week after the deposit and all materials are received unless there are unforeseen circumstances that I will notify you of as soon as possible.” This is the first time I had to utilize an unforeseen circumstance for work being delayed but I’m glad I always include that message.
4. Get help at home – I’m divorced and have an 8 year old. As soon as I started feeling ill I called my ex, told him about the situation, and asked if he could help. He took our daughter for the first two nights, which were the worst of it, and even arranged to leave work early one day because we didn’t have after school care that day. Like any ex, he drives me nuts sometimes, but I’m fortunate in that when I really need help, I can rely on him.
5. Ask your kids for help – On my daughter’s first day back, I still wasn’t feeling well and I hadn’t really slept in a couple of days so I was slightly out of my mind. She realized that I needed her and totally stepped up. She made her own dinner (microwave Mac&Cheese – but she did it), did all the dishes, took a bath without being nagged, waited on me, and tucked me in before putting herself to bed. She’s close to 9 but I was still impressed. I’m pretty sure, however, that she was still wishing she were at her Dad’s house. ;-) I remember being very disconcerted when my Mom was sick when I was a kid – it scared me because we rely on our parents for strength so I’m sure it scared her a little.
6. Save for it - Freelancers need to set aside a portion of their income for sick time so they don’t feel like they have to work because they can’t lose the money. I don’t specifically save for it but I have x number of months of income saved so if I miss a week I don’t feel like everything is going to fall apart.
7. Rest – Prior to the tooth infection I was working really long days – 12+ hours. I’m sure the infection happening after that was a coincidence but it was a reminder to slow down a little and to take better care of myself.

Everyone I work with was kind, understanding and supportive. I think most people would be because we all get sick at some point and I’m reliable the rest of the time – I meet my deadlines and don’t have excuses for being late with my work all of the time. If someone hadn’t been understanding, I think it would have told me to finish up the current work with that individual and then sever out professional relationship.

How about you? Do you have any sick time tips? How do you handle it?

photo credit: WindRanch

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

7 Tips for Handling Sick Days as a Freelancer

This week I have google docs, freelancing, Facebook, WordPress and more.

Enjoy!

• Google Docs turns into a Universal File Viewer – The file formats that can be viewed inside Google Docs, without conversion, include Photoshop (PSD), Illustrator (AI), Fonts (TTF), AutoCAD drawings (DXF) and Office 2010 documents (like DOCX, XLSX and PPTX). Thank goodness – I’m a fan of open source software and don’t have any of those programs – now it’s easier to look at files that clients send to me.
• How to Spot Difficult Clients BEFORE Signing a Contract – Advice on how to weed out potentially difficult clients before you start working with them.
• Indie Store Finder – I’m not a fan of big chain businesses and prefer shopping at independent, locally owned businesses. I would rather give my money to my neighbors rather than some faceless corporation. Even if it costs more… This finder will help you locate independent bookstores, cafes, pet stores, etc. near you. If you set up a free account, you can even help make it better by adding businesses that aren’t already listed.
• How Borders lost its soul – Honestly, I didn’t know Borders ever had a soul. A lot of their stores are closing down, although the big one in Philly isn’t, and this article discusses that issue. Borders put a lot of indie stores out of business and now the indie, online, and e-book sellers are pushing them out. I guess it’s corporate karma.
• Why do people in cars hate people on bikes so much? – Because they can? And they are somewhat anonymous behind their tons of steel. It’s ok – I hate the cars right back.
• How to disable / remove the WordPress 3.1 admin bar, redux – The new version of WordPress, 3.1, contains an admin bar. People are either going to love it or not. This articles discusses different ways of removing it.
• Four Great Resources For Creating Custom Facebook Tabs With iFrames – Just what the article says ;-) One of my iframe posts is listed there too.
• There Are Too Many “Public Displays of Technology” in This Country: Survey – I think people are getting a little rude. When someone is talking on a cell phone and placing an order or when someone is walking down the street and walks into you because they are too busy looking down at their gadget. I’m surprised I don’t see more people walk right into traffic.
• A warthog?
  
• Cool cat
  

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

(Anti) Social Lists 2/27/11

This week I have WordPress, freelancing, bike lanes, Facebook and more.

Enjoy!

