You’re all alone.

You haven’t showered in weeks.

You’re eating moldy bread.

You sleep with one eye open and carry a dagger with you.

Congrats! You’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Wait a minute. This is a blog about freelance blogging! What do zombies have to do with dreams of freelancing success?

Think about it. Both require a special set of skills in order to survive. Whether you’re fending off zombies or trying to rise above other bloggers competing for jobs, it’s important to be prepared.

Parenthood changes a lot of things, especially your career.

Your child becomes the focus of your life. That’s the way it should be, but it can be hard to keep your freelance business running while looking after your child’s daily (and hourly) needs.

Your work hours shrink from double digits to singles. You’re exhausted all the time, but you’re not earning any extra. Less, in fact — much less.

This is the same dilemma I faced when my daughter was born. She’s adorable and I love her to bits, but in between tantrums, feedings, chores, and the constant fear that she’d hurt herself right that very second if I didn’t pay attention, there wasn’t much time left for anything else.

I started falling behind with work, and my balance sheets were suffering. If something didn’t change, I was going to have to start choosing which bills to pay and which to leave “for later”.

Once my initial panic settled (it took a while for that to happen, to be honest), I took stock of my situation and realized I had to make some serious changes to the business. Here’s how I made parenting work for me as a freelance blogger.