Yolander over at FreelanceWriterville is doing some kind of gonzo research on the care and feeding of freelance writers. (Kidding! It’s actually a highly scientific survey. Hi Yo!) Since she kindly gave her permission, I thought I would share my answers here for all to see. Since I am a freelance writer who claims to keep a schedule, I had to answer the first half of the survey.

For those of you who keep a schedule:

1.       Do you think that defeats the purpose of freelancing?

 I’m sure it does for some people. As for me, my reason for freelancing has a lot more to do with being my own boss, exercising creative freedom, and owning a business than it does with not having to get up early in the morning. Not to mention, my last corporate job involved getting reports on CEO’s desks by the time they poured their 9am coffee, so I was accustomed to getting up at 4am for a long time. Getting up at 8am is rather like sleeping in to me.

2.       For those of you with a traditional “Morning to Evening” schedule, don’t you REALLY think that defeats the purpose of freelancing since that is the same schedule you’d work at a traditional job?

Well, for one, I didn’t work at a traditional job so I could be a little skewed. But more importantly, my family and friends generally work traditional hours (even the freelancers), and I think one of the perks of owning your own business is being able to spend more time with the homies. If I worked at night, I’d be out of sync with my social life. (It isn’t always true that owning a business means scads of personal freedom. Even with the schedule, I admit I put in a lot of overtime.)

3.       What made you choose the hours you do? Natural biorhythms or client availability or….I dunno?

I am a morning person. I tried for years to fight it, but it’s true. I’m naturally much more productive in the mornings. I’m also much more creative. By three or four pm, I’m generally falling asleep. If I know I’m going to have an extra long day, I generally take a nap around that time.

4.       What do you think would happen if you strayed from your schedule?

I’m afraid I would not get everything done.  I don’t have my writing mojo later in the day, so I’m afraid I would lose a lot of my early morning creative ideas. Not to mention, I have a client whose blog I update in the mornings. I doubt he’d be very happy if I started updating hours later.

5.       Are you scared that without a schedule you won’t do enough?

Terrified. More than you know. 

6.       Do you tend toward consistency in other aspects of your life?

Strangely enough, not really. I think I compartmentalize work as sort of a “sacred” aspect of life. (Blast it! That’s the final proof my husband needs to run a workaholic intervention on me!) I’m terrible at doing simple daily household things like remembering to wipe down the counters, and I don’t have any other daily or weekly habits (yoga, girl’s night, whatever) that I keep to consistently. 

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So what do you guys think? Am I normal? Also, I think Yo is planning on sharing the results of her survey on Wednesday, but if you hurry,  I’m sure she’d love to hear your answers. Post them in the comments to this entry, or  in a blog like I did, or head over here  and submit your answers to Yo directly.