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That's some good suggestions, thanks!

Being up front with it without giving a reason has not gone good for me so far, but maybe I just need to fabricate a reason that is relatable and somewhat true. Maybe it would be ok for people when I tell them: text-only because I don't want to sink time in long meetings. Maybe its worth a shot.

Letting the client know I will reach out frequently and they can as well would also give them ease of mind and trust. That's good and I guess establishing and deepening trust is the main issue why a lot of people rely on calls/video. In my experience text is often more efficient but not preferred, but that might be because of my own problems.

It is harder to build trust when you don't see and hear the other party. I totally get that and its fair honestly, a lot depends on facial and verbal cues. So I assume someone in my shoes would have to make extra sure to build trust by being responsive and delivering reliably.

It would probably also be beneficial to have some kind of proof that the work I claim to do currently is actually done, maybe invite the other party to the git repos or something. So if they wanted to, they could check on the status any time. I guess that might reduce some uncertainty.

Async remote jobs seems to be the key words to find something that fits for me. Thanks for the hint of remote/international consulting, will give it a try to search for this.

In the best case, finding someone from the opposite of the world would force async communication, I never thought of that.

Yes, you are right, I am working on removing the problem altogether but unfortunately it takes a lot of time. Having the client record video is a good idea, thanks for the input. If you don't mind me asking: your clients send recorded video because you ask them too? Or because it is easier for them?

I didn't know the term async job but a quick search shows that it really is a thing, I am kind of fascinated.

And the idea to just bill calls is also a really good one. I will check upwork out, haven't tried it yet.