March 22, 2025
The question of “how many hours do freelancers work?” is one I frequently see on work-from-home message boards and is often posed by my blog readers and freelance coaching clients. Understanding your freelance work week is crucial for setting realistic expectations and achieving your goals.
“How many hours does a freelancer work?” is highly individualized, and everyone’s freelance hours depend on their personal goals, especially if they have other responsibilities. Before deciding how many hours you want to work as a freelancer, consider your financial and personal aspirations.
This question is a common freelance FAQ. Honestly, the number of hours freelancers and freelance writers work each week (and how many hours freelancers work in a day) can vary significantly. Factors like client demands and whether they are juggling a full-time job alongside their freelance side hustle can greatly affect their available hours.
You might also wonder how many hours in one week freelancers can work without burning out. That answer varies for each freelancer, depending on how many clients they’re juggling that week and their personal circumstances. I’ll share how many hours a freelancer works each week—and how some manage to earn a six-figure salary.
Here’s a sample day in the life of this freelancer.
If you’re ready to kick-start a successful freelance writing career, download my e-Book for 100+ Tips for Beginner Freelance Writers.
The answer to how many hours does a freelancer work each day and how many hours do freelancers work from home each week depends a lot on:
Believe it or not, most of the six-figure freelancers I know work less than 30 hours a week, usually closer to 20 billable hours. If you’re looking to earn $100 an hour or more freelancing, consider checking out my online course.
Now that you have an understanding of what goes into the hours freelancers work each week, I’ll answer this question about how many hours freelancers work for myself and share some posts that work for other freelancers.
(Note: This was originally written in 2019 before I had a child. I provided updates from the past four years when I went from having no childcare responsibilities to two children for perspective on freelance work from home life and a sneak peek into my freelance work week.)
What’s considered “normal working hours of a freelancer” can change from week to week!
Before jumping ahead to the number of freelance hours worked in a week, it’s helpful to look at how many hours freelancers are working in a day.
Check out this recent LinkedIn post where other freelancers and I shared how four to five hours of “deep work” and particularly freelance client work is our limit for the day.
(Here’s a post on setting daily freelance rates. If you want to know how to set hourly freelance rates, I’ve got you covered.)
Sounds pretty sweet, right? Let me be clear.
Those freelance hours are the “billable hours” — which means they are the hours that I’m working on freelance assignments I’m getting paid for.
In 2019, I was working a total of 36 to 42 freelance hours weekly but I was not getting paid for those hours that aren’t spent on client work.
(Ahem, so writing this freelance writing tips blog post doesn’t pay.) It’s a freelance work from home fact that you need to know before you embark on this journey to full-time freelancer.
As of January 2024, here’s an update on how many hours freelance work from home this freelance business owner works each week:
In 2023, I averaged about five to 12 hours of paid client work each week.
Wait, how many hours in one week? 168!
Overall, I worked *about* 15 hours a week total most weeks, according to my time-tracking tool, Togg.l.
(It’s one of the best apps for writers I recommend.)
Even with those limited hours as a freelance mom, I was able to earn a six-figure freelance income.
Three years ago, I was freelancing full time before children (aka when I had “all the time in the world”) and working about 30+ hours a week. It was how many hours in one week I could freelance without burning out and still earning a great income.
The reason I’m able to work fewer hours and still earn a great salary?
So, how do I work fewer hours and still earn well? Here’s what I’ve done since having kids:
✨ Found Higher-Paying Clients: (I actively search for the best high-paying freelance writing niches for quality work.)
✨ Secured anchor clients: These clients provide steady work that supports my freelance business.
✨ Created Efficient Systems: I developed processes to maximize my productivity.
✨ Focused on Client Work: I learned to be laser-focused during client assignments.
✨ Delegated Tasks: I hired help for business tasks that didn’t require my direct involvement.
✨ Planned Ahead: I ensured that I had a clear plan every time I sat down to work. (Make sure you’re working during your best time to write.)
I also acknowledge that my husband has a good job that covers benefits and allows me the flexibility to spend more time at home with our kids while they are young. I’m very grateful for that!
Before you quit your job to become a full-time freelance writer, remember that working 15 or even 30 freelance hours sounds much better than 40-plus at your current job. Reflect on the last time you truly worked for an hour at your day job. You probably didn’t stop emailing, writing, or analyzing content for 60 minutes without feeling spent afterward. That’s what I mean by working one hour as a freelancer.
This is one of the 10 challenges of being a freelancer I mentioned in this blog — you can’t bill clients for time spent daydreaming. If you don’t produce work—especially paid work for clients—you won’t get paid. (And you don’t have paid holidays or vacation days off as part of a freelance work week.)
Some online community members on sites like Quora and Reddit share that they work about five hours a day as a freelancer. And yes, most six-figure full-time freelancers I know only spend about half of their hours on billable client work.
Some weeks I do freelance work on weekends—I find Sunday mornings are quiet and I can get a lot done that day, like writing feature-length articles, blog posts and scheduling social media. I’m often more productive at that time than on a Monday morning. It’s how I’m able to carve in a few more hours into the how many hours in one week this freelancer can handle with very limited childcare.
If I’m very busy with a ton of deadlines — and most freelancers know that the workflow can be ‘feast or famine’ mode — the number of hours this freelancer works a week has been six days a week for 10 or so hours a day in the past. I try not to do that too often because I’ll get burned out and I fear that my creativity and work quality are compromised.
The Benefits of Freelancing
If you want to forego “getting ready for work in the morning,” or “dragging yourself through a long commute” and “working at a job you hate,” I can show you how to freelance as a side hustle, or how to become a full-time writer and get your business started.
Enroll in my freelance writing online courses and learn how to become a successful freelancer.
Tags: article writing advice, content marketing, freelance, freelance rates, freelance writer, freelance writing, freelance writing advice, freelance writing tips, freelancing, online course, productivity, time management, work at home, work from home
Leave a Reply