When you are under quarantine, life will get exceptionally stressful. When the world seems to have lost its mind, you need to keep your composure. Otherwise, you can easily add to the madness. Today, I’ll go over a few ways you can occupy the time and keep yourself focused.
As a freelance writer working from home, it’s not all that difficult. However, we’re not shielded from the effects of the world going nuts.
Case in point, I might lose the house we just signed on to buy because Wall Street is hemorrhaging money. We need to come up with more of a down payment…which I don’t have. In two weeks, I could very well be homeless.
My point is just because you work from home, doesn’t mean you’re immune to what the world is going through. But finding positive ways to occupy your time will make a difference.
A Quarantine is Stressful
Aside from toilet paper flying off the shelves like styrofoam popcorn during a tornado, there are plenty of things that can cause stress while under quarantine. Most of all, being able to keep the bills paid.
If you work from home as a freelance writer, it’s not as difficult. After all, you don’t have to go anywhere to do your job. In fact, my entire team is remote and we’re still trucking along nicely.
However, not everyone experiences the same luxuries. In reality, if I get sick, I have no way to pay for a hospital visit or taking time off from writing for clients.
All my money is reserved for moving in two weeks…whether I have a home or have to stay in an AirBnB.
I’m also locked up in my house with my kids in a small house. This makes it more difficult to work as they are all around me trying to occupy my time. I love them, but I really need to work.
My kingdom for a private office!
5 Ways to Occupy the Time as a Writer
If you can’t tell, this blog post is more for me than anyone. I am trying to convince myself that things aren’t as bad as I think they are and that I can still remain productive.
And although the children are on the verge of driving me batty, I am confident I can keep my composure.
So, what can I do to keep productive for the indefinite future?
1. Keep Focused on the Work
I do have a lot of work that will occupy my time. And until clients stop sending work, being under quarantine is a great way to stay productive.
The hardest part is remaining positive and motivated, especially when you’re under an immense amount of stress. But if you can keep working, imagine how much money you could clear by the time everything opens up again.
Since there are so many places you can keep working online as a writer, you should be able to occupy your time nicely.
2. Practice by Blogging
What if the workload is low? There’s nothing wrong with putting more effort into blogging. In fact, it’s one of the things I promote most to beginning freelance writers.
By putting what you learn into practice, you constantly work on improving your skills. Everything from typing speed to remembering AP Style nuances benefits from putting more effort into blogging.
Not to mention that you could make a few extra bucks if the blog is monetized, or if you create content for something like Vocal Media, Medium or Hubpages.
3. Revamp Some of Those Older Articles
One way to keep your site relevant to visitors and Google is to keep them updated with current information. In fact, this is a process I do for clients which improves traffic to those pages.
Since you’re essentially on lock-down, might as well go back to some of those older articles and revamp the content.
In the long run, revamping older posts is a great way to occupy your time and keep your mind off of stressful elements.
4. Work on that Novel You’ve Been Putting Off
I don’t think I know a single freelance writer who hasn’t mentioned working on a novel. Since you’re not going anywhere anyway, you might as well get some meaningful work put into your book.
And who knows, you might write a New York Time’s Best Seller during this time of crisis. Nothing is impossible, and the current state of the world should demonstrate that to you.
5. Exercise More!
A great way to occupy some time is to exercise more. Not only does this contribute to a healthier you, but exercise helps ease stress.
It’s all about getting those endorphins flowing.
And this isn’t to mention that a healthier body is more likely to beat down bacterial and viral infections. Personally, I’m going to see how many more points I can accumulate on Exercise.com, even though the local rec center is closed.
What About More YouTube Vidoes?
I was debating on doing more YouTube videos to occupy some time. Unfortunately, my house is a wreck (even more so now) because I’m trying to get it packed up before leaving.
Not to mention the girls are here for the next couple of weeks since Spring Break was extended until April 17th in Colorado. So, having a quiet place to film a video is a bit harder to come by.
Still, I would love to do more video content. Perhaps I’ll see if I can kick everyone out for a few hours. Not out of the house, mind you, but out of my “office.”
Occupying Your Time Helps Keep Your Sanity
All fun aside, humanity is under an immense amount of stress right now. And if you don’t want to contribute to the madness, find a way to occupy your time in a positive way.
I know it’s difficult, especially if you’re in Utah having to face earthquakes or in Colorado and under a winter storm warning.
Keep your composure as best you can. There are a lot of people out there who are more worse off than you.