The 30-Hour Freelance Rule

I used to work 40–50 hours a week making other people’s businesses thrive. Their sites ranked, their leads grew, their brands scaled. And I was stuck. Every hour I gave to them was an hour I didn’t give to my future.

The Problem With Working Too Much for Other People

I thought that being self-employed was going to be amazing. I mean, in theory, it certainly sounds great! You get to be your own boss, make your own rules, and you get a ton of freedom, right? Wrong.

So, think about how a job might be structured. You have your managers, your skilled workers, the customer service workers, marketing teams, and maybe a cleaning staff.

Yeah, all of those people are you now. Let that sink in.

I Had No "Off" Switch

In the early stages of becoming self-employed, I came to the realization that time = money—and if I wasn't working, I wasn’t making any money.

The pressure of that fact had me trying to fill as many hours of my day with work as possible, just so I could pay the bills.

💡Keep in mind, in the beginning, you will work more as a self-employed individual than you did when you were employed.

And as I started getting more clients, I felt like I needed to dedicate all my time and energy to them out of fear that they would leave me, or worse, leave a bad review.

I used to work 40–50 hours a week, making other people’s businesses thrive. Their sites ranked, their leads grew, and their brands scaled. And I was stuck. Every hour I gave to them was an hour I didn’t give to my future.

Let me clarify, you want to work HARD for your clients and give them everything they're asking for, but you need to do it within a 30-hour work week window, and here's why.

What Happens When Clients Disappear or Pause Work

No matter how much your clients love you, or how long-term you work for them.

Clients could have setbacks, such as budget adjustments, or they might want to pause work.

Whatever the reason may be, you cannot always just assume they will continuously pay you every single month.

And if you never spent any time building your business, developing your skills, and sending out proposals for new clients, then you will struggle to get new clients and new work opportunities.

Why I Needed a Better Structure

I had made financial plans, intending for my long-term clients to consistently use my service month after month.

I ended up having a rude awakening when a client let me know they needed to pause in order to sort things out within their business. This was a very reasonable thing, but I had not anticipated or planned for needing a replacement for that lost income.

I had to learnt he hard way that you are your own client, and everything you do for others, you should also be doing for yourself.

You should:

• ✔ Send job proposals for work, even if you already have work, just so you have something else lined up.

• ✔ Work on your brand. Formulate a social media posting schedule.

• ✔ See the time you spend on your skills and brand as valuable, even during the times you might not be making as much money.

I now cap my client work at 30 hours per week—because if I don’t build my own thing, no one else will.

The Freelance Trap

This was me, don't let this be you:

• You’re “fully booked” but still financially stuck.

• Clients grow—you stagnate.

• No time to pitch, update your portfolio, or raise your rates.

• You’re always one contract away from losing your income.

Freelancers who only work on client work are building someone else’s dream and neglecting their own.

Why 30 Hours Is the Sweet Spot

At first, I felt apprehensive about only working for clients for 30 hours. That's 10 hours of pay per week that I would miss out on. It can be hard to justify that financial loss in our minds.

However, I found that my quality of life drastically improved by increasing my rates and staying within the 30-hour rule.

It will give you the space to:

• Handle client work well without burnout.

• Still have time for outreach, pitching, or networking.

• Create your own content (Substack, Pinterest, blog, etc.).

• Build digital products, courses, or scalable income streams.

• Take courses, get certified, improve your systems.

• Spend more time with friends, family, and loved ones.

The other 10–13 hours a week? That’s where you invest in you.

How I Structure My Week

Here is how I had to start structuring my work:

• Mon–Thu: 6–7 hours of client work per day.

• Friday: 2–3 hours of client wrap-up.

• Then:

• Pitching.

• Updating my tool stack.

• Writing for my site.

• Prepping lead magnets or new service offerings.

• Working on E-books.

• Working on courses.

• Writing educational articles and newsletters.

💡 Bonus tip: Treat your own business like your best client. Don’t skimp on it.

What to Say to Clients Who Push for More

Let's be very clear, most clients won't ask you for more hours. As long as they get the results they want/need within the time frame, they're delighted because it saves them money.

But, in the event a client asks for 40+ hours/week, say this:

“I don’t take on more than 30 hours of client work per week so I can stay sharp, deliver better work, and build sustainable systems that benefit both of us.”

You’ll actually get more respect, because clients value boundaries.

What to Do With That Extra 10–13 Hours: Tips for Freelancers

It might be tempting to spend those extra 10-13 hours relaxing, but if you don't build things now, then your future will never change.

Here are some things you can do with that additional time:

• Build your brand (personal content + niche authority).

• Improve your service offers.

• Launch a product (template, ebook, lead magnet).

• Learn something new (certifications, SEO tools, strategy).

• Create leverage so you don’t have to hustle forever.

Final Thoughts: The Shift From Freelancer to Solopreneur

The goal is to shift from being a freelancer to becoming a smart solopreneur. You can’t scale by squeezing in another client. You scale by investing in yourself.

If you’re booked out and still broke, it’s time to stop giving all your time away. Cap your client hours. Build your own thing. And never forget: your future deserves just as much energy as theirs.

That’s just my two cents on the matter.

Until next time,

-Jess

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