Part of the joy of being a freelance writer is the freedom of being able to plan your day around activities you want to do rather than being told what to do.

Unfortunately there are situations where you might find yourself taking on more assignments and writing jobs than you can handle. Then of course is the constant need to take time out from your writing to get the daily chores done. Add to these pressures a few interruptions from family and friends and suddenly your working day is finished without much being accomplished.

If you plan on turning your freelance writing hobby into a lucrative full time career, then it’s vital you learn to manage your time properly by prioritizing your daily tasks in order of importance.

As a freelance writer your primary daily task should be either setting aside enough time to complete the writing jobs you already have or finding time to research into potential new markets.

It’s up to you to work your own writing schedule around whatever daily activities you need to get through. You might have children to get off to school or you might have meals to cook or a day job to get to.

No matter what your other tasks might be, arranging your freelance business schedule to give yourself the most possible time for writing and researching during a day becomes a primary concern.

One of the biggest decisions you’ll face when you’re scheduling your time is learning to prioritize specific tasks into order of importance. You need to understand that your time is worth money into your freelance business.

For example: imagine that you’re spending more than an hour each day checking emails and a further hour catching up with friends on Facebook or Myspace. Just as you’re about to sit down to some serious writing, a friend calls and chats away for an hour. You’ve reduced your productive writing time by three hours for being so friendly!

While correspondence and socializing play an important part in everyone’s life, you need to prioritize their level of importance during your working day, especially when they begin to affect your productivity.

Of course working from home has some great advantages and a wonderful sense of freedom. But you need to consider the cost of that freedom when it affects and reduces your prime earning time.

Learning to say no to distractions and put them aside until after your work is done for the day can be one of your biggest challenges. Prioritize your time so that your most important activities are tackled early so that you’ll have much more free time when that unexpected interruption does arise next time.

About the Author: Cheryl Wright is an award-winning Australian author, freelance journalist, and editor. In addition to an array of other projects, she is the owner of the Writer2Writer.com website and the Writer to Writer bi-weekly ezine for writers.  Her publications include novels, non-fiction books, short stories, and articles. Her recent release is The Writer’s Guide to Time Management: How to Boost Your Productivity and Earn More! 

I don’t know about you, but I find my desk gets untidy very quickly.

It’s incredibly easy to let it get messy, and sometimes I let my guard down and the next thing I know, my desk is covered in papers and books etc.

The easiest way to keep on top of desk mess is to put aside five or ten minutes at the end of every day to ensure everything is filed away, or put in its place.

Those few minutes spent could ultimately save you hours over a matter of a month, or even over a couple of weeks.

The biggest drawback to having a cluttered desk is this:  a cluttered desk causes a cluttered mind.  If your mind is cluttered, you can’t keep it on the task at hand.  If you can’t keep your mind on the task at hand, then you are not as productive as you should be.

For more tips on time management, check out my latest book: The Writer’s Guide to Time Management  -