In honor of our 50th article on Frocks in Stock, I wanted to post something that would be helpful and immediately actionable, without being overwhelming.
So I reached out to my network via email, Slack, LinkedIn, and good ol' dm, to try to get 50, or at least a significant amount of, habits that have had a positive impact on peoples' careers.
I got 30! (Which, tbh, was more than I expected 😆)
And I organized them here. Interestingly, there were four common threads that appeared, as you’ll see below.
Read on to find something that speaks to you - some small change you can implement for big results in your career and your life.
(Special shoutout to Adobe Firefly for these cool images I generated)
Inspiration & Trends
Look for inspiration everywhere
Surround yourself with good design. Check Behance, Pinterest, Instagram and Dribbble. Look at the latest trends and live and breathe design. - Esti Meisels
Follow the work of design legends, past and present. Surround yourself with great design and it will rub off on you. - Miriam Kirzner
My first habit is staying curious and always looking for ideas for my next design. I see ideas in everything that I look at. When I buy something, I read the copy to see if it's funny and entertaining or boring. When I get an email I check to see if it's engaging, has good layout, hierarchy, CTA etc. I save things I like in mymind or Pinterest all the time. It helps jumpstart projects and helps me stay creative. - Chana Miriam Rosen
Have a morning inspo boost
Obsessively read design blogs every morning - Rivkie Leiberman
Get out of the house
Shopping. And I don’t mean buying things - I mean browsing to see new and different things constantly. First of all, it gets me out of the office/away from the computer screen. It also helps me to get lots of creative inspiration. - Chaya Teitelbaum
Inspiration is everywhere, so take the time to intentionally walk away from the screen and look around. - Shayna Kaweblum, CEO The Rare Guild
Learning & Practicing
Stay curious. There's always something new to learn. - Esther Werber
Constantly learning. Our industry changes often and if you don’t learn you become outdated. - Tova Borowski
Take on a design-a-day challenge
I think my style solidified and my workflow improved when I made a point of doing an illustration a week or a pattern a day. I'm not the take-a-hachlata-on-forever kind of person, so every time I've done something like that, it's been for just one year or only a month. Not making it a long-term commitment helped make it less intimidating, and posting to social media kept me accountable. Nowadays, I don't have the time, or maybe I don't feel the need, because, Boruch Hashem, I find my actual day job more fulfilling and busy, but I think it's a good thing to do at least once if you're at a time when you don't think you're really finding yourself in your work or are facing downtime. - Raizel Shurpin
Learn a skill a week
Learn new…design skills every week. I'm always looking for different types of designs that appeal to different client types to widen my portfolio. - OC Presentation Designs
Think about the designs you see
Absorbing (and analysing) the best design I can get my hands on. - Yael Slasky
Create every idea, even the bad ones
A habit that I just formed lately is allowing myself to make bad designs first. I know I'll come up with something good but sometimes all the ugly stuff has to get out first. And sometimes it's a springboard for a better idea :) - Chana Miriam Rosen
Listen to podcasts
I’m an avid podcast listener and I am always listening to a podcast about business, design or self help. This habit has given me a wealth of knowledge. There are so many brilliant minds to learn from and so much free information! For brand design I love “better: the brand designer podcast” For business I love “how I built this” by guy raz. Those are my top faves. - Miriam Noble
Learn from others
Reach out to those that are ahead of you for guidance and feedback. (I have people constantly reaching out to me.) - Esti Meisels
Tools & Processes
Prepare in advance
Planning my day everyday the night before - ST Rappaport
Use a calendar software
Finally starting to use Google Calendar has been a game changer. - Shiran Zaray-Mizrahi
Create a morning routine
Doing the miracle morning - every day. There's this book called 'The Miracle Morning' and it explains a morning routine in depth, involving meditation, affirmations, visualisation, exercise, reading a self help book, and journaling. - Miri Miller
Do your daily exercise
Well for sure exercising, which gives me energy to keep going. That has been life changing. - Shiran Zaray-Mizrahi
Have a designated office space
When I started working in a shared office space as opposed to working from home, I found my productivity was greatly enhanced! - Anonymous
Have set working hours
Another thing which I really try to do is start my work day at 9. It gets the day going on a much better note and I end up feeling more accomplished (not to mention getting home earlier!) - Anonymous
Write down your process
Creating a step by step creative process that enables me to produce quality work even when “the creative juices” aren’t flowing. I broke down my design flow into a set of steps that lead to a great result. This has made me faster, better and more efficient! - Miriam Noble
Create lists
Implementing the GTD method by David Allen. Basically, it's a system where you empty your brain into your inbox list. This is part of the "Capture" step, the first of the five steps in GTD: Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect, and Engage. Then you go through everything on your lists and sort it into categories, which aligns with the "Clarify" and "Organize" steps of GTD. I use contexts like work, home, errands, and calendar, organizing tasks by where or how they can be done. This approach helps streamline decision-making and increases productivity by grouping related tasks. (I use Notion for my lists) - Mindy Beane
Just do it
The two-minute rule: If a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. This prevents small tasks from clogging up your system. - Mindy Beane
Customer service
One of my habits/nature is that I’m a people pleaser which means I have to please my clients all the time. It puts a stress on me but ensures I keep their satisfaction top priority. - Malka Glick
Aim for perfection
I’m a perfectionist which I think is a huge asset in corporate design. But I think the artsy, creative, uneven style has its place in other design styles. - Malka Glick
Empathy
Give back
At one point I had a commitment to help someone for free - every single day. That was very empowering and meaningful - especially in the times where projects/clients were slow. - Miri Miller
Remove the ego
Work with the clients goal in mind, not your portfolio, or what you learnt is best. If you’re truly on your clients ‘team’ it’ll be a successful project where all sides leave happy and on good terms - Rachel Segal
Work with good people
Only work with positive, good people that appreciate your work and value your time! - Leah Markowitz
Network
And another habit is 'bring other people business.' I have that written on my wall to remind me. Whenever I meet someone new, I try to connect them with a potential client - as much as I can. - Miri Miller
And this felt like the right note to end this article on:
Include Hashem in my business. Not dafka a positive impact on the business, but a positive impact on myself. - Fraidy Margulis
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