We’re freelancers. This means we spend ungodly amounts of hours struggling in front of the computer, cranking out graphic designs for clients that more often than not require more revisions that we often desire. It’s long, it’s often hard, and at times it feels completely unrewarding. However, we are doing what we love, and we get to set our own schedule, as we’re our own boss. Out of this arrangement, we’ve very recently discovered an incredible way to relieve some of our workplace stress, and improve the overall quality of our designs: We started taking the week-end off. If you aren’t doing this already, you should really consider it, and we’ve got the reasons why. Starting with:

  1. You-Time: We all need a little bit of space and time to do something we love. It’s just built into being human. This is why people have hobbies, families, vacations, or anything else that brings us the simple joy of doing. By scheduling your work to leave the week-ends free, you’re giving yourself unrestricted time to do whatever you like. One could make the argument that we, as designers, love to design, but never forget it’s still your job: Take the time to do something else, and you’ll quickly find yourself becoming a more well-rounded person.
  2. Family First: On a similar note, we’re assuming you have a family of some sort, or maybe even just friends or a partner that would like to spend more time with you. By giving yourself the week-end off, you’re free to not worry about work breaks, or even free-time. You’ve got at least 48 hours of bliss to spend with your family, potentially doing things you love together. Never forget that life is more than dollar signs, and that love is every bit as important as pixels on a screen.
  3. Life Inspiration: Lastly, if you’re like us, you may often find yourself in a bit of a design rut. Perhaps you’re constantly rehashing the same ideas, or using the same patterns and fonts in all of your projects. If you feel like you’ve hit a wall, take the time to simply observer life. Look for new patterns in nature, or in books, or even in just the adverts you see walking around. Design is literally all around us, and if you have the unrestricted time to simply watch it, we guarantee your work will improve ten-fold.