This is the time of the year when almost everybody is at home. The excitement about get-togethers and most especially, the food is constant in the air and you just can’t seem to find the time to work.

This is a challenge since generally, work at home professionals don’t earn on days when they don’t work too.

Sad, yes…

But there are some workarounds you can do so you still get to have some income while joining in on the celebrations.

If after the holidays your financial status may be on the edge or you have projects which really need to be finished before or early next year, then I suggest you do these methods to sneak in some work hours during the festivities.

1. Wake up earlier than the rest of the household.

Even if you have guests, you can wake up an hour or two earlier to work. Just remember to allocate that time ONLY for doing your freelance work and nothing else. No opening of social media accounts, no surfing (except when you need to do research), no distractions. Just work.

Let’s say you are able to do this from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1, for 2 hours each day, then you can already bill 18 hours of work to your client.

2. Go out by yourself for an hour or two.

This is a perk of working online. You can work anywhere as long as there’s good internet connection and your laptop’s battery lasts long.

Go to a café with internet connection and work there. This way you get to work in a different environment for awhile and have some quiet time by yourself.

3. This is the time to do some minimal multitasking.

If you are having guests at home, while preparing their food, you can think about the details of your project/s. For example, you can contemplate on the design of a website you’re working on or the next topic and bullet points of your next articles.

Keep a pen and notebook handy so you can jot down your ideas or if you’re techy, save it in your smartphone so as not to lose them while partying. With this technique, you are being productive while enjoying the gatherings and can work on the output much faster when you go back to regular working days.

Most freelance jobs allow you to work at your own time.

If you’re a virtual assistant, or have clients asking to meet with you at certain hours each day or each week, it’s best that you inform them in advance of your need for some time off, even if they already know this is inevitable during these weeks.

This way they know your work hours might lessen and you may not be available for some time. You will also be able to show them your professionalism even if you work at home.

Most clients are okay with this, since they generally take time off themselves from their businesses as well.

With these techniques, you will be sacrificing some time for yourself like getting that additional hour of sleep or having that extra hour to chat with your friends. But it’s only for the time being. You would not be doing this for the whole year!

The little sacrifice will be worth it since you still get to earn while participating in the celebrations and you know you still have a work at home job waiting for you after the holidays.

If you are a freelancer, have you tried other ways to get much work done during the holiday season?

Do you think these suggestions are workable? Let me know in the comments