Take Care of Yourself

As crazy as it sounds, you can work too much. You need to learn your limits and when to say no to yourself and clients. Establish habits that keep you working during your productive times and try to limit your work schedule to that. Instead of endlessly browsing Imgur or getting sucked into the black hole of Youtube, take some time to clean up your area around you, make healthy food, get some exercise, or just go play video games. If you work too hard, you'll burn yourself out, and it's very hard to maintain a creative career when you're mentally burnt out. It hinders inspiration and creativity, and you'll find yourself in a hole of spinning your wheels needlessly without going anywhere. If a client is pushing you to meet tight deadlines, make sure you are being compensated for that- there is such a thing as rush fees. When you become more comfortable with how long projects take you at a healthy pace, you'll know when something is rushed and needs to have a higher price point.

Context: So a little bit ago, I went full time freelance. It's been a ride full of lessons learned. On my instagram, I asked people for their diehard rules of the trade, and I compiled a list that should help people run their businesses a little more smoothly. If you have some design rules you live by, feel free to comment or message me on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/darumacreative/

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