2015 is behind us, and what lies ahead is a new year filled with opportunities and growth. The month of January is the time to gather your ambitions and prepare yourself for the year ahead. It’s an excellent time to reassess your goals and plan for the new year. If you want to bring yourself and your work to the next level this year, check out these New Year resolution ideas that you should add to your list that will help you improve as a designer and advance your career.
1. Update Your Portfolio
Make sure your portfolio contains your latest work and is neatly organized. It doesn’t matter if you have a traditional print portfolio or a portfolio on the internet, it is important that it contains all of your best work. You want to make sure your portfolio is up to date so this way it can accurately highlight your current skills and information.
2. Keep Your Workspace Clean
Having a clean place to work is beneficial for everyone, and keeping a clean, organized space is even better. How can anyone expect to work and thrive when they can’t find anything! Not only does a cluttered workspace kill your ability to be efficient, but it is also believed to “drain” your energy. It is believed in Feng Shui that an orderly and clean workspace will help you be ready for any task, as you are able to tackle it with a “clean mind.”
3. Expand Your Knowledge
Expand your horizon and knowledge base with tutorials. Tutorials are an excellent way to brush up and expand your knowledge in small and easy to view sections. With the internet, tutorials are easy to find and view; plus, you also have the flexibility to learn on your own time. Take advantage of the resources that are available to you, go out and learn a new skill or program. This year, you should aim to add at least two new skills to your resume.
4. Push Yourself
This year push yourself and venture outside of your comfort zone. If you want to improve as a designer, and as a person, you need to cultivate yourself. This means in order to improve you need to push yourself and try new things; take an assignment you wouldn’t normally take, and try new things. Going outside your comfort zone can help show you what you are made of, and will help you expand your knowledge as well. Plus, you never know what else you might be good at until you try!
5. Get Out More
Try changing up your work location if you work from home; a change of scenery can do you a world of good. Get out more and do your work at different locations and mix it up at different coffee shops, studios, libraries, parks, or check out your local co-working sites! If you work at an office decorate your space and change it out to keep things ‘new’. Changing up your work environment might give you the creative energy that you need by inspiring you by allowing you to see things differently.
6. Connect with Others
It is very important to network with others, so be sure to make this one of your goals this year. Making the right connections can help you out tremendously by giving you the ability to find new clients, and can also help you expand your current knowledge base. Everyone has something to teach you, so be sure to connect with new people this year. Networking will not only help your business, but can also help you change your perspective and expand your horizon.
7. Become an All-Around Artist
By working on your other artistic talents, you can help yourself become a better designer. Everything is connected, and doing other artistic pursuits can help you improve your creativity, and will improve your overall work. So paint, draw, sculpt, do photography; be creative and hone your other artistic talents. It will help you out in the long run.
8. Share Your Knowledge
It is important to find a way to teach your skill to others. You can run a workshop, teach a class, or even work one-on-one with someone. Teaching other people is an excellent way to connect with others, and can allow you to give back to the community. In addition, sharing your knowledge with others will also help you perfect your skills. Having a student will challenge your current awareness and can help push you to expand your current knowledge and skills.
