My Tips for Productive and Efficient Working
Recently during my work evaluation and career planning that we do every 6 months or so, I was told that I am considered to be the most productive worker amongst the Creatives. I can honestly say, without false modesty, that I was surprised. Yes, I do get my work done, and don’t miss deadlines, but at the same time I almost never feel rushed or pressured, and rarely stay back late, especially compared to my previous work. My interest piqued, I was more than happy when they asked me to prepare a presentation about my process as it gives me an opportunity to learn more about something that is coming quite naturally to me at the moment. First off, let’s look at a bit of background and context.
Background and Context
I worked in the advertising industry for 5 and a half years in two of Sydney’s biggest agencies, M&C Saatchi and Ogilvy. I have worked on many big clients including Coca Cola, Qantas, St.George Bank and Telstra. Between demanding clients and pitchwork I have worked my fair share of late nights and cramped timelines. Whilst projects would get out of control sometimes and clients would demand the impossible, in general there was always a very sound organizational structure in place and a lot of people dedicated to planning.
I moved to Milan, Italy to find myself in two firsts. One was working in a new country of course, and the other was working in a smaller agency. With much less explicit organization and planning taking place, I have been doing a lot of it myself within my usual workflow. Let’s have a look at some of the tips I found that would be of most benefit to anyone who needs to self manage.
An example of folder structure
A Tidy Workspace (virtual and real)
Folder Structure – Without a stable central server (they have one for fileswapping but do not use it for long term storage), everyone at my current work basically has their own folder structure. While I thought this was strange I had no problem adapting and organizing my files and folders based on the predefined structure I was used to in large agencies. Whilst there are bound to be many decent solutions, you NEED to have a system that keeps a record of all your source files, all your exports and build. It needs to keep source materials separate from your own work, and inspiration or asset materials separate again. It needs to do all this whilst being easy and logical to navigate
Desktop (virtual) – I never can stand to see a messy desktop with a hundred different icons strewn about. Everybody will build up links, files and other icons over time (I do), the important thing to know is when you are done with them. I always keep a “Desktop Clutter” folder round where I throw stuff that I may need again, but in all likelihood am done with. As far as I can remember, I have had to delve into it 4 or 5 times in my life.
Desktop (real) – Maybe I am just a little bit OCD, but I can’t stand messy working spaces and I see no reason why they should exist. Once again, I understand that things can pile up in time, but at least make a neat pile. I am convinced that having papers and other junk strewn around is detrimental to your productivity.
Tidy Program Layouts – Whether you use Photoshop, InDesign or even Word, there is no reason to have menus and control panels strewn around your virtual workplace. All these programs have great tools for creating predefined layouts. Take the time to organise your workspace and you will always know where your tools are for faster working
Tidy Files – When you are rushing it can be the easiest things in the world to forget, but organizing the internal of your files is critical for fast and efficient working. Especially important if you ever need to pass the file over to someone else, and just for your own sanity, it helps to have proper layer names, groups, smart objects, layer comps and artboards setup. In the case of layer comps and artboards, it can greatly decrease the time it takes to export your designs. Take a few minutes every half hour to make sure your file is not becoming a mess.
Planning
I always plan out a project before I start. That may sound time consuming, but depending on the size of the job, it can just be a mental plan with a few scribbles jotted down or a full step by step description of task sent by email to those I am working with. In this way, no one is surprised about what needs to be done and if I need help, I already have a list of specific task that someone can jump in on.
Steps and lists are great for keeping track of your progress, not falling behind and for identifying potential trouble spots. Part of planning can also include searching out solutions to these trouble spots before you get to them. Whether it be finding a tutorial on reading XML with Actionscript or searching out a selection of photoshop brushes, if you find solutions before you come across the problem, your workflow won’t be interrupted.
Any found resources, templates, tutorials and reusable components are almost always going to be useful again sometime. For this reason, it is always great to have a “General Assets” folder to put them all in. The number of times I have reused the iPhone elements psd or the Greensock tween classes for as3, it would have been a real hassle to always be searching around for them again.
Doing the Actual Work!
And now for the tough part, getting the work done. Here in no particular order are some of the things I have learned about getting work done
Early stages – When concepting and designing it is important in the brainstorming and sketching stage to get your ideas onto paper and not dwell too much on each one. Details will come later and with the idea on paper, you aren’t going to forget about it. Spending too much time developing one idea or layout in this stage prevents other possibilities from coming forth. After this initial stage it is a good idea to seek advice with your different options from someone else (boss or trusted colleague) to further define your options.
Use your energy well – We all know that we have different times of the day that we are working at 100%. And NOBODY works at maximum capacity all the time. The important thing is to use all of your time well. Those hours of the day that your attention drifts and you become tired are great for tying up lose ends, tidying up files and folders or even researching for solutions you can use for tomorrows work. This way when you get your best hours, you can use them to maximum effect and not be bogged down by the little things.
One of my distractions
Distractions can be your rewards – No one is expected to work at maximum capacity for every hour you are at work. It is only natural to want to check that facebook page, or read that article on Wired.com. I find to have any of these pages open behind my work is too much of a distraction, so I close them all down and give myself little breaks that I earn. Set yourself a mini objective before you get your mini reward, for example, “I am going to design three different button styles for this site before I check my status comments”… Well ok, no one ever comments on my status, but you get the idea.
Don’t become obsessed with details – There is not just ONE perfect solution to your problem. You may have already found 3 optimal solutions, and by procrastinating over that border thickness you are just making excuses to move on to the next stage.
And if you really are blocked – Don’t be afraid to get an outside opinion from a colleague or boss, they may just see something that you can’t because you are too close to the project.
Speaking of feedback – Try to organise feedback and review sessions with all relevant stakeholders. Anyone who is likely to have an opinions should be seeing your work all together. This is not always possible, but the more you can do it, the more comprehensive your feedback is and the less conflicting it will be.
After the Project
After every project, even if it is just in your own head, it is important to have a bit of a debrief. Look at what went well, what went wrong. Are there any new procedures that should become part of project workflow? What could you have done better and what could other people have done better to help you. Did you receive assets to late to complete on time? Did you get distracted writing a blog post and deliver your work an hour late? The important thing is to be open and honest and to give and take constructive criticism with maturity.