Dot dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot
- Started
- Last post
- 12 Responses
- zulu_time
Motivation has always been something I have struggled with, I don't know why... Well, maybe I do... I'm quite easily distracted, or perhaps I'm of that generation where everything needs to happen now. Yes, thats it...poor up bringing.
Not really.
The probable truth is that when I do get around to actually doing something, I critique it so much that I destroy it, I have lost count of the number of projects that I have actually completed but ultimately thrown out, it's not a particularly healthy way of bettering my work, but at least there is some sort of quality control going on.
The bigger issue is that this is now affecting my career.
For the last 18 months I have tried to build a new portfolio, while gaining work through existing clients and word of mouth (though I fear this may be starting to dry up) - at one point I even finished one, but then I threw it out, before I had shown it to a single potential or existing client, which in hindsight is ridiculous but there Is no point in pitching for work with work you aren't confident in.
Surely other creatives have had the same issue? How have they/you worked past this?
- fadein110
get a mortgage and other debts - I find thats a good motivator.
although I do know what you mean - only work to my full potential with a looming deadline.
- zulu_time0
I have bills to pay and yes nothing quite motivates you like a deadline in 12 hours does but for portfolio building it doesn't work out.
- ********0
beware of burnout. Your only human.
- he only has ONE human!?! What a nooblocustsloth
- hahaha... my mistake.********
- :Dlocustsloth
- Morning_star0
I think you're needlessly giving yourself a hard time dude.
Take a look at some other folks portfolios and get motivation from the fact that yours is probably better than 90% of them. Having just been through the redundancy/new job scenario myself, portfolios will only get you so far. The rest is how you sell yourself and you seem to be pretty switched on. Take it easy.
- utopian0
I find it also personally hard to find motivation at times when dealing with this ecocomy, crowdsourcing, spec work, endless FREE Wordpress Themes, etc... I feel your pain, the design world has become the Walmart cesspool of design!
- maikel0
- ask a friend to be your 'client' for your own portfolio. Somebody will have an acceptance criteria and will set deadlines for you.
- penalise yourself for each week you miss your desired deadline -I mean, like donating a good £300 a week to any charity you like. Or something like no sex until you are done.
- ask a friend to design a portfolio for your. Just give him/her your work and get him to do the work for you. Year ago a a friend or two asked me to do that as they had your exact problem.
- b r e t b a s h your way out of the situation by stealing a portfolio that you like (well maybe not this).
- 300 a week?? the fuck?CanHasQBN
- not everyone here is poor.********
- oi, i'm just saying that if you do that you will SURELY finish on time...maikel
- £25 p/h times 8 hours is £200 quid a day. It's only 1 1/2 days on a shite rate...maikel
- That'd be $500 in your money, dMullins, and I sincerely doubt you're well enough off to be so pithy.detritus
- zulu_time0
Great ideas!
Maikel - did you build a portfolio for your friend? Was he happy with it?/ use it?
The idea is intriguing though I wonder how I would settle with having no control over the presentation of my own work..
- maikel0
my friend is a photographer, and needed a website, and it was about 6 years ago or so. and yes, she was very happy with it.
if you can't be drawn to control yourself you better team up with somebody that can. i used to work with 2 more chaps, 1 dev and another designer. it was cool because you could always ask somebody else to say 'enough is enough' - because it's hard to find out yourself.
- ********0
In my humble opinion, I don't think there is anything wrong at all with paying someone you respect to design a portfolio for you. I think it takes a CRUCIAL burden off of yourself as well. It's like you said...if you spend all this time critiquing your own design to death, you are taking away value from other projects. If you can put it in someone else's hands for a reasonable price, you can probably find yourself much further along in two weeks than if you worked on it yourself for two months.
That said, I'm happy to do a custom portfolio design for you. ;)
- autoflavour0
i just had 3 months to work out a somewhat complex project which is due for a exhibition opening in 2 days time..
struggled to find an angle, kept getting frustrated and then lost motivation..then, out of nowhere.. i just built the entire thing in the last 10 hours or so.. and that is with a headcold.
moral of the story.. dont wait until the last minute to start, but work under the assumption that is when it will happen.
- and for those who are going say last 10 hours, pfft.. will be rushed.. i say to you.. its awesomeautoflavour
- That ‘last minute’ sounds like it had 3 months worth of blocked up thought behind it though, tbf!detritus
- er.. I mean, that's often the way I work. Think about it #til the Nth degree.. then do it with just enough time to spare..detritus
- My sub-conscious is a much better risk assessor than my troubled higher functions.detritus
- autoflavour0
burnout is also a bitch..
- zulu_time0
Couldn't have asked for a better response.