Is Your Planning Procrastination in Disguise?

The process of planning can be an important method of prioritization of our creative lives. It can also be a comfort—there’s something soothing about writing a list, checking off a box, making a schedule. Yet as much as planning might provide clarity and signal to others that we have it together, it can be procrastination in disguise. 

“For some people, planning can be a way to organize what might feel chaotic, but it can creep into avoidance,” says Melbourne-based clinical psychologist Dr. Jacqueline Baulch. We plan (or overplan) because we fear uncertainty. “Uncertainty is nebulous and planning is the opposite…But putting something as unwieldy as our future into a few Post-it notes doesn’t really change the uncertainty itself,” says Baulch. 

Planning can also be a symptom of perfectionism. It’s easier to plan than move through the messy middle, so some may get stuck in crafting a plan rather than executing. But the creative process is inherently imperfect, explains Dr. Baulch. “Often we only want to get started if we are certain it will be polished, perfect, or successful.” But the real victory comes when we’re able to accept “the drivel that comes out initially and keep persevering.”

When it comes to our careers, o​ften it’s embracing fear and uncertainty that leads to the greatest opportunities​ and best work.​ Here, successful designers, artists, and writers share their strategies for moving through it and getting things done.

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The difference between constructive planning and procrastination 

Planning feels productive, but obsessing over a schedule or spreadsheet before diving into the real work fundamentally is no different than classic procrastination. The key is self-awareness to catch the tipping point where planning becomes a form of delayed action.

“You can’t change something without knowing it’s there,” Dr. Baluch says. “Most of what drives us is unconscious. Tuning into our bodies, thoughts, and emotions helps raise our self-awareness so we are more able to step back, shift and take charge of the process.”

Are you are planning as a way to clarify or avoid? If the answer is unclear, tune into your body, suggests Dr. Baulch. “What does it feel like in your body to be planning right now? When it’s healthy and adaptive, you might feel a sense of freedom and flow. If it’s related to avoidance, you might feel a sense of heaviness, stuckness, and fear in your body.”

Rethink your to-do list 

A flaw with over-planning and tightly scheduling our days is that more often than not, when an allocated period arrives, the set task doesn’t seem so appealing. We procrastinate instead of moving onto a task that might not be part of the plan, but nevertheless keep us moving forward.

Over-planning also doesn’t take into account the unexpected but inevitable meetings that run overtime, transit delays, impromptu phone calls, or personal responsibilities.

It can be beneficial to both our productivity and wellbeing to improvise within our days. Artist and author Adam J. Kurtz favors a long-lead to-do list over a rigid and inherently fragile daily to-do list.

Kurtz prefers to work to his own whims in order to find flow in his day. Each morning he will clear his email inbox as a way to move through smaller tasks, before referring to his “long-lead to-do list” and picking a task that fits his interest or mood for that moment.

“For the most part I’m working on self-directed projects, so I can decide I don’t feel like working on the calendar, I’d rather work on this pitch-deck or shop products or something else. I let myself follow my bliss a little bit,” he says. Following the flow allows him to chip away at projects as he feels inspired.

See plans as lighthouses

Digital product designer and creator of the hugely popular Bullet Journal method Ryder Carroll thinks that planning and perfectionism often go hand in hand. “You create this perfect plan of how you’re going to achieve a goal—you’re going to write four hours a day for the next month, for example, and then your book will be done. But I’ve learned to stop setting goals that way,” he says.

Carroll now sees plans and goals as “lighthouses,” or guides that help illuminate safe passages for us to follow. Rather than focusing on the plan or an end goal, Carroll has learned to pay attention to the process. “My goals are now about what I’m learning and what I’m moving towards, and course-correcting constantly.” As a result, Carroll is not as hard on himself. “As long as I’m working, as long as I’m showing up every day, I will make progress. That is enough.”

