That morning I woke up with a fever and had to finish a logo I promised by noon

I was lying on my bathroom floor at 7am, could barely stand, but I propped my laptop on the counter and finished the vector work in 45 minutes because I knew if I didn't, I'd lose the $500 gig, has anyone else pushed through a sick day for a deadline you set yourself?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_faith5d ago

Wait is that really how you see it? I used to think pushing through no matter what was the only way to keep clients happy and cash flowing. But @the_riley you kind of opened my eyes here. I've definitely sent stuff out when I was half dead and then spent hours fixing dumb kerning mistakes or overlooked details that I could have caught with a clear head. The whole "set a boundary with yourself" thing hits different when I think about how many times I've created more work by refusing to slow down. Fresh perspective for me honestly.

garcia.cameron5d ago

Man I feel that in my bones. Last year I was doing some lettering work for a local bakery while coming off two nights of no sleep, and I kept missing that my curves were off by like a hair. Had to scrap the whole file and start over after the client sent a screenshot zoomed in on my sloppy work. Learned the hard way that grinding through it just means you end up doing the same job twice. Now I treat myself like a piece of equipment. If I'm running hot, I shut down before I break something expensive.

the_riley5d ago

Respectfully gotta push back here. I get that you needed the money and you delivered, but lying on a bathroom floor doing vector work at 7am with a fever sounds like a recipe for making a dumb mistake you'd have to fix later for free. A half-assed logo done while sick can cost you more than $500 if the client hates it or if you miss a detail and have to redo everything at 2am when you're even more wiped out. Setting boundaries with yourself is just as important as setting them with clients. Sometimes saying "I need to rest and email them that I'll have it by tomorrow" builds more trust than grinding through an illness and turning in work that looks rushed. Maybe I'm old school but I think self-care and quality control go hand in hand.