A sawbench is short. That is the point. A board that hangs off both ends will tip. Side offers do the same when they ask for more hours than the leftover block, or when they hide the hours in “just this once” weekday nights.
Leave these on the floor
- Work that needs a reply during the day job, every day.
- A “trial” with no written end and no rate after costs.
- Learning sold as a gate before the first paid hour, with no cap.
- Anything that only pays if every evening is used.
None of these are moral failures. They are the wrong length for a leftover trestle. They belong to a different decision: cut the day job, or decline. Pretending they are Saturday offcuts is how the week warps.
A short test
Can the hours sit on the written block? Does the rate stay after fees and unpaid setup? Can the week be marked in four lines? If any answer is no, the board does not belong on this bench. Sawbench makes no earnings promises; the test is about fit, not about a target income.
Return to leftover hours on the sawbench or a weekly kerf of records.