Life, it seems, is not going to slow down. Everyone that I know is, in fact, quite busy: engaged in raising their children, paying their bills, and trying to have a meaningful experience amidst all that. Many of my conversations with my friends begin with a long exchange about how wiped out we are from our respective schedules.
Yet most of us–myself included– consistently fret that we are not doing enough. The pace of our daily lives, and the demands on us, consistently ask for productivity. While it is valuable and feels good to be productive, it’s not the only element that goes into building sustainable, prosperous work. Sustainable, here, I think is the key; for, while we might be productive in the short term, we are not machines. Out tolerance for mere production is limited. Numerous studies, done by people far smarter than me, show that productivity over time for even the most focused individuals drops markedly after a certain point. One of the things that sustains work is learning.
I love to learn. Optimally, I would like to constantly be learning, to continually be curious and allow my curiosity to guide me. All sorts of things make me curious: the complexities of a microchip; how many species of animal might live in one single hollow log at the same time; life on another planet.
One of the reasons I love what I do is that I constantly get to work on new things, learn new ideas, and come up with ways to ignite the same kind of curiosity and excitement I feel about them to others. That’s a reward of good design; the emotional intent of the person with the message gets translated to the audience.
Learning, however, takes time. And patience; and a certain freedom to surrender to the process and make some mistakes. That’s a difficult thing to reconcile, sometimes, when we’re constantly expected to produce, or be on a schedule.
I don’t propose to have the answer to where that balance is; more than likely, it changes all the time depending on the circumstances. One thing is clear, though: good work, revolutionary ideas, and wonderful results come from learning, and play, and experimentation. So I resolve to continually renew my student ID; try on new hats; fail. Fail spectacularly, even. If I’m doing it right, watching me crash to the ground will be hilarious – for all involved. And I do enjoy a good laugh.
Speaking of which: it’s time for this website to go live!