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The kids are still frequently screaming in the background while I'm Skyping with a student. Now that I'm vaccinated, I feel comfortable returning to my spot at the local cafe. Last spring, I made an office on the porch.
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For the winter, I rented an office from a friend. I can turn my phone off and dig in.īeyond a reasonable amount of self discipline, it helps to have a dedicated workspace. There are no time sensitive emails nagging for an answer or random chores weighing on my mind, because I did all that stuff on my manager days.
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When you make good use of your manager time, you will naturally create more maker time. Making time for 'maker time' is hard - but I do it, because it's essential
#Manager schedule creator full#
My 'maker time' is reserved for when I can dedicate my full attention to the thing I'm working on, days when I have a solid three to four hours without the children, and no meetings scheduled. In between appointments, I focus on aspects of my job that require little long-term concentration. When my kids are near - or on days when I schedule meetings with students - I'm on "manager time." I line up meetings back-to-back, including family business that doesn't take up too much time, but would be disruptive if I were in the middle of writing. To avoid squandering my creative time, I divide my week into maker and manager days I won't produce anything substantive and end up feeling like a failure. I know that if I work on anything important around my family, I'll be interrupted and struggle to regain focus only to be interrupted again. It only takes a minute to fire off an email or send a tweet promoting my work - and honestly, the less time I have to overthink it, the better.īut the actual writing part of being a writer requires significant concentration. Fortunately, many aspects of freelancing - writing pitches, answering emails, invoicing, networking with other writers - allow for a manager's schedule.
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