Get in the Zone & Increase Productivity
April 13th, 2010
2Trying to sit down and start working on a design can be a real challenge. Though if I have my ideas ready to go and can get “in the zone”, I am golden. When I say “in the zone”, I’m referring to being completely free of distractions and 100% devoted to what I am working on. I am going to share my simple process on how I get “in the zone” and increase productivity.
Before I start doing any pixel pushing in Photoshop or write any line of code, I make sure I have all the details needed to begin. Depending on the project, this usually means sketches I’ve drawn up or wireframes that have been handed off to me. If I don’t have these details laid out, I’ll most likely end up shooting in the dark and waste a bunch of time.
Once I’m ready to start designing, I shut down any applications that might distract me:
- Tweetie (Twitter client)
- Socialite (RSS reader via Google Reader)
- Notify (Email notifier)
- Firefox and Safari (Unless I’ll be designing inside some HTML/CSS)
And on some occasions I’ll also shut down iChat (instant messaging) and turn off my iPhone.
Then I’ll open up the productive ones:
- Photoshop (Graphics editor)
- iTunes (Music player)
- Simplify Media (Streams my music library from my home computer inside iTunes)
- Dropbox (Version control on design files)
- CloudApp (Taking and uploading screenshots of design progress)
- Textmate (Text editor, if I’m designing inside some HTML/CSS)
- Terminal (Running my local codebase)
- Calculator (I’m terrible at math)
When I have all my tools open and ready to go, it’s time to bust out the headphones and find an album or playlist to put on. Some find music distracting, but at least for me it helps me keep focus on my design. I find that putting on something familiar helps a lot too. Music is more of a tool to set my mood, drown out all other noise, set the atmosphere and get me “in the zone.”
Pro Tip: I put a sticky note on my computer that says “HEADPHONES”, so people know I am “in the zone.”
After setting all that up I’m usually pretty much “in the zone” and ready to start pushing pixels. Though if I’m not careful I can be completely thrown out of the zone.
Here are a few zone killers I watch out for:
- Hunger
- Dehydration
- Bowel movements
- Fatigue
- Designer’s Block
If I am feeling hungry, I eat some food. If I am feeling dehydrated, I drink some water. If I gotta go, I go to the restroom and handle business. If I’m tired, I’ll take a break or stop working for the day. I try not to start designing at the end of the day, as my productivity level has dropped and I’m better off starting fresh in the morning. If I’m tired early in the day, I try to focus my attention on something else that I know I’ll be more productive with.
The big killer is Designer’s Block. If I’m suffering with it, I try and go outside, get some fresh air and look at the world around me. We are surrounded by good and bad design that we can learn from. We have the sky, trees, plants, animals, insects, buildings, cars, roads, etc. to inspire. If I’m feeling too lazy to go outside, I’ll browse the internet. We all have sites, applications, books, magazines, etc. that get our motors running and inspire us. If not, there are plenty of design resources out there for new inspiration discovery.
I hope this insight on my process of getting ‘in the zone’ can help. It’s a simple process based on common sense but sometimes it’s the simple things we don’t do that prevent us from being productive.
Tagged with: productivity, design, tips, tools
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David Harthcock
David is our Interaction Designer. Some say he resembles an ewok, others say he walks like a hobbit. He wants to evolve into a wizard. Where is all the food?
2 Comments Leave a comment
Yeah, moving your focus is a big help. Sitting on the same issue for too long will just leave me feeling frustrated. It’s those times like you said of moving on, when I usually instantly get the idea that I was missing.
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The are lots of variations of designer’s block. One trick I’ve used to avoid this particular “zone killer” is to switch problems – work on something more mundane. “What aspects of this problem have obvious solutions?” is the question I ask myself. And then I get started on those. Often, right in the middle of doing the mundane thing, an idea will pop into my head and I can go back to the creative problem solving stuff.
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