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c/anonymous-work-confessionslogan648logan6481d agoProlific Poster

The day I stopped saying yes to every rush project at 10pm

I used to be the graphic designer who'd take any last minute job, even at midnight, thinking it'd build reputation. Then last month a client in Chicago sent me 8 pages of revisions at 9pm for a 7am deadline, and I stayed up all night fixing it. Next morning they complained the colors were off on one icon and refused to pay the rush fee. Now I just reply with a polite "I can get to this tomorrow morning" and block my notifications after 8. Has anyone else had a client burn them out on a rush job like that?
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cole_walker26
Man that sucks. Good for you for setting a boundary.
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noran21
noran211d ago
@cole_walker26 you're right, it's such a relief when you finally stop letting them walk all over you. I had a similar situation with a local coffee shop owner who'd send me poster edits at 11pm, then act shocked when I stopped replying. What finally worked was putting an auto-reply on my email that said "Thanks for reaching out! I review messages during regular business hours, 9am to 6pm." That way they got the hint without me having to be the bad guy every single time. It took about three ignored late emails before they started planning ahead, believe it or not.
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