Article made a good point: $20K per year is a good client, but a low paying job. I have thankfully just had a few customers who expected me to always be available, and to turn things around on very short notice, all the time.
The issue is fairness to all customers and except for emergencies allocate large blocks of time, in advance, to each customer and don't interrupt thinking time for one customer by talking to another. In other words, if you are like me and like to work in intense 1 to 2 hour sprints without interruptions, customers who hire me should understand that it might take a few hours to get back to them for non-emergencies.
One sign of a good customer: when they know they are going to have a crunch and ask if they can pay extra for getting "always on" service for a while.
The issue is fairness to all customers and except for emergencies allocate large blocks of time, in advance, to each customer and don't interrupt thinking time for one customer by talking to another. In other words, if you are like me and like to work in intense 1 to 2 hour sprints without interruptions, customers who hire me should understand that it might take a few hours to get back to them for non-emergencies.
One sign of a good customer: when they know they are going to have a crunch and ask if they can pay extra for getting "always on" service for a while.