Careers are more like lily pads than ladders

Artist, art director, and creator of online store Chipper Things Becky Simpson views her career as moving across lily pads, jumping from one to the next as it appears sometimes in front of her, sometimes adjacently, sometimes behind. “It’s easy to look at people who are successful or where we aspire to be and wonder how they knew which steps to take, when in reality they did one thing, and the next step or lily pad was illuminated,” says Simpson. 

This approach allows us to sit with the uncertainty of a creative career that may not have a linear growth pattern. But look deeper and we realize it’s less about having a set plan or climbing the ladder, and more about learning and growth. The lily pad theory is also a potential cure for procrastination or perfectionism-based planning: if you stay still for too long without taking a leap to a new lily pad, you will sink. “I don’t have to have the answer or endpoint in mind, but I know I won’t get anywhere if I just stand still,” explains Simpson.

Plans might help illuminate a path, but we really don’t know what’s in store until we leap. “Looking back, I would never thought I’d be having certain experiences, but I only got there because I did these wonky side projects along the way that led to this and that,” says Simpson.

Overcome over-planning:

1. Set a time limit for planning. Some might call this setting internal boundaries. Set a timer to put a container around procrastination planning.
2. Streamline your schedule. As Ryder Carroll explains, “It takes more time to rewrite things by hand, so there’s a built-in incentive to pause and consider each item. If an entry isn’t worth the few seconds of effort required to rewrite it, then it’s probably not that important. Get rid of it.” Removing unnecessary tasks allows you to focus on the real work you may be avoiding.
3. Favor progress over perfection. Pick a task and make a start. Any action is better than theoretical perfection.
4. Get comfortable with fear. Our creative lives are full of uncertainty, so find ways to accept and appreciate the opportunity to create something as of yet unknown. Consider the idea that if you’re not failing, you’re not growing.

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How to Start an Ambitious Personal Project

Whether it’s learning a language, starting a newsletter, or finally writing that novel, ambitious personal undertakings can be difficult to kick-start; the sheer scale of the project is both exhilarating and paralyzing. 

With that in mind, here are strategies for how to think about, plan for, and, yes, start a big, sweeping personal project without burning out before you begin. 

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Ask yourself: what are my motivations? 

To be sustainable, a personal project typically demands a high level of both excitement and interest. It’s critical for this to extend to the process, not just the end result. 

Having published two books, the artist and writer Emily Spivack is frequently approached by people who want advice on crafting a book proposal or finding an agent. Her standard response: “Have you spent time with the project?” Writing a book is rarely a fast or lucrative proposition (characteristics that apply to a wide variety of creative endeavors). Without genuine interest, it’s unlikely that the process will be sustainable, much less enjoyable—the satisfaction of an amorphous end result is not enough. “You have to really love it and be ready to spend a ton of time with it,” she says. [Ed. note: we also love her advice on starting a project here.]

“When you find that thing you are just so excited to work on, it can sustain you.”

Loving something, of course, doesn’t make it fun or easy—at least not all the time. Most large-scale projects include periods of drudgery and insecurity. That was true for New York Times contributor Judi Ketteler when writing her latest book, Would I Lie to You: The Amazing Power of Being Honest in a World That Lies. In these moments, her personal fascination with the topic served as fuel. “When you find that thing you are just so excited to work on, it can sustain you,” she says. 

Test the concept 

It’s often hard to know how much you actually care about something! What starts out as a creative obsession can burn hot and fast. To gauge a project’s long-term potential, try starting on a smaller scale.  

Would I Lie to You, for example, started as an article. After finishing the piece, Ketteler knew she had more to say. The article also provided “a starting point to be like, ‘This is how I am going to engage with [the topic].’”

Determine whether you have the time 

Starting a weekly newsletter sounds great—in theory. In reality, of course, it’s a commitment that requires a lot of time. For some people, devoting those hours is doable and worth it. For others, it’s a recipe for burnout. 

