As 2019 is ending, now is the time to look back and reflect on where you have been and where you would like to be. The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect and reassess your plans and goals for the next year. As a creative, being stagnant can really affect your flow, so assessing where you’ve been and where you want to go is necessary if you’re going to bring your work to the next level. Plus, even the act of writing down your intentions, goals, and aspirations can be the first step to making it all pan out for you. So make sure you set your designer resolutions for 2020!
If you are making a resolution list for next year (and if you are not, you should be!), consider adding some of these New Year’s designer resolutions to your checklist.
New Year’s Designer Resolutions for 2020
Widen Your Skill Set– Remember, knowledge is power, and the more you know, the easier it will be to find a flow. As a designer, it is vital that you keep learning and growing, especially since nothing is static. Change is the constant, and especially for designers, things can change pretty rapidly. The more you know, the more you will see the connection between things, and one skill set can significantly improve upon another. You never know where knowledge can lead you, so soak it up!
Spruce Up Your Online Presence– Do you have a website, manage a blog, or have profiles on social media? If so, the New Year is an excellent time to go over your online presence to ensure that it is up to date and accurately reflects who you are and what you represent. A good website can give you credibility and legitimacy, so make sure your website is clean, and your portfolio is up to date. Give it an overhaul if need be, and don’t forget about SEO. You want people to be able to find you online. If you don’t have a web presence, now is the perfect time to get one set up!
Clean Up Your Workspace– A cluttered workspace can make for a cluttered mind, so if you have a workspace, set the intention to go through and clean up the area where you work. Sorting your documents and the other items in your workspace is an excellent thing to do at the beginning of the year, and periodically throughout the year. If you never heard of feng shui, you should look it up. Many find that applying feng shui (the act of arranging in relation to the flow of energy), really helps promote a clear mind and enhances productivity, which is what you want in your workspace. Good flow can really help you churn out some fantastic projects for the New Year.
Aim to Teach Others– Sharing your knowledge with others can help you connect with other people and benefit your work. The student-teacher relationship is a powerful one that is often a two-way street. When you teach a skill to others, it can make you view it through a different set of eyes, and as a result, can help you enhance that skill for yourself as well. Especially when your students ask you a question that throws you off guard, making you reflect or encourages you to dive deeper yourself. You learn when you teach others, so teaching is a two-way street. All in all, sharing your knowledge with others, in person or through the internet, is also a great way to get feedback and to improve as a designer.
