When you’re early in your career, most of your time goes into learning the ropes. Deliverables. Processes. “This is how we do things.” You don’t question it much, because you’re still figuring it all out.
At ilumis, we’re proud of our Freedom Fridays. We’re still here. Our Fridays are still client-first, but they’re also about intentionally protecting time for innovation, giving back, joy or rest!
Innovation
For me, I spend a lot of my Friday time innovating. Whether that means experimenting with new tools, building quick prototypes, and going deeper into topics I found challenging during the week. Space to think, test, build, and challenge the way things are done. It means I can take something small that’s been bothering me – a manual step, a clunky workflow, a task that feels more complicated than it should be – and properly explore it:
- Can this be simplified?
- Can part of it be automated?
- Is there a cleaner way to structure it?
Early in your career, you don’t always expect to be in a position where you can contribute beyond your immediate responsibilities. But when you’re given that space, something shifts. Yes, you learn how things are done, and then you also start shaping how they could be done better.
I’ve used recent Freedom Fridays to build a web application (Python backend, HTML/CSS frontend) to improve how we gather data across client projects. What was previously a slow, manual, and often painful process is being transformed into a streamlined, user-friendly workflow – reducing friction, improving consistency, and making it easier for both our team and clients to engage with. A Freedom Friday win!
Giving back
A recent example of this was the ilumis visit to Havelock Academy, where the team spent time with students introducing them to tax technology and the broader role of AI. From a chance encounter with the students on a train journey, the ilumis team moved to develop an in-depth AI session, exploring not just how AI is used, but the wider implications, including ethics, responsibility, and its impact on future careers.
John and Becca at Havelock Academy
Rather than being a one-way presentation, it became a genuine conversation, with students engaging, questioning, and challenging ideas.
It’s a strong example of how that time can be used not just to improve how we work, but to contribute more broadly – sharing knowledge, encouraging critical thinking, and making complex topics more accessible beyond the workplace.
Finding joy
Finding joy and taking rest are two of our founding values for our people. When needed, Fridays can be about taking time to rest, or to simply do something that brings me joy. Productivity can be found in rest, just as much as in the doing.
