I don’t know about you, but I always find it interesting to see how business owners structure their day. Not everything will work for me and my business, but there are always gems to be found! A lot of the CEO daily routines I see are those of a business owner who already has a team in place. Many don’t have to juggle order fulfilment on top of growing their business. So, I was inspired to share my CEO daily routine as a service-based business owner. Dangerous Words Copywriting is still really small. I do the majority of the copywriting and content creation. I outsource a few things, but I am still the one turning the wheels and keeping my business in motion.
Let’s take a look at what a typical day looks like for me.
7 am Wake Up
I am NOT a morning person in the slightest. I wake up around 7 am each morning, but I wouldn’t say I’m alive until at least an hour or two later! In the interest of being awake when I sit down at my laptop, I have quite a long morning routine. It all starts with a long walk to try and get my 10k steps in before I start work. It serves the dual purpose of ensuring I get some exercise each day and waking me up.
Here I have to admit that I don’t always wake up at 7 am, especially not in winter. You’ll see as you keep reading that my daily routine is quite flexible. I used to really beat myself up if I didn’t spring out of bed at 7 am, ready for the day. Now, I am learning to listen to my body more. If I sleep in until 8 or later, I was obviously tired and needed some extra sleep.
10 am Business Work
After my walk and a slow breakfast, I am ready to start work at 10 am. When I am ready to work, the first thing I do is 2 hours of “business work.” I separate work into 2 categories:
- Business work – Doing things to develop my business
- Client work – Copywriting for my clients
A lot of service-based business owners do a CEO day where they get all their business work done, but I find doing 2 hours of business work each day works best for me. My business work could be any number of things, like:
- Creating content
- Seeking out guest posting or collab opportunities
- Creating business assets
- Planning and reviewing business strategies
- Bookkeeping
- Rewriting my business copy
- Marketing
- Prospecting
- Researching new ideas
I have a list of business tasks I want to complete for the week and I choose what I want to work on each day. This allows me to work on creative work when I feel creative and do more admin tasks when I’m feeling tired or uninspired. I suffer from chronic pain, so sometimes the slower pace of admin work is necessary so I can get my pain under control and have a productive afternoon.
Midday Client Work
At midday, I’ll take a short break, sneak in a final cup of tea before I switch to decaf and start looking at client work. I take small breaks as needed throughout the day, but it’s nice to give your brain time to switch between business mode and client mode.
My client work generally starts with checking my emails. I tend to set my work the night before, but there are always quick questions to answer, and onboarding calls to schedule before I start work. This is a small client work slot; I generally take lunch around 1.30 or 2 pm. I tend to save this slot for revisions, edits, research, or smaller jobs so that I can spend my afternoon working solidly on bigger projects.
1.30 pm Lunch
I generally take my lunch break around 1.30 pm for about an hour. This can vary depending on my workload and needs.
My lunch breaks are pretty relaxed and vary depending on my mood. Some days I’ll exercise, some days I’ll read, other days I’ll watch something on YouTube.
2.30 pm Client Work
This is my big chunk of client work, and I like to work on just one project so I can do some deep work during the afternoon. So, if I am working on website copy for a client, I spend the whole afternoon working on 1 website. If I am creating blog posts for a client, I will spend all afternoon working on blog posts for one client. This allows my brain to stay in the zone rather than losing focus as I switch from task to task and client to client.
I tend to work with my focus during the afternoon slot. If I get into a flow state, I will work solidly for a few hours and take a good break when my brain and body need it. If I’m struggling with focus, I will use the Pomodoro method. I don’t find 25 minutes long enough, so I tend to do 45 mins work with a 10 minute break.
6 pm Finish
I aim to finish work at 6 pm every day, but realistically, I finish anywhere between 6 and 8 pm. 8 pm is the latest I will work and is only for emergencies and let’s be honest, there are no copywriting emergencies. Most days, I start finishing up at 6 pm. I will do a final check of my emails and write my to do list for the next day.
Once I’ve switched off for the day, I do not check my emails or respond to emails from current or prospective clients. I think my clients are great and enjoy working with them, but I do not owe them 24/7 availability. It is beneficial to my clients that I am well-rested and that I recharge my creative batteries by having plenty of time for leisure.
Flexibility Is Key In My CEO Daily Routine
It’s taken me a lot of work to find a daily schedule that works for me. When I first started my business, I scheduled my time in 15-minute increments. That works for some people, but it just made me feel anxious and like I was constantly falling behind. This schedule works so well for me because there is a framework, but it allows for a lot of flexibility.
I mentioned earlier that I suffer from chronic pain, and it has been a whole journey to come to terms with my limitations and work out what I need. The flexibility in my routine allows me to slow down on days where I need it and allow my body to rest. By taking it slow, I can get my pain back to a manageable level within a few hours and get my day back on track.
One of the biggest things I discovered while coming to terms with my chronic pain is that sometimes your best will look different than it usually does; that doesn’t mean you aren’t trying your best. I think that this applies to everyone, not just people with chronic conditions or disabilities. Forgiving yourself and working with your limits means that you can still get things done even on an off day. Even if you need to take a whole day off to rest and recover, doing so will boost your productivity. I’m a huge believer that you can only be productive if you take care of yourself.
Is This a Productive CEO Daily Routine?
I wouldn’t say I am at peak productivity with this CEO daily routine, but I also don’t believe anyone can be at their peak productivity every day of the week. This routine is sustainable and allows me to achieve everything I want to in a day. If I start struggling to fit everything in, I may review my daily routine or outsource tasks.