Before embarking on something big, Terri Bogue, co-author of the book Extinguish Burnout: A Practical Guide to Prevention and Recovery, recommends people audit pre-existing commitments, including work, sleep, family obligations, social activities, and leisure time. 

After accounting for the above, do you have enough space in your schedule to write a newsletter each week? Be realistic. If the hours don’t add up, or if the calculation is tight, you may want to reevaluate the project’s scope or make changes in other areas of your life to free up time. 

Break it down into manageable components

In addition to her full-time job as an editor at Fortune Magazine, Polina Marinova sends out a personal newsletter dedicated to the best in longform journalism every Sunday. Since starting the project in 2017, she’s gotten more efficient, in large part by dismantling the compilation and writing process into smaller, more manageable components. 

“I used to have a very structured regimen that requierd complete silence for several hours while I put it together,” she says. “Over time, I’ve learned to find the edges of time—on the subway, at a baseball game, if I’m waiting for someone—to start reading and brainstorming about what I want to write. It’s easier to do it throughout the week in small chunks because it doesn’t feel as daunting as it is to sit down and do it all at once.”

Solicit feedback 

Because creative personal projects are often solo endeavors, it’s easy to feel isolated when you get stuck. There’s no rule saying you can’t involve other people, however. “It’s really nice to have a person or a couple of people to check in with once a week or once a month,” Spivack says. Over the years, she’s debriefed with and solicited feedback from interns, fellow artists, friends, her husband—each person provides a unique perspective and, crucially, a layer of accountability. She’s found that documenting progress for another person makes it tangible. 

Be consistent 

When Marinova started her newsletter, she knew that consistency was key. If readers couldn’t rely on her to provide weekly content, she’d lose their trust. “Early on, I made a promise to myself that I would send it no matter what was going on in my life,” she says.

“No matter the end goal, find a way to incorporate the craft into your routine.”

Not all projects require such rigid output, but without getting in the habit of regularly working, it’s hard to make meaningful progress. No matter the end goal, find a way to incorporate the craft into your routine. For some people, this means reserving periods of time. For others, like Marinova, it means getting into the practice of working whenever an unexpected break emerges.

Make it part of your identity

Even the most exciting projects contain bouts of frustration, boredom, and uncertainty. When the stakes are personal, finding the motivation to push through the slush of mixed and negative emotions can be doubly challenging. 

It sometimes helps to raise the stakes, reframing the project not as a choice but as an identity. Ketteler practices this with running. She doesn’t just go on runs, she is a runner, a distinction that has kept her regularly hitting the pavement for the last 25 years, even during stretches when she hasn’t felt like carving out the time. Through this lens, running ceases to be a choice: “I tell myself, ‘You are a runner. This is who you are.’”

“It sometimes helps to raise the stakes, reframing the project not as a choice but as an identity.”

Ketteler took the same approach with Would I Lie to You. She loved the subject, but that didn’t protect her from days in which she felt lost, unable to capture her thoughts on the page. As with running, she never seriously considered throwing in the towel. Stopping wasn’t an option because the book helped define her. In addition to being a runner, she would tell herself: “I am a person who is writing a book about honesty.”

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Pause Before You Begin: How to Invest in Yourself

The new calendar year brings with it a sense of starting over. We are back to work with a clean slate and an opportunity to build new habits. We are feeling refreshed and ready to tackle our work. And yet, without intentionality around how we spend our time, we may find ourselves continuing on the same path we were on last year. Now is our chance to look at our former routines, set new habits, and decide how we want to invest our time and energy for the next 12 months, beginning with how we invest in ourselves. 

How did you invest in yourself last year? And how might you invest differently this year? If you haven’t thought about it yet, a helpful tool to begin with is the Six Dimensions of Wellness Model. Developed in 1976 by Dr. Bill Hettler, the model remains a helpful framework to holistically assess our lives and consider how we’re investing in each area.

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How do you assess yourself in each of these areas? 

