I’m having one of those weeks where I hate everything I do, not feeling very creative, I’m highly unmotivated, and I need to push myself to even accomplish anything.  Lethargic is the word.  I am just getting over a sinus infection, and still feeling a bit groggy physically.  Whether it’s just a case of man cold, or allergies, I’m not very sure.  I’ve got to get excited again about what I’m doing, somehow.  How do I usually do that?  Well in the past I’ve challenged myself to get out of my comfort zone and trying something totally new.  Breaking out of your comfort zone is vital so that you don’t get bored with what you’re doing.  The same daily mundane tasks of designing, editing, keywording, uploadings, emails, etc will get to you after a while.

“I Can’t”
The famous “I can’t” is the only thing holding most people back from trying new things.  Comparing yourself to everyone else can sometimes cause you to figure, “why bother”?  That’s not the right way to reason.  Many times you are your own worst enemy, and the biggest obstacle you face is your own.

Focus On What You Want to Achieve
You need to have goals in order to get anywhere in your life.  It’s the same with your field of work or expertise.  Sometimes goals take a long time, while other times they can get checked off your list rather quickly.  The importance is to focus and prioritize on accomplishing those goals.  It’s easy to make goals, but 1000% more difficult to achieve them.  Just look at how many people make New Year’s resolutions and then never stick to them.  Obviously, the resolutions made were not near enough to those peoples’ hearts.  They could have been distracted somewhere along the way, or even discouraged.

Coffee It Up and Kick It Into Second Gear
I got a little bit of oomph from my morning coffee.  I’m not so sure it’s just the caffeine, I think that it helps, but the majority of it is probably mental. What’s your morning coffee?  Maybe it’s tea.  Maybe you like to read the newspaper. Perhaps you like to play a game online, or check your facebook or twitter accounts.  Do whatever you normally do to get moving.  Or, maybe you need to try something else.  Make sure you’re physically nourished enough to think straight.

Make Those Butterflies Fly In Formation
Hopefully there’s some sort of creativity in my head somewhere, because I have a photo shoot today.  Sometimes I get a bit nervous, but I find that usually when I don’t get nervous I perform much worse.  Pressure can sometimes be a good thing.  I’ve always been a procrastinator, a HUGE procrastinator.  Maybe it’s because I know I perform best under a little bit of pressure.  I’m not saying I like to be unprepared for work, because that’s never a good thing.  What I mean is that having a little bit of anxiety isn’t always a bad thing.  When you doubt yourself and maybe have a bit of fear of not succeeding, sometimes that can push you to try even harder and make sure you’re pushing yourself to do your best.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting a skilled freelance designer out of the UK on twitter named Pritesh (everyone calls him Pritz for short).  Here is a brief interview I had with him recently.

How did you get into the creative field?

When I was at school, I wasn’t interested in anything other than Art and Design, so that’s all I’ve ever done. As I got older I got more involved with digital arts and that’s how it all started.

Would you recommend education for those that are just starting out, or thinking about getting into the design business?

Education is always important. A good set of qualifications goes a long way, but you also have to make the right choices in courses and institutions. I went with what I thought would be best for me, so I would say go with what you feel seems right, and something you enjoy doing. I’ve learnt that education brushes up on the things you already know. I think my choices in education have helped me improve in my work, and gained my interest in areas I would never think about going in to.

What is one of the most important things you think freelance graphic designers will need to do in order to stay successful?

Staying motivated and inspired. This is why I blog things that I’ve looked at nearly everyday, that’s what keeps me going. I would also recommend printing things off and keeping things you like for example in a sketchbook. You just have to keep at it and work hard, then opportunities will be knocking on your door when you least expect it.
Are there any specific people that inspire you?

There are lot’s of people that inspire me, all excellent at what they do too. Some names that inspire me include Jacob Cass, David Carson – whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at my college, Photography inspires me a lot too, I love the composition of colours and beautifully taken photographs. You don’t always have to look at specific people in the field that your in to be inspired, I think your interests are your best sources of inspiration.

Where else do you find your creative inspiration?

Nearly all my work is screen based, so I find myself sitting in front of the computer a lot. This is my biggest source of information. You can find anything and everything on the internet. But like everyone, I have my collection of design books too, along with my sketchbook of things I like, or photos to flick through when I’m looking for ideas. Mostly I just like to see everyone’s work all the time. This way I can encourage myself to do something great too.

To contact Pritz you can follow him on twitter or check out his blog

Getting Organized One of the toughest parts about stock photography is all the organization that goes into planning and properly executing a shoot of any given topic.  It’s a lot of work and effort.  Sure, there are times you might wing it and come up with a nice variety of different themes, but if I find that if I’m always trying to “wing it” my time isn’t used the most effectively.  If you’re going to be shooting models, you need to orchestrate the entire shoot with them.  Then, you need to decide on a location, wardrobe (what to tell them to wear) props, ideas and themes to try.  You want to make the shoot effective for the short amount of time you’ll be working together, for me it’s usually 1-2 hours tops.  Making sure you have your model release ready for them to sign, and not forgetting to have them actually sign them is even a chore.  Then there is the scanning and uploading of the releases to each and every agency you’re submitting those images to.

Shooting Subjects That Can’t Talk BackIf you want to shoot food there is the purchasing of the ingredients, the prep and cooking time, the presentation of it all on the plate and table setting.  Food could sometimes be easier to work with than models, depending on the model.  Sometimes models can decide to cancel last minute, then what do you do with your time slot?  It’s very similar to any other business where you have to make appointments for your clientele, such as dentistry or a beauty salon.  There also is no “extra work” later on when shooting subjects other than people.  You don’t even have to edit the entire shoot unless you want to, and there is no mailing of a disk required.  You save on your time and money shipping a disk out to them.  Maybe you’re not interested in food. Well, maybe you could shoot other objects over white. Please don’t bother with apples, unless it’s done in a truly creative way.  Stock sites’ reviewers have seen enough of those and they’re be extra eager to slap that “reject” button as quick and hard as they possibly can.

Motivation This is the part where you come in. If you can’t get yourself motivated, nothing creative is ever going to happen.  Working from home, and being your own boss, can especially be challenging.  Maybe there isn’t a boss looking over your shoulder, and asking you whether or not you’re going to make the deadline.  You need to make your own deadlines for yourself.  Without having weekly, daily, even hourly goals, your time is going to be wasted.  I’m living it right now – some days I spend way too much time doing social networking on twitter or facebook.  Other days I spend too much time editing older, similar images that probably should have just been backed up and tucked away.  If you are having a rough time staying on task, don’t think you’re the only one.  Stay tuned, as one of my future posts here will address this topic.  There are things you can do to minimize distractions, and stick to your workflow.  Speaking of which, I think it’s time for me to stop blogging and start keywording my images!