Fighting Designers Block
We’ve all been at a point where the wheel just won’t turn. You have a huge project that is due right around the corner. You have a lot of ideas that still need to fall into place, and the pressure is on to be productive and get things done. You’re sitting in front of your computer trying to crank out each portion of your agenda when your brain hits a brick wall. You have a major case of designers block. Nothing you’re coming up with seems like it’s any good, you feel uninspired, and you just can’t find the traction needed to make any progress on your project. We’ve all been in situations like these; designer’s block can derail any designer or any project. But, a veteran designer is prepared for designer’s block and is always ready to break through that mental barrier whenever it spontaneously appears. Below are ten ways to fight designer’s block, reduce frustration, and increase productivity.
Simplify The Project
When you are stuck on a project that feels too large, break it down into smaller pieces. Attack the problem one part at a time. This will make it far easier to handle, because solving small problems one at a time is far more orderly than attacking them all at once. Making small accomplishments actually makes you feel like you are getting somewhere. Once you get started and solve one part of the problem, the juices begin to flow, you get into your groove, momentum carries you, and the remaining parts of your project start to fall into place like dominoes. Gaining momentum to carry you through a project is essential for avoiding designers block and a lot of frustration.
Create a To Do List or a Checklist
Creating a checklist will help you stay organized. Sometimes, even the most organized designer lets his or her work get out of hand. Writing down all of the objectives that you need to meet for a project will help you to better understand the scope of the entire project. Creating a checklist is also extremely helpful because it will ensure that you don’t forget anything. It is frustrating to think you have finished a project, only to have to revisit it to tie up loose ends. Most importantly, it frees your mind from keeping a mental list of tasks in your active memory, which can obviously take precious brainpower away from your actual design work. Trying to juggle multiple tasks, concepts and ideas in your head can be very taxing on the mind, cause frustration and things just seem to fall apart from there. This will actually lead to designers block.
