Like most students, over my years in school I have been developing tools and techniques to help me manage my schoolwork. For me personally I have had the help of teachers and my parents who given me suggestions and advice as to what works for them. What I have learned is that the techniques that work best for me were suggestions that I took from them and made into my own. Tackling the hardest assignment first, going to the library and sitting in a certain area where I am less likely to be distracted and trying my best to ignore my phone’s emails, texts and news alerts are some of my own techniques. As Mark McGuinness is quoted as saying in Manage Your Day-To Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind, “A truly effective routine is always personal-a snug fit with your own talent and inclinations.” p29. With this said, however, I am always interested in what works for others, as I continue to fine tune my techniques.
Working is going to be a very different situation than school work and will most likely require a very different routine. I find interesting in reading, Manage Your Day-To Day, some very different routines of the professionals. I think one of the best pieces of advice is from Seth Godin, who says that habits are important in getting the job done, and that you just have to do it. He writes, “Because lots and lots of people are creative when they feel like it, but you are only going to become a professional if you do it when you don’t feel like it. And the emotional waiver is why this is your work and not your hobby.”p42. Another piece of advice comes from Mark McGuinness, he advises to do creative work first and reactive work or answering emails and phone calls second. He says, “I always get my most important work done--and looking back all my biggest successes have been the result of making this simple change.”p27. He also suggests the use of creative triggers such as the same surroundings and or music. These will be triggers to the brain that it is time to work. An interesting piece of advice comes from Gretchen Rubin who suggests that frequency is an important element for her in getting the job down. She suggests that working on a project every single day is helpful even if it is for a short period of time. Rubin says, “When you work regularly, inspiration strikes regularly.” p35. I find this idea to be interesting because the same argument can be made for taking a break from a project from time to time to renew inspiration. I am reminded of the quote from Mark McGuiness at the beginning of my blog-routine is a personal fit.
After the readings, I decided to do some redesigns for my business cards. Using MOO (http://us.moo.com/) I found some good designs for my cards:
I then started planning the design for my portfolio website:
Sources
Glei, Jocelyn K., ed. Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind. Las Vegas: Amazon, 2013. Print.
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