Comments on: Office Hours

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:17:00 +0000

Nikki, she was WAY out of line to expect you to be available at that hour! And you lost nothing when she stopped contacting you.

Sue, that's a great idea. I don't have a dedicated office number, so I screen every call. A cell dedicated to just work would be a plus.

Sal, when I temped a few times, I found the same thing - I got a lot accomplished at break time and lunch time.

By: Nikki

Nikki — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:31:00 +0000

I started keeping office hours after a new client thought she could reach me anytime, including one in the morning when I discovered she tried IMing me at that hour. After I turned down her second rush job citing that I needed to keep my hours reasonable for my family and it wasn't fair to push my other clients' projects aside a second time, I never heard from her.

The phone doesn't bother me. I turn it off when I'm working as only friends and family can reach me on the home number and none of my clients have ever needed to call me. Today I made time to talk to a friend on the phone (I called her ;-) ) and it was a great interruption to my day and well needed.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:38:00 +0000

Yes, I do keep office hours, in the sense that these are the times I’m available to clients. I give out a cell phone number as my official business number, and that cell phone turns on at 10 am and goes off at 5:30. In three years I’ve lost out on one assignment because of it. A west coast guy called here around 8 pm my time to fill assignments. When I returned the call the next day, he had found all the writers he needed. But you know, while I will work at odd hours or do an occasional “off hour” interview, I have no problems setting boundaries. I need to, for my sanity.

By: Sal

Sal — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:08:00 +0000

I don’t know if I apply to this one, since I work in an office, but yes I do have office hours. The funny thing is that I get most of my writing done while I am at lunch, or taking a break.

“solving the world’s ills over caffiene.” I think that was brilliant. Never thought of it that way, but I do the same thing, usually it is my own issues and I converse freely with myself. Gosh, only way I can have a saine conversation around this place…sheesh! 🙂

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:57:00 +0000

I saw your comment yesterday after I’d posted this, Devon. What a coincidence!

I have to agree – the work you do will define the way you handle it. For me, it’s mostly corporate stuff, so I’m there when they are. But I LOVE being able to take the day off if I need to or want to. I love stopping for a few hours in the afternoon to sit on the swing and enjoy the garden. It’s the best part of the job. :))

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:26:00 +0000

I don't keep office hours. To me, it negates the point of freelancing.

As I mentioned earlier, dealing with business, 9-5y type clients, yes, I deal with them during regular business hours, because that's what they comprehend, and if they want me to work outside of those hours, it costs X.

However, a lot of my work is fiction or articles that require me to be onsite or at events or travelling or at rehearsals, which are entirely different rules.

Theatre runs usually Tues- Sun with Mondays off. Weekend rehearsals (unless you're in two shows that day) often happen. Script doctoring usually happens over the weekend, because they need it ready to shoot on Monday morning.

Fiction happens when it happens. Sports events are often nights and weekends. The stories are usually filed that night. If I'm at the races all day until 6 PM, I have to sit up, write and polish the article and send it off that night. It might be midnight; I might have been at the barn since 5 that morning; that's the gig.

I loathe the telephone. The phone is OFF when I'm writing. I will check for messages twice a day, but anyone who does business regularly with me knows that I spend as little time as possible on the phone.

The hours you keep depend, I think, on the area of writing you do. I don't believe in a "niche" for myself; I like the freedom, which means I make up every day and every week as necessary.

If I was going to keep regular hours, then I might as well be in a cubicle somewhere. To me, the point of FREElancing is FREEdom.

But business/corporate clients are my minority, not my majority. I do more fiction and articles.