Dealing with slumps!!!

[quattrokid73]

Hey everyone!

This is my third year of design school (5th year of college overall), and I just got done interning at Procter & Gamble doing a whole bunch of awesome stuff.

My problem is, after such an intense and rewarding internship, and 5 years into school, I'm just having a hard time focusing. I've got 2 more years to go, but school seems so boring compared to actual design life...

Stopping now is not an option, but it's just hard to push myself right now on projects I know only end up in my portfolio. I want to be working on real things. I know I'm capable of my best work ever right now, but I just want to go home and ride my bikes and talk to womens.

What do you guys do to get out of slumps like this? I know at least talking about it will be therapy...

Thanks!

PS. You can see what I've been upto in my portfolio link in my signature.

[spyderknut]

Go on some job interviews with your portfolio as is. You will either find that stopping your training is an option or you will become more highly motivated.

[clovisc]

as far as creative slumps go, the brian eno oblique strategies generator is a great way to go...

http://www.palace.net/~llama/oblique/

otherwise, chill out and have a beer, and celebrate your accomplishments to date!

[Jimd]

I know you want to sink your teeth into real, "meaningful" projects. However, you'd likely be best served by getting your degree, because it's that piece of paper that employers want to see.

These days, unfortunately, it's not as much about what actual knowledge a prospective employee has, but rather what the piece of paper says that they're holding.

[clovisc]

actually, i almost completely disagree with Jim D on this point. i understand that where he works, things might be (and almost certainly are) VERY different from everywhere else... but the general trends are going in the other direction.

there's no substitute for experience+results. after spending a couple years volunteering, and amassing real world experience, i've never once been asked about my educational background during a job interview -- i just show examples of how much grant funding i've brought in, projects that i've worked on and made happen, etc., and then i'm usually the one asking the questions of potential employers. i've been working well outside the bounds of my art history BA ever since graduation.

nothing speaks better than proven results during a job interview.

my significant other dropped out of college... she's been the executive director of two different non-profit organizations, currently works full time + with two jobs making WAY more money than me, and is a member of the lion's club, chamber of commerce, rotary club, on and on and on. she's never been asked about her education during an interview, either. she's gotten to where she is by working hard, doing lots of volunteering and networking, and showing proven result to potential employers. :D

the guy who runs the shipyard here in town (an enormous EDA project) also never went to college. he's youngish (40s?), and has gotten to where he is by wits, experience, and hard work alone.

especially in urban areas, and especially-especially during the current state of the economy, you find TONS of recent college graduates working jobs that have nothing to do with their major, that they're completely unqualified for, living with their parents until they hit 30 or so, unable to cut the mustard... with degrees in really "useful" stuff. they can't get a job because they don't have experience. and they can't get a job to get experience because they don't have experience. :rolleyes:

if you have an opportunity to amass real world experience, and add real examples of "success" to your portfolio (a high selling product, for example, or significant work with a well-respected company), that will almost certainly look better than any sort of certification when you try to land future design jobs.

although, the way the job market is currently, you might be better off hanging out in school... :D

anyway, in summary... just chill out, and have a beer. :D

[quattrokid73]

I've got to stick the degree out. And I want to stick the degree out. It's just a matter of getting the fire stoked right now.

I've got one part of the puzzle figured out...This past week my roommate and I have been feeling lethargic and uninspired and today we both realized we're getting sick! So...I'm on the orange juice, vitamin, and zinc remedy until I feel better. I'll grab some chicken based soup asap as well.

It just sucks because we're in the middle of finishing a rather big project, I've got interviews coming up, etc.

Obviously these issues pale in comparison to virtually all of the issues others have brought up on this off topic section, but it's community support that's huge!

Thanks for the great tips guys. I do need to grab a beer and collect myself.

If anyone else has any advice, I'd love to hear.

-Adam

[O,just,O]

I don't know mate, but there is something in what clovisc wrote that works for me. In that the more of myself that I give away, the more that falls into my lap. Like prayer, praying for others wellbeing works better than praying for your own. Here is the hard bit to swallow. You may well think that you can produce your best work now, I don't know, but do your potential employers think the same ? You may yet have to give more time to gain the best possible end result. Nothing good was ever won cheaply. :) All the best, & a good pedal to the metal blast in the Quattro ought to get the blood circulating correctly again.
O.

[Clawhammer]

Check out the "TED" (ideas & innovation) website... it's got talks from people with ideas that'll have you re-energised in an afternoon!

Check out Tony Robbin's quick talk on what gets people motivated

http://www.ted.com/speakers/tony_robbins.html

You can download or stream and it's all free!!!! Free I tells ya!

[Kuolema]

Well, as a fellow student who is in his third year and facing the somewhat same circumstances, I feel I could share my point of view on things. I'm an English major and a writer, and tend to just plagarise the ideas of others, so forgive me in advance.

Firstly, keep this in mind: Abraham Lincoln once said, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." This is how I generally view things. The end result of your education will be (I hope) doing permanently what you were doing while you were interning. Think of your schooling as simply just sharpening the 'axe'.

Henry Steele Commager, a famous American Historian (I love history, as well!) once said, "Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them."

So, what have I said in these massive walls of text? Not much. Just simply, keep at it. What you learn in your schooling now, however boring, will sharpen and hone your skills, and you'll be the better for it at the end. Use this time to network, expand your skills, learn new ideas, and just have fun. If you do that, just imagine how much more rewarding your final career will be! :)


Best of luck to you,

Jared.

[SlideTechnik]

Start your own company or do freelance on the side.

[Jimd]

actually, i almost completely disagree with Jim D on this point. i understand that where he works, things might be (and almost certainly are) VERY different from everywhere else... but the general trends are going in the other direction.

To be fair, I have to say it depends upon where one lives. Here in PA, I've watched many, many people with zero job experience but with college degrees being hired ahead of others that have lots of real-world experience but no or little college.

I have an Associate's Degree, but here it's just about worthless. A few decades ago, people needed at least a high school diploma if they hoped to get any sort of decent job. Now it seems to have evolved into at least needing the associate's degree as the equivalent. And even then, it's not going to knock an employer's socks off.

I'm not just referring to my place of employment; this seems to be over the entire region where I live. Sure, there are naturally exceptions, but in general, employers like to see that piece of paper that says you've sat in a classroom for at least four years, even if you don't have any actual experience.

I imagine other regions are different. Here in the Northeast, people are extremely uptight.

[ozspyder]

Hey mate,

I know a bit about this as I was doing a 6 year Architecture degree at uni and by Year 3 I was burnt out. Working 6 days a week and studying 2-3 days didn't leave much time for anything else (partying in between didn't help my energy levels either :p ).

I was going to do what a lot of people did which was to take a 1 year sabbatical in the middle. However, I didn't do so. I decided to just stick it out and keep going. Working on really amazing projects like The Sydney Olympics, Casinos, Stadiums, Theatres and lots of really nice high-rise buildings locally and internationally meant that the real life projects meant more to me than the theoretical ones.

I found that by doing things totally unrelated to architecture gave me more interest in it when I did get back to it. A bit of physical activity like gardening, building, and sports - martial arts, team spoprts etc seem to get me invigorated. Lots of coffee, Tim Tams and Coke seem to help get through the all-nighters :D