If you have worries about offending people by reinforcing your hours (especially if you start ignoring them when they call or even arrive at your door), then I would recommend a look at Interpersonal Skills SE, and ask how to do that without losing your friends. Consider: ignoring someone knocking on the door might be the right move, but things could get sticky if they are walking away and happen to see you through a window, just ignoring them.

Sounds like you work from home? That in itself might be a bigger issue than people not understanding that "writing" isn't a full time job.

You're going to have issues until you're a "published author." Until then, people will assume it's just a hobby. Places with free wi-fi and limited cell coverage (like the basement of a library) are godsends. Sometimes I get lonely and sit at a coffee shop with my laptop with all the other lonely people who don't want to be bothered.

"I'm at work right now, so meetings are $50/hr. What do you need?"

@JPhi1618 Yes, I work from home. But I don't find it an issue. I used to work from home in my previous career as an I.T. engineer and it was a very demanding job with no time for procrastination, so that's made me very effective working from home. Uninterrupted, I'm really productive. I wrote the first draft of my current novel in 10 weeks!

@NicHartley Thanks, I think I'm going to have to get very strong about this and very rigid. Any wavering sends the wrong message.

@StuW You know, in the past, I've wondered about that so many times, whether people would respect my deadlines if they were set by a publisher instead of self-imposed. But I just signed with a huge UK agency, who've set a deadline for this edit for end Feb (this is serious stuff for me - I can't let them down), and I've told everyone that I'm working to this crazy tight deadline, set by the agent, yet that hasn't made any difference. If it gets picked up, who knows, maybe that will do the trick! I hope so!

@MooingDuck Genius! Utter genius! LOL.

@GGx What I was getting at is that other people don’t respect your home office. If you had a regular office I doubt anyone would see your job any different than other jobs. Since you work at home and that’s foreign to many people, they feel more free to interrupt you.

@JPhi1618 Ahh, I see. Yes, you're right, for most writers it's much better to find an office. I did that for about 6 months. But I ended up being less productive for personal reasons of my own. I lost time travelling. If I left my dogs at home, I had to come back during the day to tend to them as they can't be left for too long. And if I took them with me, I got constant interruptions from the people around who wanted to pet them (they're rare breeds here and look like teddy bears). In the end, working from home proved slightly more productive, even with the issues I'm having with boundaries.

Nobody is forcing you to answer the phone and go to the door if someone comes unannounced. My phone is often silent during my work-period, sometimes even in airplane mode to avoid distractions.

@k0pernikus you're right! Why do I feel like I have to answer? My phone is off now, as is my email, FB, Whatsapp and any other means of communication. And I've already edited 3,000 words this morning!

@GGx Learned behavior. You have to make a conscious effort to un-learn it and deal with the backlash. Esp. if other people are used to getting their way. Yet it's your responsibility to set boundaries and enforce them. My father to this day does not comprehend why I won't answer his calls right away. I always call him back on my time somewhen in the evening or even days later. I also made it clear that's the way I communicate. Or I won't, at all. Don't feel bad about it. You don't owe anyone anything and how you spent your time is your prerogative.

@k0pernikus Yes, I have to unlearn 46 years of feeling beholden. It won't be easy, but it must be done. Parents are definitely the most challenging, a retired mother particularly, who is a master at the art of guilt-tripping. But this post has given me a lot of strength. Right now, there is nothing more important to me than this project, and I'll never forgive myself if I don't manage my time better over the next month. Thx for posting, all these comments have really helped me.

@GGx In regards of getting guilt-tripped by parents, I once literally told my mother: "I perceive your request as emotional blackmail. Please don't do that. I am thankful for what you done, and I am open for your wishes. Yet please do understand and accept the fact that I might say 'no' to some them. If that continues to be a problem, I won't even be listening to them anymore." She was doing a lot of "If you loved me you would do X for me. I did Y for you, why can't you do X." in the past and was disappointed when I didn't do X, even though I never committed to it. It got better.

@k0pernikus I'm literally laughing out loud. That's brilliant. I got the waterworks yesterday! And, 'I just can't cope with this!' I've since been sent to Coventry for being annoyed about a midday call after repeated requests to only do that if it's a true emergency. Heinzi is right, being available for emergencies is highly overrated! Nice to know I'm not alone!

I can't find it now, but someone once asked the exact same thing about working from home as a programmer. Hence I concur with @JPhi1618, it's more likely because you're working from home than because you're a writer.

@GGx I managed to find it after a little bit of digging. Here it is: workplace.stackexchange.com/q/34492/16400 (I thought it was in IPS because the subject matter was about convincing family members, but after a bit of sideways thinking I realised it was actually over on workplace.)