I didn’t think this was possible when I first started freelancing—but after a few sessions with a good coach, it started to make sense.
I went freelance to work less (without ending up broke), so why shouldn’t I aim for a part time schedule? That would let me keep growing professionally, without the ridiculous drain on my time and energy that I’d dealt with in a 9-5.
Well, eight years in I figured it out.
It was a process, but I’m going to share the 7 things I did (and still do) to only work 20 hours a week while still getting paid (on the higher end of the BLS average for a technical writer) as a full time professional. (This doesn’t include what I pay myself as a business owner).
- Raise your rates. If you want to pay yourself a FT salary, you’re likely going to need to make 2x-4x (and maybe more) your hourly 9-5 average. (The good news is it isn’t all that hard if you think like a bigger business.)
- Stay in your niche. Some people see success bouncing around, but I bring value I can charge a premium for precisely because I’m very experienced in my field.
- Automate. From marketing to production, you should use paid ads, virtual assistants, and email automation anywhere you can.
- Use the tools. I saw a big jump in my efficiency (cutting way back on those admin hours) when I started using tools like Focuster to keep my schedule straight.
- Banish real-time meetings. I’ll do these for a few, special clients, but 95% of my communication is asynchronous. This saves me HOURS per week.
- Don’t take calls. Similar to the previous point, but I don’t answer my phone during the day. That keeps me focused on the work that generates revenue.
- Keep raising your rates. Premium rates aren’t one and done. You should be pushing your rates to keep up with inflation and cost of living—either raise them on existing clients or in-coming ones.
The nice thing about the 20-hour schedule is that you can spread it across five days, four (like me), or even get it down lower depending on the type of work you do.
Regardless, start trying things out so that you can become the best employer you’ve ever had.
