056: A day in the life!

Tune in for a brief BTS look into the life of a Freelance Dietitian!
I am currently hiring (which is discussed in last week's episode). Click here for the  link to apply.  

I will be on vacation for the rest of July and plan to be offline for most of the month. 
NEW EPISODES will start again in August. 

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Transcript

Julia: 0:00

Hey everyone. And welcome to the freelance dietitian podcast. I'm your host, Julia. I used to be a clinical dietitian. And now I'm a full-time freelance writer and entrepreneur. Today i thought it would be kind of cool to give you an inside peek into what my daily life looks like and routine and i'm going to take you through a typical work day. let's get started Started. Before I get started, I did want to give a friendly reminder that the job posting to work for me is still open. I will be closing that by the end of this week. So that will be Friday. The 14th at the job posting will be closed. The link to apply is in the show notes. And also the previous episode from last week covered some of the key details. I am going to be on vacation for the rest of July. So I'm, I won't be reviewing them until the very end. And then if you are eligible and I'm interested in pursuing more conversation with you. I will follow up with you at the start of August within the first week. Thank you for those who have already applied, it's been great to look over your portfolio and I really appreciate your enthusiasm. For today, I did want to share, you know, what does a typical day look like in my business? I think it's going to be different for everyone. I don't know how other freelance writers operate. I have noticed that even over the past two and a half years, my schedule has changed. Um, and how I spend my time specifically. It's normal. It's all part of the growing process. On a regular Workday. So let's so in a regular month, I get the assignments ahead of time. And this is really important for time management. I used to receive the assignments on Monday. It would take me about a week and then I would submit them the following Monday. And that was a fast track to burnout. It just was not good for my planning, especially as you take on more clients. So now I get all of my assignments and projects in the books. Within the first week of the month. And that way I can plan. So I'll be writing anywhere from 10 to 16 articles a month, maybe a few more, a few less. And then I also do other work on the side, which is not freelance writing, but some of that would be cooking demonstrations or leading classes online. And other contract positions that I do. So in a typical day, I think it might be easier if I do a typical week. So in a typical week, I always have some recurring events and I schedule these in right away so that I know what to expect. Basically every Wednesday, I have a meeting with some business RD peers. And we Feed off of each other's ideas, give suggestions, give support, and it's really nice to have that support in your corner. I think if you're just starting out, I would really recommend finding some other RD peers who are in a similar place as you are in terms of timeline, because it can be so motivating and inspiring to have people to lean on. So shout out to my business buddies. Another thing that I'll always schedule in every single week would be administrative time on Friday mornings. And that's mainly going to be for bookkeeping logging my hours that I've written. Uh, tracking down any invoices that need to be tracked and making sure that the accounting books are all up to date. Other than that. Every Monday, I basically take the morning off to catch up on life things. That's one of the perks of being an entrepreneur is choosing your hours. So I like to go grocery shopping on Mondays. I like to take an extra long walk with my dog. We usually will make her way to my parents' house for coffee. They're both retired. Uh, and it's such a nice treat and, you know, the freedom of spending more time with my family was one of the biggest reasons why I decided to go and become an entrepreneur. My parents are aging. Everybody's parents are aging, and I knew time is precious. And I want it to spend every day. Knowing that I had the choice to take an afternoon off, to go see them or not. As Nikki and I move through our life and hopefully start a family, I'm hoping to be able to maintain some of that flexibility so I can be more around for our kids. It's very important to me. I will check my email at some point in the morning, to make sure there's no urgent fires. Although as a freelance writer, I can't say anything is too urgent. Knock on wood. And then by the afternoon, I'm typically settling into some writing and I will try to do at least two or three articles as a rough draft in one sitting, because I find that I need the time to step away from the piece and come back to it with fresh eyes in order to actually make it better quality writing. That's my process. So typically on Tuesday I would do a cooking demonstration. And then on Wednesday I would go back to the writing. See how far I got, see what I've done and make tweaks and edits. I basically try to complete two to three articles by the end of