This Twin Mum has Gone Freelance
I’ve been writing here and there for over ten years as both a hobby and a side hustle. A few months ago, there was a very small window of opportunity where I could dive in and take my teeny tiny side hustle full time, so I leapt on the chance and haven’t looked back.
Going from stay-at-home mum of twins to full time self-employment was a mammoth change in circumstances, but it’s going better than I could have imagined. My husband quit his full-time job at a law firm in the big city to be a stay-at-home dad, so the change has been immense for him too, but he has loved spending so much time with his children.
I started off by working on my phone while sitting on my bed, which wasn’t ideal, but I managed. Gradually, I have been able to make a functional office space in my attic, and I’ve been working in here for about a week now, and my productivity has shot up which is great for motivation!
So, how am I managing around family life?
Honestly, I’ve never been my own boss before so this is all very new to me, but it’s fabulous. Not only do I get to decide my own rate of pay, but I choose my own hours. Today, my children needed lots of love and attention as they’re both a tiny bit under the weather. I was able to spend plenty of time during the day playing and cuddling, I ate my meals with my family, and I was able to give my husband an hour’s nap in the afternoon. I’ll be working until midnight tonight to make sure everything gets done, but that’s meant that I got to have plenty of quality family time and I tend to work better at night anyway!
Another enormous perk is that the nature of my work means that I can do it from anywhere. As a family, we spent time with my mum in the south over Christmas, and we could stay for a bit longer than usual, because I was able to work while away.
A wonderful friend of mine does something similar to this, and has done it full-time for years now. It was a huge source of inspiration seeing how well her job fitted around mum-life, and her success really inspired me and gave me the push I needed to give it a go!
What do I actually do?
A few people have asked me what it is that I’m actually doing, and there’s not one simple answer because I’m doing a few different things! My main focus at the moment is writing – I write blogs, articles, and reviews. I have a postgraduate journalism degree, so I’m pretty well equipped when it comes to being able to write about almost anything under time pressure. In addition to writing, I also manage social media accounts for people and small businesses who either don’t have the time to do it themselves, or aren’t sure how to do it. Social media is a wonderful resource for businesses to tap into and can lead to huge success, but sometimes people and businesses just need a little help – that’s why I’m here! If you scroll right to the bottom of this page (or click here) , you should be able to see a page called ‘Alexandra Chadderton Services’, you can click here if you want to find out more.
That’s it for now – I took the plunge and it’s going well. I’m excited to see what the future holds, and I’m so very happy that my job works in perfect harmony with family life. Here’s hoping that things carry on the way they’ve been going for the past few months! Wish me luck!