Your Daily Schedule for Content Writers So You Feel Like You’re Doing Something

Even if you’re in your pj’s you can make money writing

There’s a global shift happening right now — the Pandemic is bringing in more and more freelancers that can work from home and make a living. Or, it could just be people are changing their jobs twelve times throughout their career and can’t hold a job anymore. Whether you are sick of your job or you can’t get a job, the prospect of staying home and being your own boss appeals to 90% of us!

To get you ready for the potential of a flood of clients, you’ll have to fight the urge to wake up when you want to, play video games all day or watch Netflix during your “lunch break.” Because I’m sorry to say it, this is not what freelancing is all about, even if psychology says procrastination can be good for you. You have to do something and be productive if you work from home, and this is something even seasoned content writers like myself struggle with almost every day.

Why Should You Care?

When I started content writing for SaaS brands, I picked up a client that didn’t give me any deadlines. They only said to get it in within the quarter. The Quarter! Amazing, I felt. Writing digital marketing content that’s 5,000 words long and takes 10+ hours to write and perfect meant that I had 91 days to write 5,000 words! Easy peasy. I usually write 2,000 words on a Sunday. No problem, I say.

Fast forward to day 80. I have NOT done much work for this client. Sure, I created an outline and a pretty bangin’ title, but that was it — no introduction, no meaty stuff in the middle and certainly no conclusion to wrap up nothing I had. So, on day 86 (yes, I “procrastinated five more days”), I put on my earphones, got ready for the Mozart Effect, and proverbially put pen to paper. I finished my article with three days left for my copywriter to edit the piece and for my husband to proofread it. Phew! That was a race.

What I demonstrated here is Parkinson’s Law —work will expand to fill the time allotted. That was me, Parkinson’s Law in full swing. I vowed that day way back in 2015 I would never put myself in that position again. And you shouldn’t either. And, the result: the best daily schedule for freelancers. It’s easy to accomplish, making you feel proud and confident that you CAN be a freelancer.

There are three part-time schedules to choose from because I know you’ll be able to get all your work done working part-time(this is where Parkinson’s Law is on MY side).

What Daily Tasks Do You Do?

The daily schedules have tasks a typical content writer would have. These include pitching prospects, writing blog content, engaging on social media, guest posting, and onboarding clients. You may only focus on acquiring clients and nothing more in your freelance business— no social and no guest posting. That’s okay. Your daily schedule might be companies you will pitch during the week and sourcing collaborative opportunities. In either case, your daily schedule should help you propel your business forward. That’s it. At the end of the week, did you:

• Gain a client?
• Pitch?
• Write a blog post?
• Engage on social?
• Answer all your weekly emails?

Gauge your progress with the tasks you do per day to see what results you’ll achieve at the end of the week.

Daily Schedule One: For the New Freelancer

With over four million quitting their job last year, people have to start somewhere. It’s feasible to grow a highly sustainable freelance business by only working one hour a day. It’s not the four-hour workweek, but a healthy five-hour work week.

Monday: Source guest post opportunities (20 minutes) and potential businesses you want to work with (20 minutes). Make sure to use a Google Sheet to mark down your prospects.

Tuesday: Pitch to five guest opportunities (40 minutes) and follow your leads on social while finding more leads to connect with (20 minutes).

Wednesday: Write an article on your blog, Medium or even on LinkedIn (1hr 40 min.).

Thursday: Update your Instagram profile with a carousel post, and do a quick Live giving an update or tip you recently discovered to help your audience (even if it’s small). Cold pitch all your leads (1 hour). This is how I cold pitch on Instagram.

Friday: Work on your website or profiles to optimize them for your service. For example, go ahead and say you are for hire on your Instagram profile or Medium profile (15 minutes). Create a to-do list for the next week and incorporate more cold pitching tactics or visit job boards like Problogger (15 minutes). Source blog topics and keywords for future content (45 minutes).

Daily Schedule Two: For the Freelancer with Clients

Monday: Work on your current client work (1 hour). Schedule calls for new leads and write up a proposal (1 hour). Mondays should focus on current work and moving new clients down your onboarding process.

Tuesday: Market where clients found you — Medium, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Youtube (2 hours). If it was Medium, write a blog post or on LinkedIn and connect with more businesses and so on.

Wednesday: Finish any current client work you have. Go ahead when you submit your work, let your client know you enjoyed it, and ask if they know of anyone needs writing work. (2 hours).

Thursday: Invest in education by reading an article, downloading a business plan or investing in a course. Make this day an educational day to learn more about your craft (2+ hours).

Friday: Take a breather! Update your social profiles and create a to-do for the next week. It would help to focus on client work and acquire new freelance gigs during the first half of the week. The latter half is more for personal and business growth.

Daily Schedule Three: For the “Full-Time” Freelancer (that’s me)

In the beginning, I could only work around my twins’ sleeping schedule (less than 3 hours a day). Now that my twins are in school, I work during school hours. This means my day ends around 3 pm.

I strive not to work a 40-hour week workweek. When I say full-time, I mean your freelance writing business isn’t a side hustle anymore and is the thing you do full-time.

Monday: Pitch and write. For this day, write for clients, guest posts or write for your own site. Pitch to guest spots or to businesses needing your service (email writing). I mix this up with filming a Youtube video for my channel (6 hours).

Tuesday: If you also do Youtube, edit the video, write a guest post or start the onboarding process for a new client (5 hours).

Wednesday: It’s time to write and if need be, pitch. I don’t pitch a lot during the week since most of my clientele come to me. Create graphics for social. So, during this time, I write and create graphics for my articles and if I have any, finish up client work(5 hours).

Thursday: Creation day. Do something for your business, like creating a new client checklist or updating your resume/Hire Me page. Spend this time updating and optimizing your online platform. I start creating new lead magnets or new workshop ideas for courses. During this day, I’m more relaxed and welcome distractions. This day refuels my energy, and I get excited for my business (6 hours).

Friday: No need to work on Fridays.

Make the Schedule Work For You

Look –

I know it’s hard to stick to a schedule when you work from home. There are many distractions, especially if you have twins doing online schooling and a husband (partner) working at home. Schedules also change seasonally, and that’s a good thing. I would hate having the same daily schedule 365 days a year. Instead, I work three hours a day in the morning for half the week , over the summer. With a six-figure business, I’m able to work the hours I can and, more importantly, work the house I WANT to. I love Mondays, and if you’re a freelancer, you should too!

Use one of these daily schedules, and don’t be afraid to change and adapt it six months from now or even two weeks from now.