I’m a freelance designer who works from home. I have a strict ‘no weekend work’ policy to preserve my sanity, though in special cases and by prior arrangement I can. Most of my clients are fine with this as they’re not working then anyway, but I have found that clients who are themselves working from home tend to forget the concept of business hours. So I like to explain this at the start to avoid awkwardness.

Me: I don’t work weekends, unless I agree to under special circumstances.

Client: OK, fair enough. So how about we make a special circumstance now, where I can contact you whenever I want to get things done quickly?

Me: …