The Six Dimensions of Wellness Model isn’t prescriptive—it allows you to tailor a plan around your priorities. As noted by the National Wellness Institute, the model’s goal is to help you achieve your full potential, recognize your whole self, and build upon your strengths. 

The six dimensions of the model include: 

1. Occupational: This is more than your job title, company, or what you do. The occupational realm encompasses your entire career path, including the field you have chosen, your level of fulfillment with work, your future goals and ambitions, and the responsibility you take for your performance and growth and choosing a path that aligns with your values. 
2. Physical: How do you provide for your physical self? This domain encompasses your body and how you care for it through nutrition, physical activity, medical care, and other self-care activities that nourish your physical self. Going deeper, it represents an awareness of your body, what it needs, and the warning signs that alert you when you are physically depleted, which can arise when we are heading toward burnout or already there. 
3. Social: More than social interactions in our personal relationships, this area brings attention to our interconnectedness and encourages us to realize our contributions beyond the micro. It certainly pertains to our relationships with family, friends, peers, and coworkers, but also our communities at large. It emphasizes balance, harmony, and communication. 
4. Intellectual: This sphere includes creative activities, problem-solving, learning, growing, and expanding our minds. It also references our ability to play, imagine, discover, and be curious, which are vital to make space for at a time when we are more often than not focused solely on performance and outcomes.
5. Spiritual: A sense of meaning and purpose is integral to well-being. This area represents the beliefs and values we hold, how we model our lives according to our beliefs and values, and whether we are in or out of alignment with them. It also challenges us to accept the spectrum of experiences and emotions we will experience over our lifetimes and promotes openness, understanding, and tolerance. 
6. Emotional: The final dimension includes our ability to be aware of and accept our own feelings, how we navigate stress and challenging emotions, and how we cope with and express our feelings. It emphasizes the importance of understanding and valuing ourselves as individuals while receiving and offering emotional support. 

Putting It Into Practice: Ideas for Action 

Now it’s time to reflect on each area of your life. Make time on your calendar (at least 30 minutes) to go through the following exercises with pen and paper.

Build on your strengths

• Reflect on each area of your life over the past year (occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional). What are you most proud of in each area?
• Which areas are you naturally inclined to devote the most energy to? Pick your top three. 

Decide what to change

• Which three areas did you devote the least amount of time to last year? How do you want to invest in those areas this year? 
• Is there anything you wanted to do last year in an area that you didn’t do? Write down anything that comes to mind.   

Make a plan

• Work through all of the dimensions, writing down one way you’d like to invest in each this year. 
• Now go back and write down one to two actions you can take in each area. Make the actions as detailed as possible. For example, if you wrote down be more active in the physical dimension, you might decide on the action of taking a 30-min walk after dinner three times per week to start. Describing what you’ll do, when you’ll do it, and how often makes it more real—and means you can add the action to your calendar as a reminder. 

Meditate regularly on your plan

• Keep your plan where you can read it regularly, like taped to your wall or on a note on your phone. 
• Set a ritual during the week to look at your plan. For example, you could begin or end your week or day by looking at it as a reminder of how you want to invest in yourself. 

Pausing to Go Forward

Before you move forward this year, pause for a moment to consider how you want to move forward. I recently read Stitches by Anne Lamott and in it she notes our incessant need for forward motion, which she calls “forward thrust.” Lamott writes: 

“[Forward thrust] is the most central principle of American life, the necessity to improve your lot and status at any cost, and to stay one step ahead of the abyss that may open suddenly at your heels. Unfortunately, forward thrust turns out not to be helpful in the search for your true place on earth. But crashing and burning can help us a lot. So, too, can just running out of gas.”

The new year brings with it pressure to start quick out of the gate, jump into productivity, and get back to our regularly scheduled programming. But it can also be important to push against the forward motion, even if only briefly, to decide how you want to proceed. Take this opportunity to check in with yourself and realign your path with your priorities before you dive back into the new year. 

