By Kristen Fischer

I proudly finished up the manuscript for my second book this week. Of course to do it, I need a few days off. So I asked my beloved employers for some time away, and was met with resistance.

Do my clients think I’m a pushover? Is that why they wouldn’t let me take a break when I needed it?

I have to say, I think I forged their behavior. I’m always the one picking up a last-minute assignment and tending to clients’ every wish when it comes to work. Naturally when I put up some resistance, they did, too. This isn’t the Kristen I know, they must have said.

But they learned to deal. Assignments got done and client calls got scheduled. Maybe not when my customers wanted it all done, but all that matters is that it got completed.

Have you encountered this? Here are some tips to help you set boundaries with clients so it’s not a bombshell the next time you need off when something comes up.

• Don’t be Too Eager. If a request for a consultation comes in, you don’t have to do it that afternoon. Schedule it for a later time and stick to the deadline. In my case, I wasn’t pushing a deadline off, but I couldn’t do things the day clients wanted them done.
• Make Deadlines Work. Given a deadline that’s tight? Ask to have it extended. I don’t do this regularly but when a project comes in and I’m already swamped, I explain to the client that I want to take the project, but can fit it in with a day or two of extra leeway.
• Prioritize Last-Minute Projects. I’m not saying to refuse the deadlines clients give you, but if you take a lot of last-minute work, you’ll wind up turning into the last-minute freelancer. Instead, complete an assignment and ask for a little more notice in the future.

There’s nothing wrong with politely setting your boundaries. It’s imperative to do it, I think, in order to stay courteous with clients when you can’t be there at their every beck and call. I think clients will respect you more if you’re honest about your schedule. Plus if you can’t do something the day the client wants it done, they’ll probably be a little less prone to snipping at you.

Kristen Fischer is a freelance writer and author living in New Jersey. Her first book, Creatively Self-Employed: How Writers and Artists Deal with Career Ups and Downs is available at www.creativelyselfemployed.com.