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10 tips for staying motivated as a design student

In a couple of months I will be receiving my undergraduate degree in industrial design. Over the past few years, I have juggled group projects and internships, danced between current interests and future aspirations, struggled through presentations, lumbered through difficult design briefs, and ruthlessly compared my work to that of other designers. At the end of some projects, or sometimes before one has even begun, I feel hopelessly burned out.

Thankfully, I have managed to figure out how to quickly bounce back from burnout, and, in many instances, I have been able to prevent it from even occurring. Here are a few effective ways to help you stay focused and confident as a student (or professional) designer:

1. Figure out what you’re good at. Talk to one of your peers who knows your work ethic and has an opinion about who you are as a designer, and ask them to tell you what your strengths are. That extra boost of confidence will take you far.
2. Establish a work space. Develop an environment that’s conducive to creativity and productivity. If you don’t have a dedicated work space in your studio at school, do what you can to delineate some space for yourself. Keep your desk organized so you have adequate room to work!
3. Seek out inspiration. Find fresh sources of inspiration, even if they’re not relevant to your current project. There are tons of curated lists of design blogs to frequent, but don’t limit yourself to websites. Go to museum exhibitions, take a walk, attend conferences, go on a bike ride, watch interesting films, and do whatever else you can to attend cultural events in your area. Each event might just start out as a distraction from your current work, but you may find yourself more motivated when you’re participating in stimulating activities.
4. Define your goals. It’s important to give yourself constraints, and set realistic deadlines and targets for your work. Keep reminding yourself of the problem or problems you’re trying to solve, and check back with yourself often to make sure you’re using the right approach. If you’ve been given a project brief, review it thoroughly and gather as much information as you can early on. If it’s self-initiated work, remember to keep your goals manageable.
5. Recognize that it’s okay to change your mind. It’s easy to get stuck on one idea for too long. If you have to force something to work, it’s probably a pretty good sign that it’s time to move on. Sometimes you need to change directions early on in the project, and sometimes it happens the night before a deadline. As long as you end up with a high-quality piece of work, this shouldn’t matter. If you’re not sure if it’s time to push your project in a different direction, feel free to run your ideas by someone who has little knowledge of the project, as well as by someone who has a better idea of what you’re doing. Depending on their feedback, your next move should be pretty clear.
6. Figure out your best work time. Some people do their best work in the morning after a workout, while others have greater success at 3 AM. Identify your work flow cycle, and take as much advantage of it as you can. What if you signed up for an early morning studio, but you bang out better sketches in the afternoon after lunch? No worries. Focus on something else in the morning, like the research phase or gathering inspiration images for your mood board.
7. Get close to other designers. Get to know the students in your studio, and use them as a source of inspiration. I can’t begin to measure the amount of knowledge I’ve gleaned from my studio mates over the years. In addition to gaining insight from those who are experiencing the same things that you are experiencing, get involved in the local design scene and reach out to established professionals. Go to design meetups, and get involved in both your local and university chapters of the national design association for your discipline.
8. Work with students in other disciplines. One of the best things I ever did for my academic career was make the decision to minor in computer science. Not only has it affected the way I think and approach design problems, but it has afforded me the opportunity to meet other students who are not in my major and work with them on fun projects. It is important to take on work that allows for this kind of cross-disciplinary collaboration. Not only will you end up with a much more comprehensive product, but this kind of cross-disciplinary teamwork allows for a much better application of your design principles, and mimics the kind of work you will be doing after graduation.
9. Always carry a notepad and pen. Always keep something to jot your ideas down on your person. You never know when inspiration will strike! I prefer to keep a small notepad on me, but I also use my iPhone to record any random ideas as they happen.
10. Realize that it’s okay to feel inadequate. We’ve all met at lease one person who excels at everything, seemingly effortlessly, and we just can’t help but realize that we will never measure up. Imposter syndrome is a very real thing that plagues even the best of us. However, you must remember that we are all human, and the best thing for you to do for yourself is to stop comparing yourself to others. I know it’s easier said than done, but, trust me, it is worth the effort. Focus on your goals and aspirations, and recognize that it’s not a race. However, please note that, as a designer, you will never be in a position to completely ignore the work of other designers, nor should you want to be. Nevertheless, you will find that it’s much easier to focus on your own progress if you’re not constantly comparing yourself to others.

These suggestions have helped me out of many a design rut. I think the most important thing is to be honest with yourself about who you are, right now, as a designer, and who you wish to become. Spend some time thinking about the big picture, both as it applies to you, as well as how it applies to your projects. You may find yourself going in a few different directions until you end up someplace completely different from where you expected, and that’s perfectly fine.