• What, Whys, and How to’s of Post Formats in WordPress 3.1 – Post formats are going to be available in WordPress 3.1. Here’s an article explaining what the heck they are.
• Insider Secrets: Freelancing Shortcuts That Really Work – A great article that is useful for all freelancers.
• 10+ Useful Android Applications For Webmasters – If you need to manage your site while on the go, these android apps may come in handy.
• Oh, What’s That, 22nd & Pine? You’re So Fancy, You Simply Must Park In The Bike Lanes? – On a four to five mile bike ride in Philly, this cyclist recorded 61 cars parked in the bike lane.
• Using Facebook Insights to Track the Like Button, Box, and Shares – Using Facebook insights to get stats on shares and likes.
• Evidently, juries blame the bike-riding victims too – There seems to be a lot of bias against cyclists. When they are involved in a court case they only win 41% of the time.
• If you are from New Hampshire or a familiar with the state, you should get a kick out of this comedian. (I grew up there.)
  
• Sesame Street brought to you by The A Team.
  

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

(Anti) Social Lists 11/21/10

This week I have WordPress themes, free eBooks, email, Johnny Depp and more.

Enjoy!

• 0 Views – YouTube videos that at the time added to this site had zero views. Scrape the bottom of the YouTube barrel.
• 10 Useful Free Graphic Design Books – Free graphic design eBooks
• BrainHex – Take the quiz to find out what type of videogame player you are. I got Mastermind Achiever.
• If You Do This in an Email, I Hate You – Funny post from The Oatmeal about email.
• 40 Green Eco Free WordPress Theme – A nice collection of WordPress themes.
• Guest Curator: On Creativity and Savoury Broccoli Cakes – I’m not sure how these would taste but I’ve got to try making them – they are so cool looking.
• The Ugly Side Of The New Facebook Groups – All I can say is I wish Facebook would understand the concept of opt-in rather than forcing us to opt-out.
• 10 (Plus) Great Free eBooks: My Top Picks for Freelancers – More free ebooks – this time for freelancing.
• Yesterday would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday. His death was a pivotal moment in my childhood – I realized how violent and random the world truly was. I wonder what Yoko Ono is knitting.
  
• Reason #1349 why I love Johnny Depp. The video quality isn’t great but he visited a school in London because one of the children wrote him a letter asking him to lead a mutiny against the teacher.
  

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

(Anti) Social Lists 10/10/10

But for now I have soccer, twitter, urban farming, WordPress, freelancing and more.

Enjoy!

• Lantern Walk – a really cool lantern craft project that you can do with kids.
• 10 Outrageous Disallowed Goals – Soccer goals that should have been allowed but the ref made an outrageously bad call. One if from the last World Cup – June 2010.
• the 46 stages of Twitter – Funny because it’s true.
• Philadelphia’s urban-farming roots go deep—and are spreading wide – Interesting article about farms right in the city of Philadelphia. I’ve noticed more small gardens in my neighborhood this year too.
• 50 Best And Astonishing WordPress Themes Of 2010 For Free Download – 50 Free WordPress Themes
• 10 Excellent Tools for Testing Your Site on Mobile Devices – Excellent list of resources to see what you site looks like to people viewing it via a mobile device.
• The Signs That You’re Ready To Start Freelancing – Are you ready to start freelancing? Maybe this list will help you decide.
• What Keanu Reeves Can Teach us About Personal Branding – I’m not a big fan of Keanu Reeves but the author makes some good points about this actor and branding.
• I had this song stuck in my head recently. I was surprised to have any Harry Chapin song other than Cats in the Cradle running through my head. I do know most of his songs though – I remember my Mom playing his albums when I was a kid.
  
• This is a long video but it’s a great how-to for making puppets. With Jim Henson!
  

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

(Anti) Social Lists 10/3/10

I’m finally readjusting to the back to school schedule – I really liked not having to be anywhere at a specific time. I’ve been tired but have been busy and the days are definitely getting shorter.

This week I have freelancing, WordPress, gmail, animal stuff and more.

Enjoy!

