Freelance Corner: Setting Boundaries
I took 4 days off. Yes, believe it or not, I took exactly four (4!!) full days off work. Granted, two of those days were Saturday and Sunday. But the main point remains; I took four days off in a row. And yes, they were over the Easter weekend and to many this might not seem like a big idea or anything to be commented on. But let me tell you this: as a self-employed person, taking time out is a big deal. So, I want to use this post to talk about boundaries.
You have to set your boundaries, no one else will
This is something that my freelance community has spoken about recently, and Ellen Forster of Content by the Sea wrote about it in one of her January newsletters. Since then, it's been going around and around in my head. I'm lucky; I've got great clients who don't expect me to answer their emails late at night or be perpetually available for calls/texts. But also, this is because I quite pointedly and purposefully layout my boundaries at the beginning of every project.
At the start of each project I do, I have a conversation with my client and ask them what they use to communicate. I follow that up by saying I do not, and will not, consent to using WhatsApp for work purposes. If your comment truly is "urgent" (it's probably not, I'm a copywriter), then you can send me a good old-fashioned text message or ring me. This applies to being late to a meeting: please do let me know.
But the fact remains that it's up to me to set these boundaries. Your client (depending on who they are, obviously) may not think boundaries need to be set. In my mind, setting boundaries early on makes it easier to nip things in the bud if they do come up. I'm pretty dead set on this boundary thing because I work a lot with friends, and I refuse to bring work-chat to WhatsApp and relegate it to Slack.
Breaks are important
This is crucial. This is a point a lot of people, particularly self-employed people, forget. Breaks are important. Incredibly important. Without breaks, our brains cannot re-energise and focus on the tasks at hand. I'm talking about little and large breaks. They all matter for different reasons and each serves a different purpose but all of them are incredibly necessary for, you guessed it, boundaries.
A little 5-minute break is great if you're stuck on something that you'd like to finish soon. It's enough time to stretch the legs, mindlessly go on social media, drink some water and recharge. Longer breaks for lunch/coffee/snack are also wonderful. I often take them if I've just come off a lengthy discovery call with clients, too, to unwind. I really enjoy taking the time during the day to switch off and come back for the afternoon with new vigour. This also applies, perhaps even more so, to taking a few days off here and there.
Let me just make this clear: weekends don't count. People who aren't self-employed tend not to work over the weekends. Of course, this differs across industries, but generally, it's agreed ahead of time and you know what days you are and are not working or expected to work. As self-employed people, we often absolutely love what we do and the chance is there to work all the time. That is also probably partly because we don't get paid annual leave, but not only do we have a right to breaks, we need them.
Boundaries create healthier relationships
This is my final point and it's one that applies both to professional and personal relationships: boundaries are healthy and helpful. Without boundaries, problems arise and spiral and become awkward to face. Boundaries create and maintain respect for everyone involved; it's a mutual cycle of respect. Further to this, as a service provider, your clients will value your time and expertise more if you (reasonably) limit your availability.
When you pay for a service, you don't expect the provider of that service to be at your beck and call. Well, you might, but that comes at a price. The problem with being constantly available is that you also inadvertently add to your workload. You put pressure on yourself to reply to the emails as soon as they come in because that's what you've led your client to expect. And thus begins another perpetual cycle.
I like to treat my clients the way I would like to be treated: with respect for their time and space. I won't send an email late at night; I might type it but I'll "schedule send" (thank you Gmail) for the morning. I'll try to keep meetings brief, unless, of course, they're brainstorms or discoveries. I won't hound them for answers to emails, but I will follow up. It's about finding a balance and creating the boundaries that work for you.
As ever, this blog post came from an experience I had that I feel many people might also have or struggle with, particularly in the early stages of their freelance career. So if you like to see the bits and pieces I write, follow me on Twitter or sign up to my fortnightly newsletter.