Gary's Story In one of our coaching sessions, Gary told me he wanted to expand his social circle yet didn't have time because he worked from 7.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. most days. He said he'd been doing this for years and that it was 'the norm' in his profession.

As I continued to question him about why it was standard procedure to work these ridiculous hours, he realised that those colleagues who succumbed to this belief were all very unhappy individuals. Most of them were divorced just like he was and had no-one to go home to. They used work as a way to avoid loneliness.

Gary was divorced because he didn't pay attention to his relationships. He would arrive home at 7.30 p.m. most nights and his wife wouldn't bother communicating with him. She was busy looking after their two young boys and meeting their needs. At that time of night his wife was putting kids to bed.Gary would read them a story if they hadn't already fallen asleep.

He was missing out on everything that was important to him.

Unfortunately Gary didn't wake up to himself in time and got caught up with being 'Mr. Important' at work. He paid a heavy price with divorce which followed.

Bringing Up Kids In his book "Raising Boys", Stephen Biddulph categorically states: If you routinely work a fifty five or sixty hour week, including travel times, you just won't cut it as a dad.

He says: Your sons will have problems in life and it will be down to you.

The Final Word If you seriously want to make changes to your life, then take action now. If it's too hard to do by yourself, get a coach. If you've been a workaholic it can take awhile to break your old habits and to instill new behaviours. After all you've got everything to gain by working less and everything to lose by continuing way you are.

Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!"

18.Have you looked at cost estimates from others who would like to help you solve this problem or complete this project?

19.It's not a good time for me to begin a session right this minute. Would you like to briefly discuss session times and fees?

20.Are you seeking generic free information on "the topic" or to work with a "your profession here" to address your specific situation? [If I have a free resource, I'll ask for their email address and send it to them.]

21.I provide a general 3-4 sentence overview of how I would address their concern with them. Then I say that I've found that sorting of information available and subsequent application of that information is so specific to each individual that I always recommend hiring a "your profession here" for getting that one project completed.

22.Well what I can offer you on that subject is an ebook (CD, audio, etc) called ________. I’ll email you link.

23.Refer them to these "free" or "almost free" resources: ØThe library has books/tapes/audios/CD/reference librarians. ØTo an outsider, your local SBA and SCORE Offices "look" free. They're really not "free" either. Their classes "cost $" and their advice is paid for by all of us as part of our taxes. ØFind a professional who needs your services and see about some sort of in-kind exchange or barter. Again, this isn't totally free, as you do need to report it on your taxes, but in most cases, there isn't any money exchanged. ØJoin lots of ezines by experts in area you're looking to learn about, but do it quickly while they are still free. And know that 'best of best' contain ads and affiliate programs, too.

Marcia Yudkin, Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Author says this in Marketing Minute: http://www.yudkin.com/marksynd.htm "You can head off a good portion of that from paying clients by settingdown in writing what your fees cover and do not cover. While you don't want to come off as some sort of dictator with a stringent rulebook, it helps to set forth guidelines for a productive relationship. For folks who are not yet clients, feel free to copy what I do. If I can answer a question in five minutes or less, I generally just go ahead and do so. If a question is more complicated than that, I reply, 'I couldn't do justice to your question without a consultation. My consulting rates are ...' Prevent hassles by making expectations explicit!"

Remember, as a service business owner, part of what you "offer" clients and what they value from you is your knowledge and expertise. It's as much a part of your "services" as any tangible materials you produce. So make sure to treat it as such, and get compensated fairly! When you value your services, others will, too.

============== With special thanks to members of CoachU Alumni Helping Alumni List http://www.coachu.com/, Digital Eve Seattle and Freelance Seattle, www.freelance-seattle.net discussion lists for sending me their questions and observations, which contributed greatly to this article.