A little time management can make you a way better designer
There are designers or design students who barely have time to do the things they want to do. And by then, they are usually too tired to even think about them.
But what if I tell you there was a way to be able to do the things you want, and at the same time, get your work done AND sleep?
Well duh, isn’t it NOT procrastinating?
It’s harder than that. Procrastination is a hard habit to break, and distractions are all around us. How we feel overrides any goal making decision we decide to make. When this continues to happen, it can cause negativity and stress which can continue to perpetuate this vicious cycle. And for the people who say they work under pressure, it’s simply a justification for putting off work.
This won’t bode well for you in anything you do, especially in design, where you have intense timelines and a limited budget to work with.
What’s the solution?
The solution to procrastinating as well as what I said above is time management.
This past year I’m happy to report that I got a lot done because I prioritized the things I wanted to do on top of all the things I needed to do.
Here is what I did:
- Traveled around the country two times
- Found and received internship offers from big4 tech companies
- Spent more quality time with my friends
- Made new friends and designers
- Started writing
- Read more
- Refined my UX skills and how I present work
- Research (yes I do research during my free time 😜)
If I just focused on school, or if I wasted my time not getting the things I needed to do done until the last minute, I wouldn’t have gotten to do all of these things.
Here are a few reasons why time management is important and how it changed the way I get things done.
Time management puts you in control
The work doesn’t control how you act, you do. By understanding the amount of time it takes for you to get something done and when you need to get it done allows you to assess yourself and how you work. Once you understand your workflow, the work you typically do in 3 hours can be done in 1 hour.
In high school, I used to be a major procrastinator. I would get majorly distracted because I was scared to produce bad or work with mistakes. When we let our feelings become consumed by our desire to produce “good” work, it doesn’t get us anywhere.
It was only in my third year of college where I understood my realized the only way to get things done and move on is to just do it! Simple as that. As a designer, it is important to consistently produce work in order to improve our skills and be able to use them to solve more problems. This meant I had to be able to think about how the use my skills efficiently and execute with the time I was given in order to finish a project. By finishing projects early, I had room to breathe instead of rushing myself and that has provided the incentive to continue finishing work early because I wanted to be in control with how I spent my time.
Tip 1: Understand HOW you work
People are going to want to know how you work and what your strengths/weaknesses are when you work on a team. By understanding your work flow and how long it takes for you to finish something, you can eliminate the extra time you spend doing the things you may not be good at and focus on purely your strengths with the tasks you need to get done. That way you get your work done in the most optimal time possible and you can always improve your weaknesses later. It takes a while to understand how you work, but one thing I usually do is create a timeline of all the things I need to get done and stick to it.
You can get work done faster and still produce good work, but in the end, it is about HOW you get it done that matters.
Of course, execution of a project is important. You need to be create thoughtful and well-designed work and by using time as a major constraint, you will be able to create quality work in a shorter period of time once you change the way you work and become in control with how you use your time. The best designers are in control of the time they spend and the work they produce because they are focused and plan out their priorities.
You can get more done with less effort
Focus is one of the key elements of time management, but it’s hard. By focusing more on tasks you need to get done, you can finish quicker which leads to more time! Focus is important because it allows you to think. By getting rid of distraction and focusing on the task at hand, your brain focuses on that one task, resulting in higher quality work in less time than if you multi-tasked.
With focus, you are unstoppable.
By focusing on one thing, we alleviate our stress because we aren’t trying to do multiple things at once. When we overwhelm our brain, it makes us not want to do anything and that is one of the reasons why we don’t get work done.
Tip 2: Take Breaks
We all have experienced the feeling of sitting down in front of our computer to work, only to find ourselves barely getting anything done. When we take breaks and strategically spread them apart, it allows us to be more productive and let our creative juices flow. Our physical health requires us to rest and rejuvenate so we can prevent injuries and do things normally. Our mental health follows the same concept; we need to rest and relax so our minds can take on the work we have to do and not lose sight of its significance.
Designers need to allow time to re-charge, reflect and gain focus in order to work effectively and efficiently.
As designers, working with breaks and constraints allows us to focus more on the problem and provide a framework in order to achieve a goal. This is essential in the design industry when time and money are limited. Focus can be hard when your brain is constantly stimulated. When you are distracted, we are unable to continue treating a task as important. By taking breaks, you can return to work with a newfound energy and purpose.
