DVRs were the first devices to truly allow us to time shift TV – meaning we could watch a show when we want and when was best for our schedule, rather than when the broadcaster showed it. Apps like Instapaper changed the way we could consume news in a similar time shift. Instead of reading an entire article right when we happened upon it, we could save it to read later.
The new freelance economy combined with teams spread across the world is introducing the time shifting of work. When I get my work done matters much less if you are in a time zone 12 hours behind. That opens up flexibility. Companies hiring freelancers also have to work around their schedules, at least a bit, because freelancers generally have to have more than one client and the companies hiring them know that.
Those changes lead to the question “when does work need to be done.” Does it have to be between 9 and 5? Absolutely not. Hopefully at some point in the near future companies will have to charge a premium to get work done during set hours as more people realize that things don’t have to be that way.