Happy 2017 everybody! What better way to ring in the New Year than highlighting some of our biggest creative flaws, right?
For example, you know those memes floating around that say something like, “When you check the clock at work and it’s 9:00 am and then you check 3 hours later and it’s 9:21 am”? We’ve all been there.
Can you really blame us? As graphic designers, copywriters, creative people of any kind, our mental endurance is always being tested. It’s not that we don’t love what we do, but we are, after all, only human. All work and no play makes everybody dull. At least, that’s how it works in our world.
While we take great pride in the work we produce, achieving the end result isn’t always easy. With that in mind, we thought it’d be fun to take our first post of 2017 and shine some light on 4 flaws of the creative mind that we battle on a weekly basis and our New Year’s goals to address each one.
Flaw #1: Our insatiable need for coffee
A tired mind isn’t always an inspired mind but neither is an overcaffeinated one. Unfortunately, it’s easy to get stuck in a cycle that places you in either category.
Allow us to give you an example: Over evaluating the perfect headline or two shades of blue can tear apart any daily agenda.
Making these tedious decisions often call for that reliable pot of coffee. With coffee cups in hand, we can face every looming deadline unflustered, make enlightened decisions late into the night, and get up the next morning to repeat the process all over again.
Nick takes his coffee with a lot of creamer, I prefer coffee as black as my soul. We use coffee for inspiration. We use it for conversation, And sometimes, we use the lack of it as our go-to excuse. So no matter how you brew it we’ll always say we’re in need of it. Kind of an endearing flaw, don’t you think?
Goal: We’re not giving it up but we are going to try and limit ourselves to a healthy 2-3 cups per day.
Flaw #2: We stay chained to our desks sometimes
When the coffee is flowing and inspiration has finally struck, it can be easy to lose track of time because you’re lost in a project. Being locked in and focused is important but so are taking breaks.
We have to encourage each other to take breaks more often than not. Taking a walk to the coffee shop down the street is a great way to keep our minds fresh. Soaking in a little Georgia sun and getting some midday exercise doesn’t hurt either.
If there’s one flaw of ours that you can learn from it’s this one. Don’t forget to get up and move around during the day. It’ll help you avoid creativity blocks of any kind—withng or design.
Goal: In 2017, we’re going to be good to ourselves (and our backs) and make an effort to get up and move around 10 minutes out of every hour during the work day.
Flaw #3: We ask a lot of questions
We’re curious people. We can’t help it. We look at the world around us and have to know how and why it is the way it is. We seek answers through intense conversations, solitary mind-wandering, books, blogs and from anyone who’s willing to give us an answer.
Asking a lot of questions isn’t necessarily a “flaw” in the traditional sense but we could stand to use our listening skills a little more often. Honestly, everyone could. Listening is one of those things that you can always work to improve on.
We won’t stop asking questions in 2017. We’ll never stop asking questions but we do have a goal to work on this “flaw” in the new year.
Goal: Listen more intensely to our coworkers, friends, family, clients and anyone who wants to talk. You never know what you might learn.
Flaw #4: We’ve been known to get lost in design inspiration black holes
There are a lot of awesome design inspiration websites on the web:
Just to name a few.
Sometimes, when you start a project, you need a little visual inspiration. There’s nothing wrong with that. The problem lies in getting sucked into a crazy mind-blowing design for hours. There are a lot of stunning designs out there that are fun to look at and analyze but there are other places to find inspiration.
In other words, it’s easy to forget not to limit ourselves to all the latest and greatest design trends on occasion. Inspiration can be found in your coworkers, outside, in a book, in a song. All of these things can be so much more intriguing than the web when you give them the chance.
Goal: Open ourselves up more to inspiration from new places other than our favorite design blogs and influencers in 2017.
The first week of every New Year is the perfect time for personal reflection. With that in mind, what are some of your biggest creative flaws? How do you plan to address them in 2017? Tell us in the comments section.
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