Goals not resolutions

Mark Blog 0 Comment

I’ve never really been into New Year’s resolutions. Too much guilt and pressure, and coming straight after Christmas too! Instead, this year I’m publishing a list of my Goals for 2012.

• More creative time. What? Yes, I know I do creative stuff for a living, but there’s a creeping expectation for designers to spend all day communicating and managing, yet still be brimming with creative ideas too. Please note, experimentation and AFK time are business-critical activities for us (and probably for many industries).
• More organisation. An obvious one, but it doesn’t come naturally to creative people running their own business. It’s an ongoing journey of learning that’s reached a tipping point this year, so things are going to change in 2012.
• More scheduling. This year, a large proportion of my work time is going to be scheduled. This won’t be popular with some people, but without this change they won’t continue to get the quality they’ve come to expect from me. There comes a point where “good” has to take precedence over “quick”.
• Less clutter. It seems to be everywhere. Not just physical junk, or even digital junk. I’m talking about the clutter of work and ideas that aren’t sensible to pursue. I intend to keep the balance this year, with regular reviews or purges.
• Better social media. The list of social networks gets ever longer. But you can’t be everywhere, as a small business. It’s definitely a good thing to have, but the need for selectiveness has never been more crucial. I’m making big changes to the way I use these tools this year.
• More sleep. Alas, not helped by work pressures and being a parent of Little People, there simply wasn’t enough of this last year. You don’t realise how bad it is for you until you do it wrong.
• Less connectivity. The world seems to be relentlessly pursuing constant connectivity. But is that a good thing? I’m aiming to more clearly divide my time between being Available and Not Available online this year. That way, more good things can happen during each (see “More creative time” above”).

So no big detox or lifestyle changes here I’m afraid (sorry to disappoint) – these are things I intend to have a fighting chance of seeing through in 2012.