Hi Reader,

Happy Friday!

We're having an absolute heatwave here in the UK (I think it might be the hottest June we've had on record). And... well, we're not a country that copes well with the heat. And I'm ALSO not a person who copes well in the heat, which means I've been way less productive this week than I would have liked.

I'm trying to get better at "going with the flow", so I've spent the mornings working in my garden and then spending an hour or two later on in the day enjoying the sun (because who knows when it'll come back).

I guess the lesson here is do what you need to do as long as the work gets done.

P.S. In my latest Instagram post, I shared a more visual version of today's newsletter topic. Check it out here. And don't forget to give me a follow for regular tips and tricks!

Here's what I've been up to this week work-wise:

👉 I refreshed 1 piece for Shopify

👉 I wrote 3 pieces for clients (EmailToolTester, Jukebox Print, and Klaviyo)

👉 I created a one-pager for Klaviyo

👉 I did some more messaging research for a new client

👉 I spent the day at a Beach House without my laptop

⏱ Approx hours spent on client work this week: ~24

⏱ Approx hours spent on non-client work: ~2

💰 Total revenue this week: £4,700

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Friday Freelance Tip​​ ✨ ​

When I went freelance, I thought I just had to be good at the thing. Better than the competition, ideally. Turn up, do great work, get paid. That was the deal.

Nobody told me that when you become a freelancer, you also start a mini-corporation and the only hire is you. You're the craftsperson, the chief tea maker, the accountant, the bookkeeper, the social media manager, the head of marketing, the sales coordinator, the customer success manager, and literally everything in between.

The freelancer just wants to do the craft. The CEO wants to do everything else around it. Y'know, the business stuff.

Problem is, they share a body, a calendar, and a dangerously finite amount of energy.

Why this friction happens

The Freelancer wants to be left alone to do deep, focused, creative work. Interruptions are the enemy. Admin is a distraction. Business development feels embarrassing, a bit like shouting about yourself at a party. Ick.

The CEO, meanwhile, is watching the pipeline. Noticing that the project finishing in three weeks hasn't been replaced by anything. Clocking that the last LinkedIn post was six weeks ago. Calculating whether to chase that invoice now or give it another few days.

Both of them are right.... and both of them are you. When neither role gets proper time and attention, you end up in the classic freelance cycle: too busy to market when you're working, too anxious to work well when you're not.

How to stop them fighting

Give the CEO a standing meeting with themselves. The single most effective thing you can do is ring-fence time that belongs to the business, not to client work. For some people that's a CEO morning once a week (I find Friday works well, as clients aren't as available). For others it's the first hour of every day.

Time-block ruthlessly. "Deep work" on your calendar is fine. But also block "business dev," "outreach," "invoicing," and "content." Name the hat you're wearing. It sounds small but it changes how you show up, plus you're less likely to let client emails bleed into a block labelled pipeline review, and more likely to actually do it.

Batch the admin. The CEO work that kills creative momentum isn't the volume of it, it's the switching (well, at least this is the case for me). Responding to one invoice query, then jumping back into a draft, then checking a contract, then trying to write again, is a productivity death wish. Instead, batch it: all invoicing on Monday morning, all emails between 12 and 1, all proposals on Thursday afternoon.

Create content in CEO mode, publish on autopilot. LinkedIn posts, newsletters, case studies... these are CEO tasks because they fill the pipeline. But many freelancers try to squeeze them into the margins, which is why they never happen. Write a month of LinkedIn content in one sitting. Draft your newsletter on a set day each week. Then schedule it and forget it.

Outsource what the CEO hates most. The CEO in your head isn't necessarily good at everything a CEO needs to do. If bookkeeping fills you with dread, a part-time bookkeeper costs less than the mental load of avoiding it. If scheduling back-and-forth kills your flow, a Calendly link is free. If you'd rather do anything than edit your own website copy, swap skills with another freelancer.

Build a "waiting for" system. One of the CEO's most stressful jobs is keeping track of things in motion, like the proposal sent two weeks ago, the invoice due on Friday, the client who said they'd have feedback by end of month (lol). Keep a simple list (a Notion table, a spreadsheet, even a notebook page) of everything outstanding and when to follow up.

What I've come to realise is that the freelancers who build sustainable businesses aren't necessarily the most talented. They're the ones who take the CEO role seriously.

They're the ones who treat business development as a professional responsibility, not an afterthought. Who chase their invoices without apology. Who post content consistently.

The craft gets you in the door but it's the CEO that keeps the lights on.

You need both.

As always, happy freelancing 🙂

Lizzie ✨

This week, we have a content writer from Vienna.

Where are you based? Vienna, Austria.

How long have you been freelancing? Almost 3 years.

What do you do? I write content (captions, blogs, newsletters) for women lead service based businesses.

What's your revenue? 12,000 euros.

This person freelances full time and this was their highest earning year.

How much did you take as a salary?

9k euro - for now I don't have any other expenses besides the internet and some apps.

How much did you pay in taxes?

I don't pay taxes as I am under the limit in my country.

What are your business expenses?

100 euros a month.
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Do you contribute to a pension or invest?

No.

We need more Freelance Money Diaries entries! I'm forever grateful to anyone who shares their finances with us (you can do it totally anonymously!).

Click the button below to do yours!

As always, happy freelancing :)

Lizzie ✨

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