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Brainstorming as a Balancing Act

A freelance writer who recently published a book on honesty, Judi Ketteler leads a full, busy life. Her days are spent engaging—with her family, a large, bustling social circle, and the dynamic people she interviews for work—interactions that expose her to a constant stream of new information.

Breakthroughs usually arrive during the precious hours in her schedule in which she is alone, untethered from the world outside her own head. “I go running—that’s when I think of 90% of my ideas,” she says. 

The last few miles of these runs are a race against memory; she’s spurred on by the fear of forgetting something really good. As soon as she gets home, she writes everything down on scraps of paper and a pencil—selected for their ability to be “sweat on”—before she showers. Later, she’ll transfer it all to her planner. 

Running is, of course, just one method for unearthing new ideas and throughlines; there are a dizzying number of ways to brainstorm. Peel away the specifics of any single strategy, however, and you’ll likely find the same foundation: an interplay between stimulation and quietude. 

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Academics break problem-solving and idea generation into two general camps: individual work and collaboration. Both have their benefits and drawbacks. 

Unconstrained by judgement and groupthink, having employees work separately and then pool their solutions typically results in more creativity and options. But solo work can also be riddled with blind spots—without the safety net of a variety of perspectives, it’s easy to go down unproductive rabbit holes. 

Collaboration, meanwhile, allows for “a more effective division of labor,” says Ethan Bernstein, an associate professor at the Harvard Business School. Working in a group, “we benefit from each others’ experiences and can get to a better answer faster,” a particular boon in a complex world that requires multiple layers of expertise. But collaboration can lead to conformity; when group members are in constant dialogue, the number of unique ideas dwindles and consensus is often reached sooner than it should be, Bernstein says.

Over the last few decades, as real-time communication tools have evolved and smartphones allow us never to log off, the professional pendulum has moved away from individual work towards constant connectivity. “Maybe we find time in the quiet car to unplug and that feels really good,” Bernstein says. “But those moments are fewer and farther between.”

Bernstein’s research suggests that it’s possible to harness “the best of both worlds” through a process he refers to “intermittent collaboration.” In a series of studies, researchers divided participants into groups tasked with solving a problem in one of three conditions: 1) each member of the group worked in complete isolation 2) members collaborated continuously or 3) members interacted intermittently. 

Groups in the first category produced the largest number of unique solutions, although the average quality of each individual idea was low. Groups in the second category produced fewer solutions, but maintained a higher batting average. Groups in the final category “preserved enough isolation to find the best solutions at least as frequently as the groups with no interaction, but also enough collaboration to maintain an equivalently high average quality of solution compared with the groups with constant interaction,” Bernstein and his co-authors wrote. Instead of undermining one another, intermittent collaboration followed by periods of individual focus served as complements, creating a rhythm conducive to breakthroughs.

For managers and teams, the takeaway is clear: a structure that allows for periods of collaboration and periods of uninterrupted individual work can boost creativity and productivity. 

For individuals, there are also potential insights. Through the lens of this research, Ketteler’s strategy of information overload, in which she absorbs a flood of sensory data followed by regular stretches of solitude, looks like a personal version of intermittent collaboration. 

When examined closely, many brainstorming techniques harness some version of intermittent collaboration, or perhaps more accurately, intermittent stimulation. Designer and author Kelli Anderson finds inspiration in all kinds of places: conversations with friends, exposure to new textures and materials, interactions on social media. “It doesn’t take much of a spark to ignite an idea or direction,” she says. 

She actively seeks out diverse input, curating her Twitter feed to extend beyond her professional bubble. In addition to other designers and artists, Anderson follows librarians, graphic design historians, university art galleries, niche outlets (like Cabinet Magazine), and people who, in general, “challenge my tastes and are a little off-the-wall…you never really know what they are going to post.” Because much of her work is interactive, she’s also started following magicians, along with the people responsible for planning exhibits at the Exploratorium and science museums. 

