Ria Gaviola is a freelance content writer with over four years of professional experience. She is also a mom of a nine-year-old daughter doing homeschool. This is her typical day.

Titled “A Day In The Life Of A Woman,” this series celebrates the women in our lives. From the everyday to inspirational, the series aims to highlight women from various fields and share a bit of the diversity we experience every day.

My name is Ria Gaviola and I am a freelancer for four years now and counting. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines the word freelance as “doing particular pieces of work for different organizations, rather than working all the time for a single organization.” This definition fits me in the sense that, most of the time, I work on various projects remotely for companies in the UK, India, and even the US.

Previously, I worked as a teacher for 10 years in a private institution earning myself a top position in the academe at a young age. When I had my child, my husband and I decided to focus more on raising our daughter. That was when my new career as a freelancer started.

I am a content writer for a UK-based company. I write content for blogs, manage the social media account of the company, and work on academic write-ups for various clients.

My usual day-to-day routine runs like this but there are times when I extend working hours depending on the client’s requirements.

7:00 A.M. – Wake up, prepare breakfast, and check my emails from clients.

9:00 A.M. – Do household chores with my daughter. Prepare daughter for tasking. We started homeschooling since this gives us more flexibility in our current lifestyle.

11:00 A.M. – Prepare lunch or eat outside. Check on my daughter’s school work and discuss various lessons if needed.

12:00 NN – Lunch Time

1:00 P.M.  –  Discuss lesson or school work with my daughter. Check on work tasks. My clients or superiors usually send me an email as to what needs to be done or edited before my shift.

2:00 P.M. – Prepare for an afternoon nap.

3:00 P.M. – Daughter’s nap time. Work time for me. I use this time to research and download files or templates.

5:00 P.M. – Check emails from clients and/or students. Prepare dinner.

6:00 P.M. – Dinner Time

8:00 P.M. – Start of my shift. I usually work on academic writing first since this is the heaviest to edit. Then I work on the blogs and check the social media output. I coordinate with the layout artist based in the UK for the blogs or any creative artwork needed with the write-up.

2:00 A.M. (Next Day) I end my shift by reading blogs or watching my favorite vlogs on YouTube. I say my thank you prayers then it’s lights out!

1. What is the most challenging part of your job or day?

In my case, it is how you establish the trust with your clients abroad. In my industry, being reliable is of utmost importance. Being open to constructive criticism and learning is non-stop—from the academic sources to the tools that you need to use to get the job done. Though my work is flexible, this does not mean that it is easy. In fact, it is more demanding because I do more, especially in conceptualizing the blogs and researching for the articles before my shift starts.

I work at night so I can communicate with my clients. This is also quite hard at first but I got used to it. That is why I sleep in the afternoon so that my work at night will be flawless.

2. What do you like most about your job or business?

Since I am home-based, that concept itself resonates a lot of freedom on my part. I am able to spend more quality time with my family and do motherly chores. I am able to travel to be with my husband, who is based in Cebu, any time of the year and be a family.

3. What is your advice to women considering your industry?

For women who are contemplating trying this path, one thing that they should master is how to be open to changes, challenge, and learning along the way and within this industry. One should also be able to have that can-do attitude with a client and initiate action whenever necessary. Foreigners (As a Filipina working for non-Filipinos for the first time) are a bit intimidating to work with at first because they are upfront with their ideas and criticism but for me, these are necessary for me to correct my mistakes. But luckily, my superiors are open also to my suggestions. So in a way, we both learn!

—

Interested in growing your business so you can do more of what you love? Check out Connected Women Jobs and get matched with hundreds of women online experts looking for remote work!

—