I actually delayed starting my business for a couple of years because of fear of overworking, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

I was designing sites (among other things) for a small corporation, getting paid hourly. A couple of years of this had me convinced that my skill and experience were good enough to try doing my own thing, which I had always wanted to do on some level.

Still though, whenever I started thinking about how a one man web design business would actually work, it seemed rather impossible that I could do it without taking a pay cut, since it always took me forever to get anything to the point of completion. At least it seemed that way, since I was always able to see something that could be just a little bit better in any particular design if I looked at it enough times.

Doing things this way while charging by the project? I’d starve! It took a long time, and finally a conscious effort, but I’ve managed to deprogram myself from this practice of looking at a project with, “What can be better?” at the front of my mind. It is now (mostly) replaced with, “What still needs to be done before this meets the requirements in my notes?”

When the answer is nothing, I either move to another project or get away from my desk for a couple of hours, and return to review the project later. With a fresh eye on the project, I double-check that it meets the specs that I’m charging for, and if it does, I’m done.

I agree with what Tracey said. It works well for me, especially if I set another somewhat urgent chore to be done right after my own deadline. Means I have to finish it by then, I’ve got no more time left.

In the past, I have kept a log of extras that I *could* add into a product, and then (one the project has ended) offer them to the client. Often, they choose to take some, but equally as often as not. At least this way I was paid for the work that was valuable.

It is also true (again, from experience) that some of the bells and whistles are added by freelancers because they are easier and fit into a comfort zone at the expense of more difficult deliverables that were in the original scope. This is lunacy, but a trap that is easily laid by ourselves.

I think that overworking shows us more about our personality than about work we do. What does it mean – being perfectionist? Isn’t it just a problem with separation (to leave our creation)? On the other hand to deal with self-esteem?
I think that each time we feel tendency toward overwork we should ask ourselves similar questions.