My Story of Quitting Night Work as a Freelancer Working from Home: Tips for Balancing Work and Parenting

After the children are asleep, I open my laptop in the quiet room.
For freelancers working from home, it is easy to fall into a work style where "the real work starts after the kids are asleep."

I used to do that too.
But now, I have stopped working at night.
Since I stopped, both the quality of my work and my mental state while parenting have changed significantly.

In this article, I have summarized the reasons why I stopped working at night and the practices I use to get all my work done during the day.

Reasons why I stopped working at night

There was a time when I used to work after putting my children to bed.
I thought it would be quiet and I could concentrate, but in reality, that wasn't the case.

First of all, my productivity dropped significantly.
My brain didn't work as well as it did during the day, and tasks that would take 30 minutes in the daytime would take an hour.
By the time I tried to finish at a good stopping point, I would realize it was already late at night.

Furthermore, perhaps due to the light from the computer screen, I couldn't fall asleep immediately even after finishing work.
When my sleep time was cut short, the next morning became quite difficult.

I would get irritated just by the children making noise, and sometimes I would end up feeling self-loathing.
The difference compared to days when I slept well was huge, and I felt a lack of composure.

I even tried waking up early to get work done in the morning.
But since I sleep with my children, if I set an alarm, the children would wake up too.

There were days when I woke up early without an alarm, but I couldn't wake up at 4 AM every morning, so it wasn't consistent.
Even when I managed to wake up early, if the children woke up early too, there was no way to get any work done.

Night work is no good, and waking up early doesn't go well either.
That is when I arrived at the conclusion: "Only accept the amount of work that can be finished during the day".

The conclusion I reached: "Only accept the amount of work that can be finished during the day"

If both night work and waking up early are difficult, the only option is to limit the amount of work to what can be completed during the day.
Thinking this way, I reviewed how I accept work.

However, reducing the amount of work leads directly to a decrease in income.
So, at the same time, I focused on increasing my unit price.

I narrowed down my specialized field to share my expertise and create a situation where clients reach out to me.
It is easier to negotiate prices when the other party comes to you rather than you soliciting them yourself.

Reducing volume while protecting income.
By being conscious of balancing both, I have gradually created an environment where I don't have to force myself to work at night.

Rules I decided on to get work done only during the day

Just limiting the amount of work won't work if I can't use my daytime hours effectively.
After trial and error, I started operating by following a few rules.

1. Aim for 4 days a week, 6 hours a day for order volume

As a standard for my workload, I aim for tasks that can be completed in 4 days a week, 6 hours a day.
This is to create a buffer to handle irregular situations, such as when a child is feeling unwell.

I adjust my workload at the acceptance stage to ensure it stays within this range.

2. Consolidate deadlines at the end of the month

When accepting new work, I ask to set the deadline for the end of the month during the initial negotiation.
Since I can work backward from the end of the month, it has become easier to get an overview of the entire schedule.

3. Prioritize with a To-Do list

I write down everything I need to do and prioritize it before I start.
This is because managing everything in my head tends to lead to a buildup of anxiety.

By the way, I use Trello for task management.

4. Value the morning hours

I try to concentrate high-load tasks in the morning when I am most focused.
Since calls from daycare often come in the afternoon, I also tend to schedule necessary meetings in the morning.

Even then, if I can't finish, I rely on others.

Even if I set rules, there are days when I just can't finish.
At those times, I ask my husband for help.

I have him watch the children on his day off, and I finish everything at once during that time.
It's hard to rely on him since he works shifts and I'm not always sure when he's off, but just knowing that I'm not alone makes me feel better.

When I was forcing myself to work at night, I always felt cornered.
Now, when work is done, it's done.
I go to bed with my children and get plenty of rest.
Just doing that makes a big difference in how much leeway I have the next day.

Of course, things don't always go smoothly every day.
Even so, I feel that creating a system that doesn't push me too hard is the foundation for continuing as a remote freelancer while raising children.

Thank you very much for reading until the end.

I will continue to update my experiences regarding working, living, and raising children as a freelancer in a regional area on my note magazine "Parenting Records of a Freelancer Who Moved to the Countryside".

I would be happy if you could like and follow me!

★I also write articles like these

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• How a Freelancer Living in the Countryside Gets Work: Methods for Receiving Orders Through Blogs and SNS Without Sales Activities

• Parenting as a work-from-home freelancer: The chores and habits I gave up when I ran out of bandwidth

• The story of how I moved to the countryside, became a shut-in freelancer, and lost my social skills to the point where I became afraid to talk to people.

• My husband works shifts and I work from home as a freelancer: How we manage to work while raising children