A day in the life of a freelance science writer

What I actually do in a day

I love finding out about other people’s work schedules, and often the sheer number of meetings my friends who work in TV production or for the UN are in on any given work day sounds so intense I am immediately grateful for my relatively meeting-free existence. Being freelance, it’s rare that my schedule is exactly this every single day, so watch the video for the bunch of caveats I have included, including how to make freelancing on a work/holiday trip work for you.

5.45 AM: Wake up

I rise with the sun and… just kidding. I am gently snoring at this time of the morning. I know plenty of writers, especially parents who wake up super early to get a headstart on things, but I am much more of a snooze button until 7.25am person. This is the latest I can haul myself out of bed (after my husband brings me a cup of tea to bed) to help get my 9-year-old ready for school, while also getting myself ready.

In between sporadic shouts to brush her teeth or find her uniform, I do a quick skim of the news and then get told off by my kid for being on my phone too much.

8.30/9.00 AM: Breakfast and a walk

By now, the house is empty and peace reigns. If I haven’t already eaten breakfast with my kid, this is when I yam something down. I am a supreme creature of habit and tend to oscillate between overnight oats in the summer or porridge in the winter. I might walk over to my co-working space 15 mins away, or if I’m going to work from home, I’ll spend 20 mins walking down to Barcelona’s main park with a cortado in hand. I’ve found a morning walk sets me up far better than yoga or meditation for the day.

Between 8.30 and midday is when my brain is firing on all cylinders and no matter how little sleep I’ve had, I feel like I could do rocket science. This is when I research articles, or work on news or features I’m writing. Everything flows. Except for a daily 9.30am call for my main client, I try not to book in any calls in the morning so as not to waste ‘rocket science brain’.

If I’m not on the clock for a client, I spend this time strategising and planning for the coming months. I do both macro planning in quarters, and micro planning across the week, time-blocking my days so I know exactly how I am going to fit everything in. Even when I am working for a client, I time-block how long I plan to work on a piece so that I’m not spending an inordinate amount of time and being unaware of it.

12.00 – 12.30PM: The gym vs Netflix

If it’s a gym day (I am a newbie powerlifter and train three times a week) this is when I lift weights. The gym is empty as everyone has left for lunch and I can spend my session scrolling Instagram in between sets without fear of judgement from gym bros.

If it’s not a gym day, I’d get in a half hour walk here, probably listening to a podcast or the regular voicenotes that I get from both my sister and my closest friends. At least once a week, I catch up with fellow freelance friends for a quick lunch or if I’m eating at home, I’ll take a quick Netflix break with lunch on the sofa. It’s childish but watching a few minutes of Netflix in the middle of the day feels like the ultimate freelance rebellion, but also given how much I read in a day, sitting down with a book is not the break I need.

2.00 – 6.00 PM: Winding down

If I am on deadline, then I finish whatever writing is urgent in this block of time, but otherwise I respond to emails, contact scientists to set up interviews, or make calls either interviewing people or speaking to other clients/trying to get new ones. I’ve started one-to-one coaching and I love having a break in the afternoon from writing or on calls to discuss the latest epidemic to work through with a fellow freelancer ways to inject new life into their career.

7.00 PM Occasional work sprint

Ideally, I’m not working in the evenings as my brain is starting to feel like a wrung-out dishcloth by now and I also want to spend time with my husband and my kid. But when I’m launching projects alongside client work, sometimes a session on the sofa with my laptop is unavoidable but I only do it when it’s truly necessary and not just to catch up with things I didn’t finish in the day – that way lies madness and there is no way to get everything done every single day.

9.00 – 9.30PM Most likely on the sofa

My absolute cut-off for work and it’s rare that I am still working at this point as usually I’ve descended into the gentle evening chaos of cooking, eating dinner and getting my kid ready for bed. Once a week I might head out to a gig, to a friend’s book launch or exhibition, or to have dinner with friends, but I tend to socialise much more during the day nowadays. 

So there you have it. Does it look anything like your day? Am I missing a trick somewhere, or do you have suggestions for how I could work better? I am all ears.