Every developer eventually meets someone who thinks code takes five minutes to write.
They message you out of nowhere. They want a full feature built in an hour. No requirements. No reference. Just urgency and pressure. And the moment you ask for fair payment they act surprised like you are asking for too much.
I learned this the hard way early in my freelancing journey. Someone reached out at night asking for a complete authentication system built in one hour. I explained that real working logic takes more time than a simple UI. We agreed on two hours instead. I delivered exactly what was promised. Then he tried to pay almost nothing for it.
That moment taught me something every developer eventually has to learn. Your time is part of your skillset. Protect it the same way you protect your code.
Why People Underestimate Developer Work