Friday. Sometimes I get this done and it's really easy. And there's other times where I'm feeling creatively stifled and it takes forever. At least it feels like it takes forever. I have learned to stop working in those moments. Because if you, again, this is my experience, but if you push through it and you force yourself to complete stuff, It's usually such garbage that you end up having to rewrite it anyway, when you're ready. So I stopped trying to force myself and I say, you know what? I'm going to take the evening off. And I'm going to come back to this tomorrow morning and that's worked really well. On Thursdays I dedicate some hours to my podcast. I will record episodes or edit episodes sometimes do a guest interview and create the marketing material. For my brain, it does work easier to batch tasks and then move on to something different either the next day or in a few hours. I have found it very difficult to come home after a cooking demonstration and try to record a podcast. I'm too tired of talking all day. I also find it difficult to do a podcast and then start writing an article about some very specific nutrient or a health condition. My brain needs a second to catch up. Other billable tasks that I do within my freelance business would be editing services. And I've started to do corporate email copywriting. Which is very new for me and it's been really cool. Let's talk about the money a little bit. So a core philosophy that I have in my business is to always prioritize my mental health and my freedom aKA my time. So I really try to work for as few hours a month as possible while still hitting my financial goals. And I got turned on to that approach to business by following my freelance writing coach, her name is Colleen Welsch she's not a dietitian, but she is a marketing expert. And she's on Instagram at the freelance writers guide. She's always practiced this way, which is to work as little as possible while earning a very healthy income and then unplug and go do things, do things that are not related to your business, so that you have interests. So you can tell cool stories so that you feel fulfilled as a human being. I love her approach to business. It's so refreshing than what you might hear from other business gurus. Um, and so I. I just, I so clearly remember. Listening to one of her videos and I was working 40 hours a week and she was working 37 hours a month. And earning 11 K 10 K nine K. Uh, and she never made it sound easy. She was very clear it was hard work. But I was blown away at the concept of working less hours and making more money than what I'd been doing. It sounds like a scam, but it's real. Um, and so that's always motivated me. Last summer I really wanted to make eight K while working less than 40 hours a month. That would have been the most money I would have earned in my life. And now this summer I'm making over 10 K while working less than 40 hours a month. There's no shortcuts. It's not easy. I can't tell you to snap your fingers and just start freelancing and you're going to get the same results. Um, but it's so doable. And again, you have to believe in yourself so hard. And you also have to surround yourself with other folks who share the similar approach to business, because there's many times where I, I know that the numbers I'm telling you are insane. And as a full-time employee, it's very hard to wrap your brain around that, but it is so possible. You can absolutely have your cake and eat it too. But you do have to be willing to do unconventional things, to make unconventional money. I think that is a sweet note to end this on. I, want to highlight again. I know that I am earning good money now, but I wasn't always, and there's many months where the money was very inconsistent and I lay awake, terrified. And doubting why I had decided to quit my job and go this route. All I can tell you is that it does get easier. You do get braver, you get more comfortable with the ebbs and flows and you will amaze yourself with how brave you can be and how hard you can push yourself in order to achieve your dreams. Like if you took like five years ago, I didn't even know what freelance writing was. I D I never expected to completely turn my life upside down to pursue this. It started with a, Hey, let's just try this and see how far I get attitude. And now it's like, it's it is, it is what it is. I don't know. I think I've got to get off my soap box here. What I'm trying to say is that. Dream as big as you can possibly dream. Don't. Think that you need to get 10 K right away to be a successful freelancer. When you start working and publishing your content and reaching millions of people through your online articles who are going to get factual, incredible nutrition info. That is a huge measure of success as well. When you get clients who are praising your skills and talking about how amazing you are to work with that is also another huge indicator of success. So the money will come just really focus on your skills and your business savviness, and showing up and doing the work. I'm almost done. I just wanted to add that I will be going on vacation for the rest of July. So the episodes will be taking a break and I'll be back in the first week of August. Have a great month by