Nobody assigns your hours, so nobody can see them either
Freelance work has the opposite problem to shift work and the same consequence. There is no rota, so there is nothing for anyone to look at — and because you are often at home, everyone assumes you are free.
The schedules this actually has to cope with
Freeish is built around these, not around a nine-to-five with the occasional exception.
Project blocks
Weeks that are full and weeks that are not, decided by what is booked.
Client hours
Working to somebody else’s time zone or deadline rather than your own.
Deadline weeks
Weeks that look identical to every other week and are not.
Deliberately protected time
The days you keep clear, which only stay clear if they are visible.
What it sounds like at home
- “Working from home is read as being available.”
- “Deadline weeks look like ordinary weeks to everyone else.”
- “I protect a day off and it gets filled by other people’s plans.”
- “Nobody can tell when I am working because nobody assigned it.”
- “My partner and I never manage to plan anything.”
Where Freeish fits
Working blocks are visible, so at home stops meaning available.
Deadline weeks can be blocked out, which is the only way anyone knows.
Protected days show as protected, which is what makes them survive.
What you are working on stays private; when you are working is what gets shared.
One week, start to finish
Iris, freelance designer
- Iris blocks out the working hours she actually intends to keep.
- Her partner stops assuming a day at home is a day free.
- A deadline week goes in as a block and nothing gets planned into it.
- A protected Friday stays protected because it is visible.
- Client names stay private — only the times are shared.
Questions freelancers and self-employed ask
Is this for shift workers only?
Can I hide what I am working on?
Does it track hours or invoicing?
Stop being the schedule. Start sharing it.
Now on iPhone — Android coming soon. Free to start. Import a photo of your next schedule and see who stops asking.