The myth about flexibility: what you need to understand about freelancers & their schedule

As most of you already know, we live in a society that has just as many 9-to-5 workers as independent entrepreneurs and freelancers. So there are far too many misconceptions out there about what working with an independent freelancer is like.

I first realized this when I went to a local cafe with a friend I’ve been super close with since high school, and her fiancee. I don’t quite remember how this came up but one of them asked:

“You basically work whenever you want…right?”

And I saw this as an excellent opportunity to have an open conversation about what my professional life is like

Before that, I had two bad experiences under my belt. And these bad experiences had one thing in common.

It was 100% about tension triggered by clients who expected me to be available 24/7. This led to a lot of angry phone calls early in the morning, late at night, and on weekends when I didn’t instantly answer phone calls.

But I don’t think it was a specific person’s fault. I was a lot less experienced at running a business at the time, and I had not yet learned how important it is…