It is so easy to get bummed out by the lack of a promising income when you begin a writing career. Sometimes it can take a few months or even a few years until you discover the right methods, the best schedule, and the perfect publishers to help you reach your income goals.

For me, my biggest problem was procrastination. I have been a full time writer for over a decade, but it took me several years to figure out how to break through my procrastination and gain the sincere motivation I needed to bring in a good income each month.

Procrastinating the Monthly Goal

When I first attempted to make a livable salary from my freelance writing, I had a heck of a time trying to meet a monthly goal. I knew I had to bring in a minimum of $3,000 US a month, but I was falling short.

The hardest part about having a monthly goal was that I would put writing off until the last possible moment. On that last week of the month I would begin a mad frenzy of writing and maybe only reach about a third of the income I needed to survive.

The monthly goal schedule was not working for me and I was thoroughly disgusted with myself. I moved on to try the weekly goal, but I procrastinated again.

Sure, I would always start off the month or week strong, but after a day or two I would start pushing off assignments to do other, unrelated things. It wasn’t until I switched to setting a daily goal that I was finally able to break through my procrastination and bring home the income I needed.

Daily Goal Solution

After so much failure at reaching a monthly or weekly goal, I decided to light a fire under my seat and set a daily goal for myself. I had to do at least $100 of work each day to reach the $3,000 I needed for the month.

Two things happened when I switched to daily goals. First, I did not give myself time to procrastinate. The goal had to be reached by midnight each day. If I reached my goal early in the day, I had the rest of the day off. Second, the daily goal forced me to concentrate on writing for more pay.

Writing short blogs posts at $20 a piece took up too much time and energy, so I began writing articles for publications that paid $100 or more. One article a day met my needs. If I was up to it, I might write a second or third article to double or triple my money.

The only problem I had with this schedule was that it relied on me working every day of the month to meet my monetary goals.

Creating Time Off

I worked through an entire month without a day off. I knew I would get burnt out fast without a few days off each month.

I also noticed that I exceeded my $3,000 monthly goal because I was doing more work than I planned on doing originally. I could have taken 10 days off and reached my monthly goal.

Instead of working every day, I made a bargain with myself. For every $200 extra I made each week, I could schedule in one day off.

It worked like a charm. I continued to bring in extra money above my base amount and I was able to schedule mini vacations for myself to rejuvenate my thoughts and get my kids out of the house.

Upping the Daily Earnings

Making more than I originally planned and getting vacation time off, I knew that I could push myself a bit further. I decided to aim for $200 a day and bring in $6,000 a month.

I was already aiming for higher paying jobs, plus I picked up a few contracted writing jobs along the way. They each paid anywhere from $45 to $50 an article.

My daily schedule involved writing two articles for the contracted jobs, bringing in $95 to $100 a day. Next I would write another two freelance articles to reach a total of over $200 a day. I was working a full eight-hour day.

I kept my time off schedule so that for every extra $200 I made, I could get one day off. I was pushing myself harder than ever, but I was excited by the money I was making. It kept me going and I worked on whatever job I could get, from writing listicles to doing a bunch of ghost writing jobs for popular websites.

The more I worked, the easier it became to get more work lined up for the coming month. I managed to break free of my procrastination by giving myself smaller, reachable goals on a daily basis. If I hadn’t made the switch, I would still be struggling month to month making ends meet.

Elizabeth is a full-time freelance and contracted writer. She enjoys traveling, visiting historical monuments, and meeting people from different walks of life.

 

Related:

Profitable New Year’s Resolution? A Daily Word-Count Writing Goal = More Money!! By Angela Hoy

Narrow Your Scope to Achieve a Goal By Lauren Carter

Turning Dreams Into Goals By Anne E. Skalitza

Someone Moved the Goal Posts By Elaine Ingalls Hogg

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90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy

Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.

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QUERY LETTERS THAT WORKED! Real Queries That Landed $2K+ Writing Assignments

Peek over the shoulders of highly successful freelance writers to see how they earn thousands per article! The query letter is the key!
In these pages, you'll find real query letters that landed real assignments for national magazines, websites, and corporations.

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• Abbi Perrets' form letter that brings in $30,000-$45,000 annually
• Sample phone query from Christine Greeley
• The Six Golden Rules of Queries and Submissions...and How I Broke Them! by Bob Freiday
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• and ANGELA HOY'S SECRET for finding ongoing freelance work from companies that have a stable of freelancers, yet never run ads for them!