More than ever before, people can work where they want, when they want. Research shows that flexible work allows people to take better care of themselves and spend more time with family and friends. Conversely, research also indicates that just the expectation of receiving work emails after hours can cause anxiety and stress -– not just in the worker, but in members of their family.

A recent AccountingWEB article by Sandra Wiley reminds us that:

“The first step toward establishing boundaries is to realize that you need to take responsibility for setting them. Often, the biggest enemy is ourselves – not the technology, clients or employers. We think we need to be available all the time because we have a mobile device or a home office, but in most cases, it’s simply not the reality – nor should it be.”

I recognize this is true — however, I take great pride and derive fulfillment and satisfaction from my job when I feel like I can be there for clients as they need me. Possibly more importantly, I love being able to take at least one stress off the shoulders of my small-business clients (who are wearing far too many hats as it is) by their just “knowing” that I’ve got their back. So even if there isn’t an emergency, they find themselves with less anxiety, because they don’t necessarily need to anticipate the possibility of having one. They can focus on the day-to-day of running a business.

It feels terrible to find out that a client had a crisis and didn’t contact me, because they “didn’t want to bother” me. I want them to bother me when I’m needed. I want to help make their problems less painful. And chances are, if they’re having an accounting “emergency”, I’ve seen it happen before, with other clients, and I may have some insight on how to deal with it as painlessly as possible. And sometimes, when they try to deal with it themselves, without assistance, it simply causes a bigger problem for all of us down the road.

So what’s the solution? What happens when too many clients have crises simultaneously? What happens when a client feels their needs are time-sensitive and you disagree? And how do you ever take a true “day off (when you know no one can reach you, or there’s no need to even think about your phone or laptop)?

I don’t know the answer — and neither does this article, but it gave me some more ideas to consider. For example, the author discusses “practicing what you preach” if you are setting boundaries with clients:

“Occasionally, I’ll open my laptop outside of my “office hours” to catch up on emails in the late evening. To respect my clients’ time and reinforce my own boundaries, I set up a rule on my email to only deliver emails during work hours. I can compose a response at 10 p.m., but it won’t hit my client’s inbox until 7 a.m. the following day. If you tell your clients you’re not available in the evenings, then you’re sending emails at 10 p.m., clients will start thinking you actually are available at that time.”

That said, I love getting work done in the wee hours, when everything is quiet and I can concentrate with few interruptions. It’s a joy to find a client responding to my emails at that time, bonding over our night-owl tendencies, and working out a solution to a problem before bedtime.

For me, the ideal situation would be not to set these boundaries — but also to make sure that folks know I can’t be there for them 24/7. When I was in the hospital and folks had an emergency, I simply had an out-of-office email response set, explaining my very real and human situation, and asking them to text in the case of a true accounting “emergency”. Everyone was great about it except one client — who I later decided to leave, since it was clear we weren’t a good fit. The experience, though challenging, brought out the best in my staff and my clients.

I recently brought on a client who said that her biggest frustration with her former CPA was poor communication and unanswered calls and emails. I responded and told her outright that there are only four of us in my firm — and three are part-time — and we just don’t have the capacity to respond to emails within 24 hours — in fact, it’s sometimes 48 hours, or a week, or three weeks! But that if she ever had an urgent need, she could always text me, and I’d let her know if it was something I could make happen on short notice… or, if she felt like she’d been waiting on a response that may have fallen through the cracks, that she could always just shoot me a text. She loved the transparency and the setting of expectations, and realized in the end that it wasn’t a quick response she wanted… it was knowing what to expect, and knowing how to respond. And we’re enjoying working together.

So although I disagreed with much of the advice the author of this article had to share — for my own time and place in life at this moment, at least — I definitely saw the value of thinking through the whys and hows of running your own business in an “always on” culture. She closes with some very wise words, which I wholeheartedly agree with:

“If you’re having dinner with your family, leave your phone in another room, turn off your ringer and let calls go to voicemail. When I go to dinner with a client, I leave my phone in my purse or even back in my hotel room so I won’t be distracted during a face-to-face conversation.

The way we honor relationships is to give them time. Protect and honor your relationships with your family, friends, clients and yourself by setting boundaries, communicating them clearly, and turning off your phone and laptop. In an increasingly ‘always on’ culture, we can’t forget the importance of unplugging.”

Source: How to Set Healthy Boundaries with Clients