Im Often Told That I’m A Workaholic

Workaholic is just another word for “designer/developer”. Something this industry strangely celebrates and embraces till we all reach our breaking point.

Being a workaholic, something I know I am guilty of, I started out with a plan, refusing to work weekends, late hours and miss out on quality time with my wife and my incredibly cute dog.

Turns out, I’m a plan-breaker.

Within one week of going “freelance”, I found myself working from 9am to 10pm in some cases, working when the client demanded, feeling guilty because I made a coffee and it lasted 10 minutes so, in my mind this meant I had to work 30mins more because it ruined “my flow”.

It took me to my breaking point, I was ready to quit it all and go back to being an employee with a structure I was use to, until I spoke to my other (a lot) more experienced friends who are also freelancers, almost instantly I sacked the client, realising I would get better ones, which I did, and realised work is nothing compared to personal happiness (and married life happiness).

What I realised is pretty simple, I’m just a designer – nothing is urgent, I make squares on a screen (sometimes I curve corners) and more often than not – code said curves. I do not save lives, however many designers seem to think they do, all we are is designers. Not to belittle our industry, but my brother-in-law is training to be a doctor and that instantly reminds me of perspective.

No one on a plane asks “is there a web designer present?”.