Ever wondered what a freelance, business-owning copywriter actually gets up to all day?
In the spirit of public service, here’s a sneak peek into a real, tea-fuelled week full of varied briefs, project juggling and looming deadlines.
Because who needs a day in the life of a copywriter when you can enjoy a whole wild seven days?
Monday
9:00–10:25 am – Make tea (not coffee. I know, I’m an anomaly). A very important first step in my morning routine, especially on a Monday. Finish off the first draft of two business award submissions I started last week for a finance client. Fiddly little writing task, submissions, especially the word counts for each section.
10:25–10:30 am – Hang out the washing (the joys of working from home) and make more tea.
10:30 am–12:45 pm – Start to research and write a 1,500-word SEO article on concrete (yes, concrete) for a monthly retainer client. Hint: it’s a big national brand you’ll find in Bunnings.
12:45–1:15 pm – Eat lunch while scrolling Insta.
1:15–2:15 pm – Finalise the concrete article and email the client—plus send my latest invoice for the next six months.
2:15–2:45 pm – Make some edits to a university profile story, kind of like a bio, but with more of a storytelling vibe.
2:45–3:40 pm – Hop into Xero to catch up on invoicing (my accountant, aka husband, has been hassling me).
3:40–4:00 pm – Teen boys arrive home and hit up the mum café. The youngest orders his usual three-course snack menu, complete with fruit platter. I’m a sucker. Get a few grunts about how their days went.
4:00–4:10 pm – Follow up with a client in the building space to see if they’ve reviewed a branding and pillar draft I sent.
4:10–4:30 pm – Check in with an agency in Singapore re some upcoming client work (an infographic for a tech company), and follow up with a Sydney agency for the final cut of a client video I wrote the script for.
4:30–4:40 pm – Tidy the inbox with some email clearing and filing.
4:45–6:00 pm – Gym time for a workout and PT session.
6:00 pm–bedtime – Walk the dog in the rain, make dinner (my least favourite task), and watch a Netflix doco on the Tylenol murders.
Tuesday
8:45–9:15 am – Make tea, check emails, read the news, and email a recent client about a radio ad I wrote for them a few months back to see how it went.
9:15–10:30 am – Edit and optimise yesterday’s SEO article, then give it a final proofread before sending the first draft to the client. I always like to sit on things overnight before editing.
10:30–10:45 am – Make a second cup of tea, hang out the washing, and put on another load.
11:30 am–1:00 pm – Start researching and writing a 1,000-word SEO blog for a recruitment client.
1:00–1:15 pm – Shovel down lunch, scroll socials, message a group chat.
1:15–2:30 pm – Finish writing the SEO blog, then edit and tweak for search engine optimisation and make sure it’s going to engage the target audience.
2:30–3:00 pm – Make a few edits to the concrete blog from Monday, as requested by the client, and send it back for a second review.
3:00–3:50 pm – Pick up eldest son, prep after-school snacks, get grunted at, bring in the washing.
3:50–4:30 pm – Tidy up the award submission again with client-requested edits and resend the second draft.
4:30–5:15 pm – Go for a quick walk to clear my head, then start dinner.
5:30–5:45 pm – Get a call from a real estate client needing a couple of quick tweaks to an ad going live tomorrow. Make the tweaks.
5:45 pm–bedtime – Make multiple dinners to suit different dietary quirks, walk the dog, watch another true crime doco on Netflix, scroll my phone in bed.
Wednesday
9:00–10:00 am – Make tea, check emails, make edits to a blog I wrote last week, and do a couple more tweaks to the award submission.
10:00 am–12:45 pm – Make tea to help me research and write a new SEO blog for an existing client, with a quick pit stop to write a LinkedIn post for my own page (got to keep the algorithm happy).
12:45–1:00 pm – Whip up and inhale lunch, pat the dog, drag myself back to the desk.
1:00–3:30 pm – Finish editing 7 web pages I’ve been updating and optimising (including SEO research) for a client. Finalise metas and titles, run it all through my SEO tool to check for natural language processing. Take a call from one of my creative partners, mid-writing time, to chat about a potential brand and website project.
3:30–3:45 pm – Mum and snack duties.
3:45–5:30 pm – Take an early mark and head to the shops—because I can, and I need groceries and a break from my screen.
5:30 pm–bedtime – Make dinner, walk the dog, then hop back on the laptop to make a quick blog edit for a client (because a copywriter’s day is never done). Get sucked into updating my KB site and uploading some videos. Discover ChatGPT is surprisingly handy at writing code.
Thursday
8:45–9:00 am – Make tea, check emails and read the news.
9:00–9:30 am – Make some edits to yesterday’s SEO blog based on client feedback. Take a call from a potential new client.
9:30–10:15 am – Open up Buffer and edit some social media posts a client has drafted—a recurring weekly task
10:15–11:00 am – Make more tea. Edit some new starter comms for the same client.
11:00 am–12:30 pm – Start researching and writing a 2,000-word SEO blog for the national brand (same one as the concrete piece).
12:30–12:40 pm – Reach out to a brand + website client to chase up a few bits of info I need to finalise their landing page copy.
12:40–1:15 pm – Sit outside for lunch—needed some sunshine. Scroll socials, text a few friends to let them know I’m still alive
1:15–1:17 pm – Get a call from someone trying to sell me ‘white hat’ SEO services (which I strongly suspect aren’t). Try to politely decline. Not sure I succeeded.
1:20–2:30 pm – Back into writing the SEO blog. Write the social snippets to go with it.
2:45–3:00 pm – Send a 50% kickoff invoice for a new brand project.
3:00–3:45 pm – Pick up the boys from school, serve snacks, and bring in the washing.
4:00–5:15 pm – Gym time for a PT session. Essential for both saggy muscles and my sanity.
5:30 pm–bedtime – Walk the dog, make dinner, watch Netflix (yes, again), and finally send my new little social passion project live (Don’t eat me) before I get into bed and fall asleep.
Friday
8:45–9:45 am – Make tea, check emails, then finalise, edit and optimise yesterday’s SEO article before sending it off to the client for review.
9:45 am–12:15 pm – Back into the award submission now I’ve got the extra info. Tweak, tighten, and wrestle it into those exact word counts while consuming more tea.
12:15–1:00 pm – Lunch, fold washing, pat dog, unpack dishwasher, scroll socials—classic work-from-home multitask combo.
1:00–1:15 pm – Final check of the award submission and fire it back to the client.
1:15–2:30 pm – Jump into Canva to create some new tiles for KB socials, then write snippets and hashtags to go with them.
2:30–3:30 pm – Try to finalise writing copy for the landing page following yesterday’s client chase-up.
3:30–3:45 pm – Say hi to the teen boys and feed them (again).
3:45–4:30 pm – Back to the landing page… only to realise the client still hasn’t given me everything I need. Follow up (again).
4:30 pm–bedtime – Woohoo, it’s Friday, and I’ve survived another week. Celebrate with a kombucha and couch time. I’m doing a month of sobriety (thumbs down). Doesn’t quite hit the same…
What will next week bring?
So, there you have it. One week in the life of a copywriter who works from home.
One thing I love about my work is that no two weeks are the same. There is no typical day or month. New projects, different clients, uncertain schedules. It keeps things interesting.
One win for me this week? No video calls, face-to-face client meetings or discovery sessions. Who wants to look presentable or leave the house?! But I do often have to do this. There’s no totally hiding behind a keyboard in this job.
Want to get your project on my weekly schedule? Keen to hit me up with a question about working as a freelance copywriter with your own business? Drop me a message or give me a call.