I have come a long way

Reflection can be done at any point in life, even daily. Here's mine for the end of September 2023.

Ever since I moved to Singapore 🇸🇬 from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰, I switched my gears to a different wheel. Aiming at the golden goal of creating my own name in the region, I devoted my skills and effort to carve out that designer in me by following the exceptional talent I meet every day. Unlike other countries and industries I have worked in, Singapore has its own pace of working, collaborating and organising. Fine-tuned to a supreme level, the process works like a well-oiled engine, and people collaborate as they say in medium-process articles.

I am so grateful to be here; this talented pool of experts, leaders, and a vivid spectrum of designers brings incredible knowledge and motivation to push me through the ladder.

I have come a long way after starting as an absolute beginner in mainstream advertising and the early days of digital productions.

Although it sounds great, it comes with a price. I challenge myself daily to improve, learning to organise efficiently and channel my skills in the right direction.

The ultimate fight with my inner self...

There was a steep learning curve on processes more than anything. Because efficiency is paramount here. Even for a designer, as long as your solution is scalable and reproducible, you have a clear shot here. In the past, I had often focused on achieving perfection at the cost of time. However, this experience taught me to prioritise efficiency while maintaining high quality.

Fortunately, I could crack the code and move forward with the help of my team and organisation. One of the biggest challenges in this line of work is finding ways to maintain your creative energy while dealing with the monotony of certain tasks.

There are times when I feel exhausted and unable to work any further. My brain and willpower urge me to take a break and escape from work. If you push yourself to keep working in such a state, things can get weird.

For instance, imagine you have a critical product UI project with a tight deadline. You can see that it's doable and requires minor adjustments based on your experience. However, even completing it before the deadline, you may feel dissatisfied with the outcome. It will be just another project you completed, and you will move on to the next one without considering it your masterpiece.

After repeating the process multiple times, it's crucial to take a moment and ponder upon these practices. How do we strike a balance between efficient deliveries and confident design pieces? Furthermore, it is essential to consider the significance of keeping the designer's enthusiasm and motivation up within a process-driven, homogeneous product environment. So how do we do that?

When you reach a plateau, there's some walking to do...

Am I creating what I intended to make? Am I pursuing my passion?
If you are in your 30s, consider it a mid-life crisis or too much stress with loads of work. Whatever you call it, it simply means you are stuck. This can be due to the pressures of work leading to a feeling of being stuck in a cycle of monotony.

I recently found myself in a state of mind that made it difficult to focus on my work. Despite my efforts to push through, I eventually realised I needed to take a break. So I took a hard pause, not just a quick pit stop, and immediately stepped away from my work. I took the time to reflect on what was causing this mental block and what I could do to overcome it. Through this process, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of myself and my work,

The feeling of being directionless indicates a need to create new goals. This is what I realised after endless mind trips. Since my old goals or objectives have already been achieved or expired, I now need to find new ones. If you are a runner and you have reached your aim of running 10K or for 60 minutes, it's like returning to a low power mode. In this state, you try to conserve energy and allow your body to relax.

How do I set my next finish line?

Everyone has their own set of goals that are unique to them. Some individuals aspire to climb the career ladder, while others seek complete freedom from modern technology and digitalisation. These are two extremes, and your personal goals could lie anywhere between them.

Instead of suggesting things, I prefer to discuss some possibilities. Please let me know your thoughts on these options.

The linear growth

As a designer, one may consider becoming a Senior lead or manager who runs/advocates a team of designers. If you are a manager already, you are now looking into business strategy and full-time people management roles like director or chief in a related stream. However, since the amount of time allocated for the job is fixed and not a variable, you may need to invest less time in hands-on work and focus more on management to fulfil your new role.
For me, ensuring that my investment aligns with my true inner self is crucial. For example, if my hands-on design work gives me energy and motivation, I must allocate enough time to avoid burnout.
Remember to prioritise the things that bring you joy and fulfilment, and use them to fuel your drive towards success.
Certain designations may appear impressive in theory, but they can impose a significant burden and gradually exhaust you over time.

The domain expert

If you are a master of your craft, loyal to the style and have traces of being a perfectionist, there is a high chance for you to become a domain expert. Domain experts have the same growth opportunities as mainstream career paths and contribute exceptionally to the organisation in personalisation and quality verticals. Being a principal designer or a similar scale individual contributor adds a great deal of value to the organisation.
Achieving success in this line of work requires honing your collaborative skills. Collaborating with your team helps improve the quality of your work and allows you to refine your designs further. By working together, you can gain new insights and perspectives that may not have been possible otherwise. Individual Contributors (ICs) are not necessarily born with the collaboration skills they need to succeed in their roles. In particular, some ICs may not possess the skill referred to here. Therefore, it's crucial for ICs to focus on developing this skill to enhance their performance and achieve their career goals.

I have thoroughly explored two avenues because today's technology work environment is diversified, but roles still need further refinement. Since no one has spent considerable time on each role to determine what suits a complex lifestyle and what makes a well-balanced designer, it is up to you and me to carve out our paths based on our individual qualities.

Defining my balance

Defining my balance - Lancer 1983 EX - Mitsubishi.

So, within these ends, if one wants to escape and explore the world, that may be where all your non-design-related experience passions come into play.
Imagine being a designer and investing your money and time to build a mountain retreat in tropical highlands. How about learning to surf on a South Asian beach or rebuilding your dad's car from scratch as a pet project?

For me, the perfect balance lies in finding inspiration from something unexpected. Reading thousands of blog articles or scanning through the web has never been the source of my big ideas, nor will it ever be. However, something as specific as finding the front left signal lamp for the 1983 Mitsubishi Lancer EX model in the South Asian region may trigger one or two.

Reflecting on my ability to process things like the above, I have come a long way. If you are still reading this part of the article, I'm sure you have also made progress. It doesn't matter how far we have to go or how long it takes to get there; what matters is how we set our next goal.
Do you want to define your balance based on design-related goals?
It's up to you.

But keep in mind that balance doesn't necessarily have to be related to design.

You may also like