When she stumbles upon something that incites a strong reaction, she makes a note of it for later using the digital design system Dropmark, a good tool “for working out half-baked ideas and posting things that you think might lead somewhere.”

No matter the source of inspiration, “I try not to analyze it too much,” she says. “Part of being an artist and designer is trusting those feelings. It’s a pure thing.” Later, when she has time alone, unconnected from outside influences, she’ll unpack her response, deciphering new doors and projects the spark can open or sustain. 

A similar process happens on Ketteler’s long Sunday runs, stretches reserved for unstructured thought. “It’s a time when I am not connected. No one can reach me,” she says. It’s also a time when the connective tissues between ostensibly unrelated topics emerge from the chaos and make themselves visible, ready to be explored. 

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A Handy Template for Planning Your Creative Resolutions for 2020

We closed 2019 with a look at December work rituals from creatives and want to open 2020 looking forward. Instead of being prescriptive, we have something more open-ended and actionable. With inspiration from Reggie Black and Christina Amini and Paper Chase Press’ Writing for Artists notebook, we offer up this worksheet for you to plot out your creative resolutions for the year ahead. Perhaps you work solo and don’t have a team to plan with, you don’t feel creatively engaged by your team’s 2020 planning, or maybe you’re looking for a tool to engage and inspire your team for the year ahead now that everyone’s back from holiday break. 

Follow these prompts to sketch or write out answers in your notebook, or click the link at the bottom for the downloadable PDF if you’d rather fill it out digitally and save your answers for next year. We’d love to see what you come up with if you’re open to sharing your words and images, so please tag us @99U if you post your creative resolutions on your social channels. 

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1. This year, my creative priorities are: 

2. In the new year, I am most looking forward to:

3. In 2020, this is how I will make time for rest and reflection:

4. I choose to leave this behind in 2019:

5. I will make creativity part of my day by setting up these routines for myself. 

6. This is one idea/project that has been haunting me and won’t let go:

7. I will make it happen this year by: 

8. My best skills are: 

9. I will do more of this in order to foster them:

10. My biggest creative inspiration is this person/place/thing: 

11. And this is why:

12. I would love to collaborate/work with:

13. My one-word theme for the year ahead is:

 

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Resolutions and Taking Risks: Creatives Look Ahead to 2020

The start of the new year is a time for big-picture thinking and deciding what our priorities are for the months ahead. The design and tech worlds are on the precipice of major ideological changes and we are facing fundamental questions about our place in the world, and the way we interact with each other. If 2019 was marked by upheaval and unexpected challenges, what does 2020 have in store and how do we prepare for the decade ahead of us?

We wanted some expert perspective on the landscape, so we reached out to a diverse set of creatives to hear what’s on their mind, what they’re excited about, and their take on the issues that feel most important right now. In many of the responses there is a clear focus on getting back to basics and “cutting through the noise,” as Emerline Ji of Creative Mornings put it. There is a palpable sense of urgency, and a push to do some soul-searching about our sense of accountability in a time of unpredictability and flux. Echoing this instinct for action is Rachel Newell of Rapt Studio who put her main priority as simply “show up and do the work.”

Read on to see how some plan to tackle the year’s big questions about purpose, sustainability, and how to balance creativity with compassion.

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‘It won’t be enough for startups to just be the hot new kid on the block.’—Emily Heyward, Co-Founder and Chief Strategist at Red Antler

“There’s a massive shift taking place, with large companies looking to ‘behave like a startup’ and trying to find ways to drive true product innovation and protect themselves from being unseated by all the new players in their categories. With legacy brands looking to stay ahead by ‘disrupting themselves,’ it’s only going to get more competitive and it won’t be enough for startups to just be the hot new kid on the block. Startups are going to have to take even more risks to stand out and reinvent what it means to bring a brand into the world today. Ultimately, the winners will be the companies who find new ways to deliver true value to their consumers, and it will be less about the origin story.

