A typical workday for freelancer Reyna Gobel

Reyna Gobel has been a freelance journalist for 20 years, first covering music and pop culture for indie magazines and more recently writing about travel, business, personal finance, pets, nutrition and more for national publications including Scientific American, The Atlantic and AARP.

Along the way, Gobel published books on personal finance, earned a master's of public health in nutrition and launched the company Wallets and Waistlines, which offers custom courses, workshops and other content related to wellness and personal finance.

I talked to Gobel, who's based in New York City, about how she structures her weeks and days, and what she's learned over her two decades as a freelancer.

What does a day-in-the-life look like for you?

I'm a big believer in writing down three to five things I want to accomplish at the beginning of the day. That could be: find a source, finish an article and pitch to X publication.

After I eat breakfast, I usually walk my dog Woof Woof to the coffee shop, where he's trained to sit by me for an hour or two. That time is really important for me to be in a different environment because, as writers, we're creative people.

Back home, I use a Pomodoro timer, which encourages you to focus on one task for 25 minutes and then take a five-minute break. I schedule 14 "Pomos" a day, which is seven hours. Six of those Pomos (or three hours including breaks) are for writing. The others can be for things like interviews, promoting my books and courses on social media, taking a pilates class or even cleaning - I find you have to make sure you're scheduling things into your day that aren't just sitting in front of the computer.

My accountability buddy and I also take one morning each week to plan the week and do things for our businesses that we forget to do if we don't give ourselves that time. For me, that could be updating my website, posting on social media or pitching. That helps keep me from timing out and not getting new work because I wasn't taking that time when I was busy.

How do you balance your roles as both a freelance writer and an expert?

On a weekly basis, I dedicate three days to writing pieces I need to file to someone else and two days for my own blog and services. The two roles support each other. Because I'm a journalist first, people trust me as an expert. If I'm being interviewed, I'm thinking about how the subject is researched and what backs it up. Instead of just telling people what to do, I try to talk to them about how I came to my conclusion.

Do you use tools other than the Pomodoro timer?

One thing I use to focus is music - I pick a playlist that I know is a set amount of time. I make sure it's music that I know really, really well because new music will be as distracting as a really social coffee shop. I have certain songs and albums that I've listened to hundreds of times, so it's almost become ambient. Even if I catch myself singing along for a minute, it keeps me happy - and you don't want to be bored when you're writing.

How do you come up with your best ideas?

I make time for just thinking. That kind of meditation can come in many forms. It could be when I'm swimming or taking a shower. Sometimes, if I'm stuck, I'll take three or four showers in a day. Sometimes ideas come during a walk or even when I'm watching TV and giving myself a moment of quiet. Sometimes it's cooking lunch.

I'm not just coming up with new pitches, but those moments can help me work through a part of a story I'm stuck on or make me realize I need a different source.

What's your advice for finding and keeping connections as a freelance journalist?

I think a lot of people forget to network, especially when they work from home. But in any city or state, there's a writer's group - make a point to go to a regular meeting and really get to know people. I try to have lunch with a writer or editor at least once a month.

The whole goal of networking is not just to meet editors - I get referrals from other writers all the time. An e-introduction to an editor from another writer is golden. Befriending other journalists also teaches you who the "PITA" [pain in the a-] clients are, so you can avoid problems before they arise.

When you're working by yourself, you can forget that you're an important and skilled person, and people want to get to know you, they want to know what you really care about. Sharing that can help you find and write stories that really align with your mission.