I’m impressed – you answer emails just once a day? That’s fantastic! I get into inbox-cleaning mode and feel compelled to answer emails a few times a day – which always takes longer than I think it will!

Heather – good tip about the DND feature. I had forgotten about that one…

:)

I’m not kidding. Craig is right, beware the burnout. You can make yourself really sick stretching yourself too thin for long periods of time.

For me, the best time to answer email is after I close for the day. What I do (now) is use Outlook to schedule my replies to go out the next day after I open. That way, my clients don’t see me working late and expect me to be available around the clock.

There are exceptions. If I’m working late on a rush job, I answer/send email at any hour.

Even though I worked out this system, I still get distracted by email. As soon as I open Outlook to send a question to a client, all those pretty ding, ding, dings grab my attention. (Which is how I ended up reading this blog post right now!)

I also turn off my computer and keep my home office door closed when I’m done for the day and on weekends. That helps me feel like I’m off work so I can enjoy my time off. Otherwise, I can hear my desk calling to me and I end up working all hours of the night and on weekends.

Hi, Geraldine!

That’s true – if I go to a Pilates class in the middle of the afternoon (yes, I do Pilates too!), I may work in the evening. That’s OK. I’d never bill a client extra for that. I was referring to clients who expect (and require) evening/weekend work. That’s a slightly different story. :)

(And as I write this reply, I find myself jumping from a chat window to email to writing this note. Argh! Must. Stop. It!)

But I would argue that it’s not always relevant to charge extra for evening/weekend working as I sometimes choose to do so because I’ve given myself time out in the working day for a girlie lunch, Pilates class etc. Different matter if you’re expected to do so!

Be prepared to let some clients go. It can feel wrong when you are just starting out, but you need to do it for your own sake. You’re unlikely to keep the client happy if you are working begrudgingly anyway. But as Heather says, if you do need to work a weekend for them, make them pay extra, and don’t make a habit of it.