Location
A lot of the work that you get accomplished as a freelance writer or an author is dependent on the location that you choose to work in. I don't mean which city or state you reside in (though it wouldn't hurt to have a low sales tax and cost of living); I mean where you choose to get your work done. Some people are fortunate enough to be able to sit down at the same desk in their house for eight consecutive hours and crank out a considerable amount of writing. Personally, I am not in that boat and I imagine many people feel my pain.
When you work a 9 to 5 job, your house or apartment is typically a place of relaxation and occasional cleaning and housework. When you transition to a freelance lifestyle, it's difficult to force your brain into believing that during certain hours this is no longer a place to watch old episodes of "Eureka" on your Netflix-equipped Wii, but a place where serious work needs to be accomplished. To make your apartment into a working zone it helps to have an office set aside either as a separate room or in a large room's corner. That area should only be used to do work so that you get into the routine of doing work there. If you split time between doing work and playing games, you may find that amount of game time begins to take over.
There are many other places that you can go in this day and age with a laptop in hand to work on your writing. My personal favorite is a local coffee shop that lets you use their Wi-Fi with a purchase. If you are using such a place, make sure to pick one without blaring music and with supreme discounts for bringing your own mug (I usually get a decaf iced tea in mine and save 50 cents each day). A library with free Internet is another fantastic location and it is usually the quietest one. If you have to do research along with your writing, you can kill two birds with one stone by working here. I have also gotten work accomplished in restaurants, cars, back porches, airports, friends' apartments, vacation homes and bathrooms. If you need to use a laptop at any of these locations, make sure to scout ahead that they have outlets available. If you can stand to use a pad of paper and a pencil, the number of locations you can work at open up dramatically.
One of the wonderful freedoms of a freelance writer is that you can go anywhere to get your work finished. Take advantage of that by getting away from your distracting apartment every so often.
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