Staying Sane in a Creative Career

Someone recently asked me how I managed to stay in my chosen career of design for so long. As a creative person, they asked, how did I deal with avoiding creative burn-out? How did I know that I would end up where I’ve found myself? Wasn’t I bored doing the same thing for so long? Was it true that all designers did was to play video games?

Let’s start with the easy question… Nope! Designers don’t play video games all day. Another urban myth debunked. To answer those harder questions, let’s start at the beginning…

When I was in second grade, my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. My split-second response was that I wanted to be an artist. When my family heard this news, they laughed and said something about waiting to see what I decided when I was older. They thought that as college loomed closer that I would aspire to something much more practical and prosperous, i.e., doctor or lawyer.

After graduating high school, I stayed true to my calling. I applied, and was accepted, to art school at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts. (My parents groaned and envisioned life for me as continually struggling to make ends meet — hawking velvet Elvis paintings out of the back of a run-down van, on a street corner somewhere). Four years later, I graduated with a shiny new BFA degree, that stated I had indeed completed the esteemed Communication Arts & Design program.

While I was in college, my assumption was that I would find a job as a graphic designer for a magazine or newspaper. When I graduated in 1993, most design school graduates had traditional training, which meant that their career opportunities were based in the “print” world. Few designers left school with even the most basic of digital skills. Luckily during my junior year, the administration replaced some drafting tables with computers and I quickly discovered a passion for Macs and Photoshop. It was then that I knew that I was destined for a career in “multimedia,” even though I wasn’t even sure what that entailed. But it was exciting and new, who didn’t want a piece of that?

And I’ll tell you now… It’s been a wild ride. This career has not come without challenges. It’s been exciting, frustrating, boring, scary and exciting again. More than a few times. There has been plenty of uncertainty and discomfort along the way. I have worked on quite a range of creative projects: print marketing materials, internationally and nationally broadcast commercials, corporate intranets, e-commerce web sites, logo design and branding, touch screen kiosks, product design and design research. I have worked for ad agencies, software development companies, design firms, in-house at large corporations, small start-ups, and for myself, as a freelancer.

In my current job at IBM, I recently made the transition into a new role as a design researcher from a ux product designer position. In past jobs, I had taken on small pieces of research and assisted others in their research efforts, but this is the first time that it became my main focus and responsibility. It’s been a big adjustment for me, moving from agile design deliverables to more slow moving, strategic research projects that require deep digging in a highly technical domain that I am still learning about. It requires a different skill set to engage with product management, development, design, and customers. I have some days that are truly challenging because I’m less experienced in this discipline. It can be tough to handle the feelings of unrest and uneasiness brought from not knowing what you don’t know.

What I’ve learned along the way

What I’ve learned over the past 20+ years of my design career is, that the key to remaining sane, engaged, and relevant through the years, is flexibility. Having a sense of adventure and curiosity, helps to manage the fear brought forth by uncertainty. Being open to learning new software or a process is critical. Accepting challenges, when faced with new opportunities that seem risky, or take you well out of your comfort zone, can keep your career from becoming stale.

When I do find myself struggling, as one does in this line of work, I evaluate myself and my feelings to see where I can make changes to improve my situation or attitude. If you could somehow hear my inner dialogue at these times, it might sound like this… just not quite as linear and clear-cut…

10 Tips To Help Keep You Sane

1. Be open-minded. Try to avoid being resistant to change. Change is hard. Change is scary. Keep an open mind when opportunities present themselves. Stay curious.

2. Be brave. Don’t be afraid to say yes. Try to level up. This partners well with “be open minded.” Think about the rewards in addition to the risk. It’s hard to grow without taking risks. (This is where I channel my inner Brené Brown).

3. Keep current with latest design trends and tools. Network with other creative people. Check Amazon periodically for new design/research books. Keep learning. Get inspired.

4. Take the time to re-evaluate the way you work. Just because you’ve been doing something the same way for years, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should continue. It’s easy to grow comfortable and crank out work without much effort. Auto-pilot is dangerous. Make time to audit your process.

5. Take a break. Breaking out of your day-to-day routine can help free you from the mundane. Working remotely from home, a coffee shop, or even a different location in your office, provides a change of environment that might inspire you be more creative and generate the bigger ideas. If you are in the office, stepping away for a little while to grab coffee or take a quick break outside can help you to reset and readjust your focus. Overthinking things can be counterproductive and breaks can derail that train.

6. Consider what you’re working on. Check in with yourself and ask if the work you are doing is stretching you and moving you forward. Does it propel you out of bed in the morning? Are you content in your discipline? Is it time to branch out and try something new? Do you need new skills?

7. Keep challenging yourself if your job isn’t challenging you. If you’ve exhausted all means to fight burn-out and your creative juices have dried up, it might be time to consider interviewing elsewhere for a new job. Maybe you want to interview at a new company, or maybe it’s another department at your current company. Sometimes picking up some freelance or volunteer design work will get you over the hump when your normal day job just isn’t doing it for you. Collaborating with others can help you generate new ideas and spark creativity.

8. Find your joy. Find a product or project that makes you happy or inspires you. Working on something that supports your personal beliefs or helps you learn a new and interesting domain can give you a sense of satisfaction. Having a sense of purpose makes a huge difference.

9. Do a sanity check. Most creative people that I know, are collaborative people. We rely on feedback and constructive criticism. If you’re feeling stuck or dissatisfied, solicit advice from trust-worthy people that are knowledgeable about your career and field — whether it’s a coworker, friend or someone you work with on another team. Having a mentor can also help keep you on track and focused. As good as it is to be introspective, it’s also good to get an outside perspective and get that sanity check!

10. Be kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if you’re not in the place you want to be. Be introspective, but not overly critical, about your work or job. Think about actionable steps you can take to move closer towards a goal. If it seems that baby steps are all you can manage, try not to be discouraged and realize that it’s progress.