How many clients can you manage working across?

[fancyaflatwhite]

I do a 4-day a week marketing job that involves client-facing time and written work and requires that I know clients' projects very well.

I started the role after a couple of people in the team had just left, and a new client has since come on the team.

I'm working across 8 clients and finding the combination of client face time, meeting prep and debrief and writing/research time too much - along with the juggle of 2 kids my head is spinning and hurting. Mentioned to my line manager who said they agreed and would try to reduce my number of clients - instead they've just given me some freelance budget to outsource some of the work.

Is 8 clients a normal/reasonable amount?

I had six at one time as a freelancer and it was a lot, even though some of them were just a couple of hours a week.
I guess it depends on your role but I'd say 3/4 are my ideal. I like to have Fridays off though.