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Quote
of the Week:
blocked
So, you if might imagine that good designers are trained to never run out of ideas, you would be wrong. Like any creative professional, we occasionally run out of gas. It helps to have some inspiration around (see the post below for more on that), but often, one has to take a break and stop being used to the feeling of banging your head against a brick wall.
I try all sorts of stuff to get out of my creative ruts, and not keeping "normal" business hours helps. Mind, I am ALWAYS available during so-called normal hours to take calls, and am schedulable for meetings and what-not during those times...but it doesn't mean I feel the need to chain myself to my desk from eight to five every day. Now THAT is a way to crush the creative spirit! So, with this more flexible schedule, I can go cycling in the mornings (which I do almost every morning, as it's a great way to have solutions pop into my head and fight off "office belly"). I can pull out one of the many creative problem-solving games given to me by friends and associates. I can sort through my PEZ collection. Or I can get away for a hike or a quick walk with the kids.
The one thing I try not to do is stay in front of my computer; when I'm in a rut, it tends to suck my time away, rather than make me more creative.
The point I am trying to make is this: what we think of as the "standard workday" is an invention of the Industrial Age, suited to workers who do repetitive tasks. Go back in time and ask a blacksmith in the 1600s if he worked a solid eight hours; or a sculptor; or even a farmer. These guys would work like crazy when there WAS work to do--and often worked from before dawn to after dusk--but they didn't try and make work for themselves just for the sake of hanging around a workplace. I think it is time for more of us to work smarter, and therefore allow our brains and bodies the time in-between spurts of good work to rest, recharge, and think of ways to do our work even better.
n.b. After consulting this article, you can see that the average work-hours per year was a bit higher back in the 17th c., but I think my point's still valid, especially if you look at the 19th-century hourly numbers...which are the ones I am referring to in the first paragraph. This article from the Guardian is also interesting.
posted at 6:25 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments
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