It’s been 9 months since Sam and I launched Night Shift, and within that time a lot has happened.

My MacBook has frozen about a million times, I actually saw Sam get mad (hahaha), Google Drive has randomly corrupted several files so that we could truly understand what the word panic means AND we quickly realized that people weren’t lying when they said, “running a design studio is a lot of work”.

Amongst all of our struggles, the biggest hurdle was our studio space. As most of you know, we were working out of our apartment. For the majority, that probably sounds like a dream, and for a short time, it was. Things such as moving from your bed to your desk require minimal effort, you have a cat who keeps you company all day, and within 5 steps, you can conveniently find yourself in the kitchen. In the beginning, it was hard to complain, but over time it started to wear on us. There was a lack of mental separation between life and work and it consumed us.

I felt a sense of incredulity at the notion that I was someone who ‘needed’ an office. As someone who admires nomads and #vanlife entrepreneurs, it was a challenge for me to acknowledge the impact it had on our mental health. We found ourselves unable to leave work at ‘the office’ and it would burden us all day, every day. On top of that, there was a hidden pressure to always be working, to always try to get ahead and to cross another thing off the list. We were prioritizing quantity of hours worked rather than the quality of hours. It’s been interesting to see the powerful effect that your work environment has on you and your mindset. Where you work really does matter.

So after a few discussions, we agreed to move into our own office (AKA co-working space) at 87 Wade with the lovely bunch at OKPeople. What we love so much about this space is that it’s close to home, it’s small-knit and full of friendly faces and doggos.

Big thanks to all our clients for their support and choosing to work with us. We couldn’t have done this without you.