Be Patient With Yourself
By Naimah Q, Design & Marketing Manager
July 15, 2019
Dear, Entrepreneurs!
One of the biggest challenges and advantages of being a graphic designer is that you don’t have to have an actual 9 to 5 to be working. It is easy now to sell your skills online to clients around the world, or to be a contractor at one place for this amount of time and at another place for a totally different amount of time. Some people, like myself, work a 9-5 as a corporate designer and then leave to do more design work for their own companies. However, having such a fluid career and working so much can easily become exhausting.
It is hard to work all day and into the night, which is something that entrepreneurs who still hold regular jobs often do. It can be a strain to be expected to be close to perfect at our day jobs, and then head home physically tired but still holding the same, if not higher, expectations of ourselves when it comes to working on our own endeavors. But isn’t this a necessary evil? Don’t we need to convince ourselves that we have to work hard all the time to get where we want to be quicker? If we don’t do this, we’ll be giving up on ourselves, RIGHT?
No. In my opinion, that isn’t true at all. As one of many people in the world who struggles with anxiety and depression, these unreasonable expectations are more detrimental than encouraging. I’ve shared stories with staff members about projects that I would put off because these high standards of mine would overwhelm me to the point where I wouldn’t want to face the project at all. Putting off these projects resulted in lost opportunities and further feelings of guilt that would make me procrastinate even longer. Pushing and working when I really was too tired set me back. I was going nowhere fast.
If you are starting a business in a saturated field like graphic design is starting to become; it’s important to know it will take hard work to achieve your goals. With that understood, remind yourself that you are only human. Planning ahead and researching will become your best friends, especially on the days when you are tired from your 9-5. Be honest with yourself and others. It’s ok to admit that you are exhausted from your 9-5! Don’t pretend your fatigue doesn’t exist. Listen to your body, rest a little, read a little, drink some tea a little, and then make decisions. Don’t force yourself to focus in a fog. Mental stability is key, and it is a great foundation on which to build sound entrepreneurial thinking.
Be patient with yourself!
