From project variety to flexible hours, copywriting offers a variety of benefits that may have encouraged you to turn your passion for writing into a career. However, whether you’re taking the first steps into the industry or are a seasoned copywriter, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by fast-approaching deadlines. 

To avoid feeling burnt out by spending too many hours at your desk, we’ll explain some key strategies for maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Successfully achieving work-life balance is crucial for avoiding burnout and keeping motivation levels high. In fact, a 2021 survey found that 65% of workers prioritise work-life balance over pay and benefits in their roles.

This is especially important for copywriters, where good mental and physical well-being is essential for optimal creativity. Balancing work, play, and rest also offers several other benefits, including:

• Reducing the risk of physical health issues

• Lowering levels of stress and anxiety

• Improving both personal and professional relationships

• Boosting productivity 

• Allowing for better time management

• Keeping you motivated to work hard and deliver great end products

• Producing better work provides opportunities for career growth

How Can Copywriters Maintain Work-Life Balance?

Whilst it can be beneficial keeping things separate, this is often easier said than done for busy copywriters. Try implementing these key tips for preventing the lines between your work and home life from becoming blurred:

Set Clear Boundaries

One of the biggest benefits of copywriting is the flexibility and freedom it gives you to work when and wherever it suits you. For those working from home, it can therefore be tempting to write from the sofa or kitchen table. 

However, having a dedicated workspace outside of your usual living area enables you to establish a solid separation between your working and personal hours. Be sure to let clients and colleagues know when you’re available too. 

For instance, you may choose to have a snooze or do-not-disturb mode on work-related notifications, emails, and messages outside of your working hours. This allows you to fully relax during your time off, so you’ll be more present when it’s time to hustle again.

Use Productivity Tools

If you’re often finding yourself left with little to no time to complete projects, it could be time to take a look at your productivity levels. An easy way to do this is with productivity tools such as Todist.

Todist is a task manager designed to help users sort out upcoming tasks and prioritise the most important work in a handy to-do list. This can encourage you to become more focused, feel organised, and achieve mental clarity. 

Procrastination can be another huge problem for copywriters, causing working hours to eat into your personal time. With studies showing that 20 to 25% of adults worldwide are chronic procrastinators, tools like StayFocusd can be useful. 

The browser extension stops time wasting by restricting your access to distracting websites. Get more work done quickly, spend less time at your desk, and make the most of pursuing a flexible career path like copywriting.

Plan Your Workload

Planning is particularly important for copywriters who have multiple projects on the go and want to optimise their time. The process can help you create a roadmap of your week and see how much time you’ve got for work, rest, and play.

To get a visible representation of your work, the Japanese Kanban board system is a great option. Project management tools such as Trello harness this system, bringing all of your tasks together to see exactly the workload you’re contending with.

This makes it much easier to factor in time off, whether you dedicate a few hours to having lunch with friends or take 2 days to simply rest and recuperate. You’ll come back feeling refreshed, recharged, and ready to deliver on those deadlines.

Take Care of Yourself

Impending deadlines mean that you may be tempted to sacrifice your physical and mental health in favour of completing your workload. It can be easy to spend days locked away writing, especially for those copywriters working on a freelance or remote basis.

As humans, a lack of social interaction can leave us feeling unmotivated and depressed, which could negatively impact your performance. To avoid this, be sure to connect with others on both a professional and personal basis.

Participate in webinars and workshops, and join online forums like LinkedIn to keep you feeling inspired and interested in your work. We’d also encourage you to adopt healthy habits such as completing regular exercise, sleeping 7 to 9 hours per night, and eating well.

Conduct Regular Reviews

As a copywriter, you’ll understand the importance of being adaptable to new clients, projects, and deadlines. Although this provides excitement and inspiration for your work, it can be difficult to keep up a stable work-life balance. 

To see how well you’re able to maintain this balance with each of your projects, keep track of your well-being throughout the month. Using a journal or healthy habit tracker, make a note of your satisfaction and happiness each week to see how you are coping with the task at hand.

See this as an opportunity to make changes that will improve your feelings towards work, such as altering your working environment, your hours, or the amount of time you spend on each project. 

Final Thoughts

By planning ahead, being more productive, and frequently checking in with yourself, you can fully experience the freedom and flexibility that copywriting offers. Begin prioritising work-life balance, and you’re sure to start seeing both professional and personal growth.

To find out more about crafting your ideal career in copywriting, check out The Author’s Pad, where writers live and work.

FAQs

We answered some of your most commonly asked questions about being a copywriter and workload management.

What Are Some Strategies to Manage Workload?

If you have a heavy workload, the first thing to do is schedule your tasks according to their priority. Try to limit multitasking where possible, as this takes away your focus and could impact the quality of your work. Be sure to schedule frequent breaks, along with longer periods of time to rest, recharge, and refocus your creative mind.

What is the Daily Routine of a Copywriter?

One of the biggest advantages of being a copywriter is that your daily routine is flexible, and can be altered to fit around your personal life. Many copywriters start the day by attending to general admin, such as replying to emails or checking their content schedule. They will then crack on with researching, writing, and proofreading tasks, before looking for new writing projects to pursue.

How Many Hours a Day Do Copywriters Work?

To make a good income, full-time copywriters tend to work around 30 to 40 hours per week. However, copywriters can work different hours depending on their rate of pay and the number of clients they take on. As you gain more expertise in the industry, you may choose to increase your rates and work fewer hours per day.