A talk on how to avoid burning out as a designer.
In 2021 I was invited to talk at GIF, a monthly "online afterwork" event for professionals to talk about design, product, and creativity. At the time I was recovering from burnout and I chose to share my experience, what I had learned, and everything I was doing to heal.
I believe our industry has started to value s̶o̶f̶t̶ foundational skills as importantly as it does hard skills, but I think there's a critical one still missing. Something that the pandemic taught me was that the way that I was working was harmful and unsustainable. And "The Great Resignation" proves that I wasn't the only one who realized that. For many, a big part of the solution is to resign since they don't have the necessary support from their employers. I was lucky in that sense. I had an enormous amount of support from mine, but the harm was coming from me. From my habits and my perspective towards work. My main point from this talk is that, in order to be thriving and successful designers for the long run, we need to foster sensible and sustainable work habits.