You can have more time on yourself
We only have so much time until it runs out. In other words time is limited. With good time management, we have more free time and with more free time, you can do what you like to do and ultimately have a more fulfilling life.
Most of the time we tell ourselves we don’t have time, but in reality we have to MAKE the time.
I make sure to finish my work as early as I can to be able to reflect and learn new things, whether it’s reading more on how to be a better designer or helping my friends when they need it. Because I finish my work early, I feel like I have a lot of room to do the things I want to do.
Tip 3: Be Flexible
It is important to be flexible and make time for the things that matter. When we say we don’t have time, it’s probably the feeling that we need to get something done and the feeling of stress which overrides everything else. In reality, everyone has time to spare and spending time with your friend may be even more productive than sitting in front of computer for hours because it allows your mind to unwind and rest, giving you a new found purpose and motivation to do work next time.
Designers need to be able have time for themselves in order to experience the world around them and reflect.
Most of our design ideas or decisions are based on our personal experiences and along with our knowledge in design, they have the potential to change the world. By being flexible, we allow ourselves to look at things from new perspectives and gain insights we might not have realized if we kept the same routine.
You can learn more
By learning more in a shorter period of time, you increase your experience faster than everyone else.
There is so much I want to learn and the only way I was able to learn as much as I have so far is creating goals and striving to meet them. I learn more through process and so by creating goals, I would be learning how to do x in order to do y.
Tip 4: Have smaller goals which lead to the bigger goal
During the start of this school year, I came with up big goals I wanted to accomplish and in order to do them, I had to be better with how I used my time by finishing the smaller, yet important tasks that were essential to getting to my main goal. This meant I had to control the time I spent on my work and not let time control me. By tackling things head on, it made me realize that by doing something, I was one step closer to finishing. The feeling of progress is much better than not doing things and stressing out about them.
Creating big goals and then having smaller goals to get the bigger goal led me to finding an internship in my sophomore year of college (read more here). By my third year, I was able to find an internship early, write more, and travel. Through these experiences, I have learned so much by just having goals to do these things and I wouldn’t have gotten to do them if I didn’t manage my time well.
You don’t need to panic (if you do work bit by bit)
Time management builds discipline and overtime it causes you to procrastinate less. Think about it this way: If you have to do this work, why not get started on it but do it little by little. That way, you don’t overwhelm yourself which often leads to procrastination.
Tip 5: Do work in small increments
When you do little it little, it keeps you from becoming overwhelmed and allows you to stay focused over a longer period of time. A to-do list helps you as it provides you a more tangible way of being more aware of what you need to do, giving you more incentive to physically check off the things you do. I have a to do list on my phone where I organize the tasks by things I need to do NOW, LATER and the FUTURE. That way it is easier to prioritize the things you have to do vs doing later. It also allows you to keep sight of your goals.
Conclusion
- As a UX designer, it is important to constantly learn and build on your skills as well as understand how you work in order to do what you like and continue being relevant in the industry. My life experiences have shaped how I think about design and that is something I would not have gotten simply by investing all my time on school or procrastination .
- With good time management, you become more aware of how much time you have and need to get things done. With these skills, you become more aware of how long it takes for you to get something done, allowing you to accomplish more in a shorter period of time and allowing you more freedom to do the things you want to do.
- Good time management alleviates stress while increasing your experience, work quality and focus. Each aspect of time management is an important aspect to living a healthier, more meaningful life which is something I have been wanting to do. As a designer, it is my goal meaningful experiences for others, but what good does that do if I prevent myself from experiencing meaningful things which allow me to connect with others? By having more time, I have learned so much about design, increased the quality of my design work, and had extra time to spare all while managing my school work and taking 6 classes.
- Developing good time management skills does not happen overnight. But think about it like this: If you have something you want to do, make time for it, and if you think you don’t have time, work smarter, not harder.
If you have any questions about design, message me on LinkedIn and I’ll write about it!
To help you get started on owning your design career, here are some amazing tools from Rookieup, a site I used to get mentorship from senior designers:
- Build a portfolio with help from an experienced designer
- Essential tools to strengthen and build your portfolio
- Take control of your time and career by becoming a freelancer
- Tips and tricks to get an amazing design job
