I've edited a bit here - but my brilliant friend said this:
Boredom is pivotal
Opportunity arises from the spaces between.
Boredom begets frustration.
Frustration begets action.
Action begets invention.
Too often we circumvent that opportunity with pacifiers:
Endless scrolls.
Mindless busywork.
Anything to avoid the 'pain' of boredom
Boredom is not the enemy.
Its the signal that something is unfinished, waiting to be built.
When we sit with it, it creates pressure that forces the better/deeper question.
Better questions is where invention - and innovation - begins.
Boredom is pivotal
Opportunity arises from the spaces between.
Boredom begets frustration.
Frustration begets action.
Action begets invention.
Too often we circumvent that opportunity with pacifiers:
Endless scrolls.
Mindless busywork.
Anything to avoid the 'pain' of boredom
Boredom is not the enemy.
Its the signal that something is unfinished, waiting to be built.
When we sit with it, it creates pressure that forces the better/deeper question.
Better questions is where invention - and innovation - begins.
And many moons ago that same friend once said something that stuck with me:
“The band has to stop touring and write some songs.”
It's 100% true and I repeat to this day.
“The band has to stop touring and write some songs.”
It's 100% true and I repeat to this day.
Companies are very good at keeping designers on tour.
Shipping. Producing. Responding. Delivering. Repeat until you break.
Shipping. Producing. Responding. Delivering. Repeat until you break.
But if you stay on tour forever, the songs get worse. The band falls apart.
Designers have to fight for the space between.
Which inevitably means learning to use a tool many of us avoid:
No.
No to busywork.
No to constant motion.
No to filling every empty space, or addressing every opportunity.
Saying No is not the enemy.
It's the friend that gives you your time (often your sanity) back
It opens the space between where the next song can be written.
No to constant motion.
No to filling every empty space, or addressing every opportunity.
Saying No is not the enemy.
It's the friend that gives you your time (often your sanity) back
It opens the space between where the next song can be written.