That being said, I do believe that whenever my phone rings, it’s a chance for me to be a hero for my clients. I’m here to solve their problems BUT I don’t ever want them to overstep their bounds. I work routine hours, Monday through Friday, but sometimes a client will call at 4:55 asking for something immediately. Depending on the client and the relationship I have with them, I might help them out. But I do it selectively. And I won’t ever work ridiculous hours because of my client’s own poor time-management.

Once a client takes advantage, I “fire” them gently, by being unavailable for future assignments. Life’s too short and there are too many other good clients out there.

Lillie, your boundaries are no calls before you wake up. 🙂 Totally understandable. I have the same ones. Because my clients tend to be more corporate, I accommodate their schedules more than you would have to. But if there’s a call at 7 pm on a Wednesday, forget it. The computer’s off, the brain’s off, and I’m relaxing. 🙂

My clients know I’m usually not available for phone calls until late afternoon. I do adjust my schedule occasionally to be available for client meetings during normal business hours.

But I don’t think I have to work 9-5 just because that’s the normal business day for most people.

But there’s always that one person who’ll appear out of nowhere on a Friday evening expecting work to be done by Sunday morning, and while I took that kind of work early on, I don’t need to any more.

I’ve worked in the rural parts of Asia and Africa, where there was no access to Internet. In one specific incident, I told the editor I would be unavailable for a week because I was going to a remote part of India that is not well-connected, and yet she continued writing to me over that period and dropped me after I didn’t respond.

Some people can be quite clueless. And you’re always better off without these clueless clients.

Yes, we do have to make exceptions, but too often we allow our working lives to intersect with our personal lives to the point where the lines disappear altogether. I’ve seen it, I’ve done it a few times, and I’m avoiding it at all costs!

I totally agree–boundaries are necessary.

I rarely have clients call me in the evenings or on weekends. It’s typically sources who want to connect then. But I don’t do interviews then unless there’s a crazy reason I have to.

For instance, if somebody is the perfect–and only–source I have, I’ll do an unusual interview time (very rare!). And I once interviewed a lawyer in Hong Kong; with the 13-hour time difference, the best we could come up with was a 9 p.m. call for me.

If I ever run into a client who wants all my time at unreasonable hours, I’ll have to make some difficult decisions. But right now, my feeling is that I’m a freelancer for a reason. I get to choose my own hours. If I can’t do that, why not work in-house and get a steadier salary and health benefits?!

I take days off whenever I want or need them, depending upon deadlines. I am not available to corporate clients outside of regular business hours; I’m a little more flexible with arts clients, because that’s the business.

I have boundaries — the mornings are for my work, afternoons for client work, unless I’ve gotten behind in something or there’s a big project with a nice big rush fee attached.

Unless the client is paying me a HUGE amount of money for round-the-clock attention, they don’t get it. Actually, I’ve turned down quite a few of those jobs, because freelancing means making my own schedule, not being on someone else’s beyond respecting a deadline.

I’m a lot less amenable than a lot of freelancers, but it hasn’t hurt my business.