Off Days

We’re spurred to work all the time.

There is this idea around the maker community that you always need to work and ship. New products, new features, and new bug fixes can’t wait. If you’re not doing something productive you’re wasting your time.

Most people work on their indie projects on the side, so on top of work (often long hours) at your day job when you’ve finished you start working on your side projects as well (usually in the evenings). Working like that without any downtime is detrimental to your wellbeing.

If you like what you’re doing and you enjoy it sure go ahead. I’ve spent weeks working on projects I cared about deeply without any break, often working more than 10 hours a day, but you can’t go on like that forever. Your body and mind need some rest from time to time. It might be fine working as much during a sprint or close to launch, but if that’s your usual routine there is something very wrong and you need to change it.

Off time is just as important both for both your physical and mental health.

More than that you need a healthy balance between how much you work and how much you rest. Take one day off a week (at least) to enjoy life. Take time to appreciate what you have. Set a fixed amount of hours for work and don’t overshoot it. If it happens every once in a while it’s not a problem, but don’t let it become the norm.

Have fun

Take time to enjoy yourself:

• Take walk to the local park.
• Spend a weekend at the seaside with your loved ones.
• Spend time with your family.

Time is your most limited resource, use it well.