How Three Mindsets Affect Speed and Quality of Design Work
Artist and Author Leah Kopke
Editor Ezra Blocker
We’ve all heard the saying “time is money,” but this cliché phrase is an oversimplification for design and business. Our perception of time affects how much a project costs, and its success. There are three types of speed, and mindsets I’ve reckoned with when it comes to design. I will go over how much these mindsets truly cost and what will help you reach the optimal speed in your design process. You have the ability to choose your state of mind regarding time in your design process.
Flow State Mindset
The first type of mindset, you find in something called the flow state. This type of speed comes from being in the moment doing something that sparks interest, and has been mastered to a degree. It happens when one is in the current moment, entirely enveloped in what they are doing, and giving that their entire focus. Flow state is often automatic, rather than a conscious decision. Typically speed will come naturally from this. Focusing on one subject reduces cognitive load, fatigue, and allows one to work more efficiently for longer periods of time. The alternative to this is multitasking. Flow state focuses your energy to do the task at hand to one’s full capability. This mindset doesn’t have the goal of speed, but it is a byproduct of being in the moment fully focused. It is calm. A flow state mindset reduces errors.
I experienced flow state working on a video for YouTube. I have a strong interest in Cinema 4D. When I worked on a YouTube video on Pyro simulations in Cinema 4D, I lost track of time. While reading the manual, and trying out various settings on my computer, I would forget to eat and drink because I was so immersed in that task. I would look up videos teaching physics to better understand how fires work in real life to better understand simulating one on my computer. My phone could go off and I wouldn’t even hear it because at that moment, my mind was focused on only one task. I’ve learned since then that if I am doing something I know can trigger a flow state, it is important to create a reminder for myself to eat or drink. You may want to do this for yourself as well. In the past, extreme hunger late at night would be the factor that snapped me out of this mindset. Now I make my health a priority.
Many athletes and artists have made mention of entering into this state. They describe getting into a zone where they tune out crowds and pressures and are solely focused on the task at hand. Flow state often coincides with their biggest moments or greatest accomplishments.
Under Pressure and Scattered Mindset
The second type of mindset is one you find in tight-deadlines, restriction, pressure, and worry. This type of speed comes with distracting thoughts about other’s expectations. It is fueled by panic instead of by passion. Time becomes the focus as much as the project itself. Thoughts can feel scattered in this instance. Cognitive load is high and fatigue creeps in quickly. This can lead to errors in judgement and in the final product. On the surface this kind of speed feels fast and even productive; however, it can lead to errors that come at the cost of time or even safety. This is neither efficient nor healthy.
Consider the race to place a man on the moon as an example. A preflight test conducted by Nasa in 1967 of Apollo 1 tragically took the lives of three astronauts: Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The fire that led to the disaster was completely preventable. Deadlines were tight and this pressure led to multiple errors. This setback the project and lowered morale. The heaviest toll was the human one of the astronauts lost that day. While time is money, there are aspects of life worth more than money. Let their memory inspire us to be better. We choose our own perspective, thus our state of mind. It is better to slow down and do something right. Sometimes slowing down is the least costly and quickest option.
When your design process includes solving problems or learning something new within a deadline, it may feel like taking a step into the unknown. It may not be possible to reach flow state. If you are learning and have not yet mastered a necessary skill, it could be difficult to relax into this state. You are like the scientists working on getting a man on the moon, doing something daring and admirable. Passion projects make it easier to focus, however not every project can be a passion project. These factors can make a natural flow state seem hard to reach. The third mindset can overcome these challenges.
Mindfulness Under Pressure Mindset
The third mindset is mindfulness under pressure. Mindfulness is easier to reach when slowing down and being present in your body without self-judgement. How does one slow down in a high pressure, demanding situation to be mindful? Taking a few deep breaths and recognizing how your body feels is a good start. Where do you feel tension? How fast is your heart rate? How does your breathing feel? This will ground you in the current moment and clear space in your mind to focus on the current task rather than racing thoughts of worry. The goal of this is awareness of your body, rather than changing how you feel. This awareness will reduce cognitive load, thus conserving your energy. We are shifting your mind away from being scattered to awareness of the present moment by using your sensations as an anchor. This will then in return make it easier to turn your focus towards the project at hand with mindfulness.
Let’s explore using mindfulness as a tool to change our perspective of a project to help us move towards the calmer mindset that is found in flow state. When you are learning while working, it can bring about feelings of frustration, fear, or overwhelm which may make it difficult to enter a calm flow state. However, you can make the most of the situation by using elements of flow state like bringing your mind to the present moment. You can reduce distractions and set boundaries with people who may want your attention elsewhere to help you be present. Being mindful of your perspective and choosing to change it can help relieve some stress to free up your mind to focus. Situations aren’t usually as high-pressure as they may seem since our minds tend to focus on the negative since this focus kept our ancestors alive. In the modern day, we don’t need our minds to be as alert to danger. Relaxing the body and looking at the situation more analytically can change your perspective of a high-pressure project to something that feels more manageable. It also makes it easier to brainstorm solutions to a problem.
An example of how I’ve used mindfulness are the steps I took to handle a complicated challenge with a client project that had last minute changes that needed to be done in a day via email. My client had a meeting coming up and asked for numerous changes to a finished animation so it could be ready to present then. Upon reading this, I noticed my heart beat speed up some so I turned my focus towards its rhythm and my breath. As I watched my heartbeat, it began to slow to a regular pace. This made it easier to view the situation calmly and analytically so I could change my perspective from a high-stress one to a calm one. Although this meeting is important and my client is important, I realized that this one project wouldn’t break down my entire business or build it up. I would be okay regardless. Then I could calmly focus on brainstorming solutions to their goal. I could fit in the animation changes they needed within the timeframe but there wouldn’t be enough time or money in the budget to get it re-rendered at the agreed resolution in time. I focused on communication as a solution. I provided multiple options to my client for them to choose from including paying for a render farm to keep the animation resolution high, extending the deadline to allow for a high resolution render on my machine with no additional render farm fees, or lowering the resolution to something my computer could manage overnight for no added cost. That conversation led to an agreement to do the animation at a lower resolution to have it rendered on time. They decided that resolution and appearance wasn’t a priority. Clearly communicating the process in the video was the priority as well as saving money. This was a win-win situation where everyone got what they wanted as a solution to a high-pressure project. It is an example of how mindfulness can help make creative solutions apparent that can ease pressure and speed up a project.
Final Thoughts
Using mindfulness techniques will help you see possible solutions easier that can help a project move along at a brisker pace. Being present can help you gain a clearer perspective that can help you feel calmer in challenging situations. You can overcome the challenges of overwhelming and tight deadlines. Changing your mindset can change the speed and improve the quality of your work.
