Is it common for self-employed people to struggle to turn work down

[ClawsandEffect]

I'm self employed and work too much. I know this is a privileged position to be in, but my workaholic tenancies mean I find it really hard to turn work down.

I think a bit of it is the uncertainty of having enough work to support myself, meaning I partially see every request as one I can't afford to miss.

Is this common among the self-employed?

I think it's part and parcel of being self employed. You never know that the work will still be there so the tendency is to take as much as you can. I used to take as much as I could fit into five days, but I became strict at keeping one full day and two half days free for me.

I do and I don’t even need to work for the money these days! A hobby that I happen to be paid for……and I still find it hard to disappoint people by saying no

Yes it's very common. In the end I worked out that I needed 30 hours work a week but that I'd add 10% contingency on to that for an emergency fund and I just stuck to that.

the only time I went over was if an existing client needed more hours from me, then I'd always oblige but I do end of life care anyway so in the end, I always lost my client and had one eye on the next one if that makes sense. At least I knew I was always going to lose my client in the end.