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How to deal with overworking

This may be weird to you to think a designer or just in general someone can overwork. What I mean is when you keep pushing yourself to where you are constantly exhausted. Over these past couple of weeks I learned what being overworked means. Because since I started waking up early my days are longer. Then working at my day Job has been a good thing to keep money coming in.

If you are getting plenty of sleep and never really exhausted. Then you are not overworking. Because people who overwork they always get up whether they feel like it and do the work. They give 110% and not settling for anything less than the best.

But you have to remember to give your body the respect it deserves. Because if you do not respect your body then what do you expect to get in return. If you are taking care of your body and etc you will work better and produce better results. Also do not get confused with taking care of your body with being lazy.

Some tips to deal with overworking

  1. Prioritize your tasks
  2. Set the time in which you will stop working
  3. Do what is most important
  4. Break down the tasks to what you can do with large projects
  5. Focus
  6. Relax
  7. Stop taking on too much work
  8. Learn to say no

You Don’t Apreciate Designers Enough

Whenever you think asking a designer to work for free is ok its honestly not. Because you know for fact that you would not go to your doctor and ask for a free surgery? You would not go to your grocery store and ask for your groceries for free while everyone else pays. So therefore what is different about paying a designer?

What you are saying to a designer when you do not want to pay them is that you don’t feel they are of value. They really are of value and each designer is at a different skill level then others. For example if it was not for a web designer,graphic designer and various others then WordPress would not look like it does.

The reason people prefer WordPress over other site is because of its value. People choose designers and pay them because they recognize their value. Value being the result of the completed work and how it accomplishes the vision.

You may be saying well I can download the programs and just do it myself. Well yes you can do that, But will you possess the skill set and thinking to accomplish a completed design. Because you would not try to cut corners if you had no idea on how to put brakes on your car and you did not feel comfortable doing so. That may or may not have been a good example to use.

Whenever I get someone wanting me to design work for them for free I take it as an insult. The other thing is when someone shops around wanting the lowest price. Then when someone wants a design done and then thinks its simple and easy and says oh I could do that, Which honestly you could not come up with that idea.

Learn to appreciate the value designers bring to your business, life and everything else. Not wanting to pay a designer whether its web designer, product designer, graphic designer interior designer and others just shows you are not ready for a designer. You also may be scared of letting someone help that you do not know well or that you may know well. Therefore I recommend you to not interfere with the process and to not deal with an asshole designer and vice versa for designers to not work with an arrogant/unappreciative client.

Avoiding Sameness

Sooner or later you will began to realize that your work is starting to look the same. More so you may get style confused with how the problem should be solved. Because if you look at many of these portfolio sites a good amount of the work would not get accepted by a client and also starts to look the same.

A good way that I learned to sameness is to avoid falling into the same practice of solving design problems. If you just try once a different approach you may end up with a different result. Because you should be listening to yourself. For example if before you start a project you say I would want to have a glass of water and lay down for a few minutes do it. Maybe you want to stare out the window for a few minutes do it.

Since I started listening to myself I began to enjoy designing even more. At times we can get into a routine which ends up in us not enjoying our profession. So therefore stop approaching things the same way and do not be afraid to experiment.

Remember being a lazy artist and falling into the same routine will only produce the same results.

Wisdom Listens

This goes hand in hand with listening before you speak. If there is someone that is offering you advice shut up and listen. Sorry for being harsh you have to realize that there are people who know more then you. Especially when they are critiquing your work. Do your best to put your ego aside and learn from them.

I advise you to try this for at least 30 days that when you talk with people whom are in your profession and or not in your profession to just listen to them. But of course contributing to the conversation will help and make things go better. You will be surprised at how much people will tell you if you just simply ask them.

Free Wallpaper/Store

I have added a section new to my site.  I made wallpapers for your phone and the size are 640 x 1219. The size is for iPhone 5 and will probably work for other phones as well.

Then you can download the wallpapers for free. If you want them as a poster then that is a possibility as well. One thing I forgot to mention is that I am going to be adding more wallpapers and if there is a special request that you have send me an email.

The value of being honest with yourself

If you are not being honest with yourself its time to start. I for one have always did my best to be honest with myself. Because you don’t want to be a designer that is living in some fantasy land. What I mean is being a designer that thinks their work is the best in the world. Not saying having confidence is bad. More so if you have a small portfolio then you have to get to work.

Because I have built up my calligraphy portion of my portfolio now I just have to get to building up my branding portion and web design. Don’t wait to start upon doing what you know you need to do. Simply start today and get to work. You have to realize that you may have a plush design job at the moment. Also you have to realize how many people out there are wanting your position and are willing to work harder then you.

If there is a skill that you do not have stop thinking oh I’ll be ok without learning it. Then later on in life you’ll be saying I should’ve taken that class. You may not need to learn another skill in your industry or you just are happy with what your doing. Just remember to not be blinded by what can actually happen later down the road. With more skills your more valuable.