I work as a kind of consultant in that I have different clients who I help with all different sorts of projects and needs. I was recently reminded of a very important lesson which applies to both business and life. A lesson that took a while to learn. It is this: you do not owe anyone your time and attention. If you have been paid to perform a job then yes you need to deliver what was agreed upon. What I frequently run into is the issue that a client feels like because they have purchased some of my time they are owed attention outside of that time.
The most recent event was this. I did some work for a small coffee farm and functioned as an assistant for the owner with a few tasks. My client decided abruptly that my service was no longer required. It was an amicable end and freed up some time for personal projects. But things were left undone.
My old client messaged me twice in the past week. He wanted information but he also wanted me to speak with and help out his new renters. Unpaid. I replied that the information had been left with him. Again he messaged wanting different information but urgently. Information that would take time to gather.
The problem is not that he wants information about his projects. The problem is that he wants the information on his own timeline during my time, no regard for the fact that my time has been filled. I will make sure that he has the information he needs but now it must be on my schedule.
Learning how to stand my ground in these situations took time. The strength to stand up for myself came with an understanding of how valuable my time is to me. Being compensated for my time is not greedy or selfish. It just means that you have respect for yourself. My old client might be annoyed at the slow response but that is not my concern. If something is important to someone they will pay for it. If it’s not important enough for them to pay then it’s not important enough for me to sacrifice my time.