• Want to be a freelancer? Just punch yourself in the face instead. – A humorous look at the “dark side” of freelancing.
• – How to Customize and Remove Items in Your WordPress Dashboard and Post Edit Screens – Setting up the WordPress admin for your best workflow.
• Recycling Clothing Art – Interesting and odd.
• A long tailed macaque monkey adopts a kitten in the forests of Bali, Indonesia – Includes adorable photos.
• WordPress 3 Template Hierarchy – If you care about that sort of thing … I kinda do.
• Gmail’s Priority Inbox and email overload – I considered using the priority inbox but ultimately decided not to. I’ve spent time setting up my labels and filters so my email goes right where I want it to and the inbox is rarely that full. And I don’t think google can know the system I need better than I can. ;-)
• 50 Ways to Eat Sustainably – A great list from my friend Karen.
  
• Odd animal behaviour … or perhaps completely normal. I’m no hippo expert.
  
• My daughter loves this song. It, along with Rock Lobster, has been stuck in my head all week.
  

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

(Anti) Social Lists 9/19/2010

This week I have life, a psychic octopus, a ninja cat and more.

Enjoy!

• Bill Murray’s Choice, and What It Means For A Life Worth Living – Ok, I love Bill Murray. And life is hard and it’s very short. I decided in the last 2-5 years to spend it doing the things that I want to do.
• Weed It And Reap: A Meal With Nature’s Outcasts – I came across this article after I was weeding and wondering if what I considered weeds might actually be edible. And it seems like a lot of “weeds” are perfectly fine as food.
• My Biggest Freelancing Challenge (and How I Didn’t Solve It) – Trying to work from home with small children. I am really eager to read more articles like this written by men ;-)
• German ‘psychic’ octopus predicts victory for Spain – Apparently this octopus has predicted the outcome of every World Cup match correctly. He also said Spain would win the file. There is also a psychic parakeet who says the Netherlands will win the final. I’m going with the octopus. ;-)
• Get Ordained as a Dudeist Priest for Free – If you are a fan of The Big Lebowski and spiritually inclined, you may want to become a Dudeist priest.
• Super Fast Kitty
  
• The Swedish Chef makes Popcorn Shrimp
  

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

(Anti) Social Lists 7/11/10

This week I have slow living, freelancing, facebook, Dana Carvey and Ralph Macchio.

Enjoy!

• Support Details – Send your client to this page and then have them email your the results. You will get details about their Operating System, browser and more to assist with troubleshooting and development.
• Slow and sweet: Living with the reality of time – Slowing down and enjoying the very short lives that we have.
• Is that client legit or just a tire kicker? – A lot of time can be spent with potential clients who have no intention of ever purchasing services and may be fishing for free information. This might help spot them.
• 11 ways to promote your Facebook Page outside Facebook – A great article about promoting your Facebook fan page.
• Fracking: America’s next drilling disaster? – Many people think Natural Gas is a good alternative to oil for our energy needs. There are, however, numerous problems due to the technique called fracking. Toxic chemicals are used but we don’t know what they are and fracking is exempt from the Clean Water Act. The potential for toxic materials getting in our water supplies is very high. Recently, there was an evacuation in Pennsylvania due to an accident and spilling of the chemicals (and we don’t know what those chemicals are).
• Guatemala Sinkhole Created by Humans, Not Nature – It did look a little too perfectly round to be a natural occurrence.
• 5 Ways to Fire a Client – Maybe Paul Simon could write a song to the tune of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.
• How to Customize Your Facebook Fan Page Using Static FBML – A lot of great FBML tips for custom Facebook tabs.
• Classic Dana Carvey and Choppin’ Broccoli
  
• Really funny Ralph Macchio Spoof Trailer
  
  Wax On, F*ck Off with Ralph Macchio from Ralph Macchio

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

(Anti) Social Lists 6/20/10

It has been one year since I left my full time job and started freelancing full time. The one year anniversary is actually tomorrow but I don’t post on Tuesdays so this is going to have to be close enough. ;-)

I can’t believe it’s been a year already. I’ve had some ups and downs, some good months and some really crappy ones. But, a year later, I can say that I made the right decision for me professionally and for my relationship with my daughter.

So, in honor of this special one year anniversary, all services are 12% off for the entire month. Why 12%? I don’t know – I just kinda like the number 12.

This special does not apply to projects already in progress but does apply to any scheduled by May 31st. The project doesn’t have to occur by May 31st but does have to be scheduled by that date. Please mention this special when contacting me.

Thanks for all of your support. Tell your friends, neighbors and pets. And here’s to year #2 :-)

photo credit: legalnonresident

Post from: (Anti) Social Development

First Year Freelancing – 12% off all Services for the Month of May