When clients overuse 'urgent'

And how to push back

Sometimes as a freelancer it can feel as though your clients use words they don’t fully know the meaning of. One example, which will come up again and again in your time as a freelancer, is the word urgent. Clients use the word urgent all the time, often implying that there will be dire consequences if a project isn’t done quickly (usually on a much shorter timeline than would normally be feasible).

Typically, urgency has three components: time sensitivity, important enough to prioritize, and a significant consequence if it is delayed. By saying a project is urgent, the client is implying that all three of those components have been met.

In my experience, clients use the word urgent when they really mean, “it would be convenient if we could have this done quickly.”

It happened to me (again) last week. A marketing agency I often write for sent me a request for two 1,500-word articles. The deadline was less than a day. That’s right, less than a day to write 3,000 reasonably engaging, polished words. So I replied to let them know I couldn’t get the project completed on that deadline and would need until the end of the week (which was still tight, but doable). “If that deadline works for you, then I’m happy to take that on. But if it’s a firm deadline for tomorrow, I won’t be able to complete the project on time.”

The marketing agency wrote back with an apology and asked if they could get at least one article a bit sooner than Friday, and they noted that the request from the client said the client needed it “urgently.”

Now, I’m always highly skeptical of urgent requests, mainly because almost nothing in writing is truly urgent. We are not performing life-saving surgery or protecting Gotham from evil villains dressesd up in ridiculous costumes.

The client approved a slight extension. And it’s a good thing, too. Because one of the “urgently needed” articles (and keep in mind, this is July we’re in) was about planning your company’s Christmas/holiday party.

Friend, I have wracked my brain but I can truly see nothing that would be urgent about a posting an article in July on planning a December Christmas party. Even giving them massive benefits of the doubt, there is no world in which that article needs an 18-hour turnaround time.

Why saying no is hard

As freelancers, we’re used to figuring out what people want and delivering it, on time. That’s a strength, but it also means our gut reaction to “I need this urgently” is often “How can I make this work?” rather than “Does this make sense for my business?”

For years, when I got urgent requests, my first instinct was to immediately open my calendar and look for ways to make sure I could take on the project, even if that meant shifting my entire schedule or working until 3:00 AM.

After all, why would they say they needed something urgently if it wasn’t urgent?

It took me years to realize that ‘urgent’ is often just someone’s way of making their poor planning my issue to solve. And it took me a while to get comfortable acknowledging that their timelines didn’t always work for me. Sometimes a lady wants to get her 8 hours of shut-eye and not have to justify it.

If you’re someone who hates disappointing people or worries about coming across as difficult, I hear you. But advocating for reasonable timelines is about you being intentional when it comes to your business and not subject to someone else’s whims.

If you’re constantly responding to urgency, then you’re always at the mercy of other people’s whims.

The cost of saying yes to fake urgency

Sure, you might get the project finished on time. And maybe they come back to you next time. But there are still costs to saying yes to these scenarios with zero pushback.

You train clients to expect the impossible. If you keep saying yes to these scenarios, the client has no reason to ever plan ahead or give you more time. They’ll come to expect that you’ll do everything for them last minute. That might work out well in the short term, but over the longer term and over multiple clients, it’s rarely sustainable.

It’s hard to do high quality work on a short turnaround. I know that if I had done a poor job on those articles, the client wouldn’t have said, “It’s our fault for not giving her enough time.” They would have blamed me for not doing a good enough job.

You’re giving up your personal time, sleep, or other projects for someone else’s poor planning. You’re teaching yourself that their messes are yours to fix, and you’re teaching them that you’ll clean up their messes. You’re also telling yourself that your time isn’t as important as theirs.

You never learn how to push back. Pushing back (even gently) is a bit like a muscle you need to train. It’s uncomfortable at first, but it won’t magically become comfortable unless you start doing it. Every time you say yes to unreasonable deadlines without pushing back, you’re reinforcing the habit of not advocating for yourself. Every time you do push back, you get a little more comfortable doing it.

Advocate for yourself

Your clients won’t advocate for you. They aren’t worried about your mental health, your work-life balance, or your need for sleep. When it comes to deadlines, common sense often flies out the window. (How many rational people would ever claim an article about Christmas parties is urgent in July?)

You can tell yourself these urgent requests are a one-time thing, but they won’t be. They will happen again and again over the course of your career (ask me how I know).

That’s why it’s important to be willing to push back. You don’t have to be rude, argumentative, or aggressive. You just have to be clear, concise, and firm. I don’t apologize or overexplain. I simply state the terms I’m willing to move forward with if I’m willing to move forward. Otherwise, I pass on the project.

(In this specific case, I had plans that night I wasn’t willing to miss, so I didn’t offer to take the project on at a higher rate. On another occasion, I might have decided it was worth it to do the work but charge a premium for the rush.)

Assess the urgency

When someone comes to me with something they claim to need urgently, I take a deep breath first. Reading ‘ASAP’ often gets my pulse going and feeds my people-pleasing instincts. So I pause, breathe, and ask myself some questions:

1. What happens if this deadline shifts by 24/48 hours. If the answer is “nothing catastrophic” it’s not urgent. After decades of freelancing, there has never been a catastrophic result to a slightly later deadline. I’m sure it could happen in some universe, but it hasn’t been my experience.

2. When did the client know they needed this or when should they reasonably have been expected to know? We all know when Christmas is, and they know their article pipeline. So if they needed an article in July about Christmas, they really should have requested it in June. If they’ve sat on it for months, it’s not urgent.

3. Is there a hard external deadline? For example, is this going to a print shop? Are there regulatory deadlines they need to meet? Genuine urgency usually has a concrete deadline.

4. Am I being asked to rush so someone else can take their time? I’m not giving up my sanity so your team can take five weeks to approve an article, Linda.

Asking those questions doesn’t change whether I’ll push for a later deadline or charge a rush fee. Urgent or not, I’m charging that fee. But it helps me to remember that the client likely doesn’t have a truly urgent scenario, which makes it easier for me to advocate for myself.

Scripts I use in these scenarios

The response I use in these scenarios depends on the context.

1. I would take the work on if the deadline were moved

“Thanks for thinking of me for this project. Unfortunately, I’m booked up for the next [X days/X weeks] and can’t meet your deadline. I would be able to take this on if the deadline can be moved to [give reasonable date]. If that deadline doesn’t work for you, I understand.”

2. I’ll do it, but I’m charging a rush fee

“Thanks for thinking of me for this project. Because your deadline is so tight, I do charge a rush fee [state rush fee or percentage]. If you can move the deadline to [state more reasonable deadline] then there would be no rush fee charged. Let me know how you’d like to proceed.”

3. Where they haven’t given enough information to make a decision

“Thanks for thinking of me for this project. Before I can commit, I need a bit more information. [List questions]”

4. Where I’m not going to take this on

“Thanks for thinking of me. Unfortunately, I’m booked up for the next [X days/X weeks] and won’t be able to make your deadline. Please feel free to reach out in the future if you need my services.”

Pushing back by stating your terms doesn’t make you difficult, unprofessional, or aggressive. You’re a business owner, and you have to be willing to set boundaries that protect your time, quality of work, and sanity. The first time you do it might feel uncomfortable, but the tenth time will feel a little easier. Eventually, it becomes a normal part of how you run your business.

When faced with these situations, pause, think strategically, and make an intentional decision rather than simply reacting to what’s immediately in front of you.

And remember, as always, poor planning on their part doesn’t constitute an emergency on yours.

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Heidi