Do you work weekends?

It’s the weekend…are you working? Do you want to be working?

When you’re an independent consultant, time should be your own. You can determine when you want to work — and if.

But I know many consultants who work weekends because their clients call them with rush jobs. When the phone rings at 4 pm on a Friday, it can be tempting to say "Yes", if the money is good enough.

I’m not immune to this. I’ve taken on my share of weekend jobs. But, when I do, I charge rush fees, rather than my usual consulting rate. Sometimes that means triple my normal rate or more.

And I don’t accept every weekend job that comes along. I want it to be clear to people that I have boundaries. I do not want to be the person they call every Friday with a weekend job.

If you’re getting a lot of requests for weekend work, start pushing back. Once people think you work weekends, they’ll expect you to work weekends. And they may even want you to work for a regular rate.

It’s one thing to work a weekend because you’ve weighed up the costs and benefits. It’s another thing to be stuck working weekends because people see you as the "go to guy" for last minute weekend jobs.

Do you work weekends?