Setting freelance boundaries is a skill you can build
You don't have to be born comfortable with the word "no" to set boundaries with clients
One of the biggest shifts you can make as a freelancer is realizing that protecting your business is part of your job.
Case in point…
…a few years ago I was at a Christmas party. One of the hosts owned a construction company and needed an important advocacy letter written. When he found out I’m a writer, he asked whether I could take it on.
“Sounds good,” I said. “When do you need this done?”
“Tomorrow morning,” was his response.
“Great!” I said. “I have a $1,000 overnight fee on top of my regular fee for the work.” I was only half joking.
In the end, he didn’t actually need the letter for another 10 days. He just wanted the letter by the next morning. Because why wouldn’t he?
Setting boundaries with clients is deeply uncomfortable, right up there with talking about your prices, accidentally sending a personal text to a colleague, or admitting you love reality tv in a room full of academics.
Especially when you’re new to running a business, you want to be known as a yes person so you can keep clients happy and coming back to you. You want to go the extra mile, all the time.
The thing is if you go the extra mile every time, you’re no longer going the extra mile, you’re moving the finish line. You get comfortable being accommodating, and that becomes a difficult habit to break. In the end, you build the “yes” muscle and the “this isn’t right for me” muscle withers away.
Saying yes to everything every client wants is a surefire path to burnout.
Clients will push for the most work done in the least amount of time for the lowest price possible because that’s how humans work. Without boundaries, we tend to take advantage of others because we assume the answer will continue to be yes until we finally hear no.
“She said yes to completing a 12-page report overnight five times already, she’ll have no problem saying yes a sixth time,” is the thinking.
This doesn’t make clients bad, necessarily. They have budgets to follow, competing priorities, and deadlines of their own to meet. Often they put things off until the last minute and then leave it to you to scramble. If they have staff of their own, they’re likely used to their staff saying yes to their requests, because that’s what employees do. Or they think they need something ASAP because that’s their normal method of operation.
Often, however, when it comes down to money or time, money often wins out. Clients will agree to a longer deadline to save money. Or they’ll decrease the scope of the project, because budgets are almost always the most important factor.
But you’ll never know that if you keep accommodating everything, without asking for anything in return.
It’s up to you to push back
The thing is, you won’t magically become comfortable setting boundaries or pushing back with clients. If your default is to accommodate everything, you’ll feel more comfortable saying yes and dealing with the burnout later than you will setting boundaries, even though boundaries protect you and keep your business more sustainable in the long run.
It’s something you have to practice so you can get comfortable with it, which means you have to be willing to be uncomfortable for a while. Like so many uncomfortable things in life, it requires effort and a willingness to push yourself.
The good news is setting boundaries doesn’t mean always saying no, it means figuring out what circumstances make “yes” worthwhile for you and leaving it up to the client to decide whether that works for them or not.
And, you don’t always have to spell out the boundary. Sometimes your action or inaction sends a message. For example, I don’t respond to client emails outside of Monday to Friday, 9-5. I can tell clients that policy if I want, but by only responding during regular work hours, I send the message that’s how I run my business.
Get comfortable setting boundaries: A process
Figure out what your boundaries are and what would make it worthwhile to you to be flexible.
This includes parameters around things like rushed projects, expanding the scope of a project, or clients making demands on your time (such as wanting many long, tedious and unnecessary meetings). Give the client the choice of either meeting your requirements (more money, for example) or being flexible with their needs (fewer meetings). That way, it’s up to them to set the priority and you aren’t turning down work.
In the Christmas party example, if the client had paid an overnight fee of $1,000 plus my regular rate, I would happily have gone home and written up that letter for him. $1,000 for a few hours of overnight work? That would have been worthwhile. But it wasn’t worthwhile to give up a fun night for my regular project rate. I gave him both options—pay me a much higher rate so he can get what he wants or pay me the regular amount and give me a few days to complete the project. Predictably, he chose to save money and I got to stay at the Christmas party.
Set policies for yourself about hours you’ll work, what constitutes a rush job, and when you’ll respond to clients.
Stick to them. Don’t let their behaviour push your boundaries. If you decide not to respond to emails outside of work times, then don’t unless it’s an absolute emergency (spoiler alert: in writing and editing, it’s rarely an actual, genuine emergency). They might send you an email after your work hours because that’s when they’re thinking about your project, but you don’t have to respond.
My favourite phrase to keep in mind was a sign on the door of a teacher’s room at school: Poor planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency on my part.
When clients come to you with an urgent situation, manage expectations.
Sometimes clients come to me one day (let’s say Monday) wanting something completed ASAP (which is vague as a deadline). I’ll often respond with, “I’m happy to work on this for you and I’ll have the time to focus on it this Wednesday.” Or, “I’m booked up for the rest of this week, but I can make it a priority next Monday.” Then it’s up to them to figure out if they’re okay with that. They almost always are.
Remember: It’s not your job to accommodate every request. It’s your job to build a sustainable business. Saying yes to everything isn’t conducive to sustainability.
While you might worry about losing business—and income—by saying no to clients, the truth is that unless you push back a little, clients will try to get as much out of you as they can for as little as possible. You’ll be limiting your income by saying yes to everything. Additionally, the harder you work for less money, the less time you have to find clients who respect your time and value your work.
Boundaries aren’t about controlling clients. They’re about creating a business relationship that works for both of you, rather than one built solely around the client’s needs. Good boundaries protect your time, energy, and business while giving clients clear expectations about how you work. That’s part of running a sustainable business.
Every time you set a thoughtful boundary, you’re practicing something much bigger than saying no. You’re making a deliberate business decision instead of reacting in the moment. And every one of those decisions helps you become the kind of business owner who builds a business intentionally, rather than one that’s shaped by everyone else’s expectations.
Here’s to making 2026 your best year yet,
Heidi
Always hitting at the exact time I need to read it, Heidi!