“Related to this, I resolve in 2020 to remove ‘direct-to-consumer’ from my vocabulary. It’s an oversimplification and only captures a piece of what makes new businesses succeed.”

‘Let’s use our creative vision to imagine what the world could be if we could solve some of our problems without creating new ones.’—Ari Kuschnir, founder and managing partner at m ss ng p eces

“We don’t have time for normal social evolution, so we have to do the interpersonal work to show up fully. We have to deal with collective challenges by bringing our creative gifts forward without projecting the worst aspects of ourselves into our creations. Storytelling has been a technology that enables us to imagine new and better versions of the world. Let’s not default to dystopian/utopian narratives or nostalgia, but use our creative vision to imagine what the world could be if we could solve some of our problems without creating new ones. That’s what 2020 is for me–a time to up-level your creative game and create stories that activate new collective possibilities.”

‘The need for grounding and guidance has never been more vital for creativity.’—Rachel Newell, Head of Strategy at Rapt Studio

“In a polarized, fast-paced, and unpredictable world, the need for grounding and guidance has never been more vital for creativity. A sustainable 2020 will require us to not only show up for work, but to ‘show up and do the work’ – on ourselves, and with our clients.

“In 2019 Rapt Studio defined a program for ‘psychological safety’ in our workplace, and we’ve extended this framework to client relationships. 2020 will see a focus on non-linear thinking, helping people to work smarter and embrace the ‘work in progress.’”

‘It’s time to return to the foundational practices of storytelling.’—Emerline Ji, Senior Manager of Brand Communications at CreativeMornings

“It was refreshing to see a handful of companies roll out beautiful and thoughtful editorial content initiatives and campaigns in 2019. We’re seeing more businesses harness the power of generous content to highlight the creativity and genius of their people.

“In 2020, I’m excited to see content producers realize it’s time to return to the foundational practices of storytelling in order to effectively cut through the noise. What do you stand for? What is your unique point of view? Is there a narrative arc? Do the pieces fit? At CreativeMornings, we’re always asking these questions to better serve and celebrate our community.

“This is a reminder to myself and others like me: You are a storyteller first. Never stop learning and experimenting. Protect your inventive spirit.”

‘Reimagining futures and establishing self-reliance.’—Sam Valenti, founder of Ghostly International

“I think 2020 and the decade ahead is going to be watershed for artists reimagining their futures and establishing self-reliance with smart partnerships and nurtured communities.”

‘A more equitable path forward.’—Yancey Strickler, cofounder & former CEO of Kickstarter, author of This Could Be Our Future: A Manifesto of a More Generous World

“2020 will be the year that ‘values’ (humanities word) begin to push back against the dominance of ‘value’ (economics word). Over the last half-century we’ve assumed that the right answer to any decision is whichever option makes the most money. This has made people on top cash-rich and society at large values-poor. But this is the year the tide breaks against the dominance of money and we begin to see a fuller spectrum of value enter the consciousness for the first time: the climate, social cohesiveness, loyalty, purpose. New kinds of decisions based on new kinds of metrics will be a growing norm—and a more equitable path forward.”

‘Are there ways in which the democratization of design appreciation can lead to the (responsible) democratization of design itself?’—Monica Khemsurov, cofounder of Sight Unseen

“What’s going on in the world right now feels so overwhelmingly negative and out of control, and selfishness, greed, and inequality have a lot to do with it. Amidst all of these crises, materialism and luxury feel less relevant at best, and problematic at worst. I’m curious to see if that has any effect on the design industry this year. My hunch is that it won’t, since much of the industry caters to the wealthy, and they tend to live in a bubble. Since people are so anxious right now, they need the comfort of beauty and creativity more than ever. But at the same time I feel like we need to be actively involved in enabling change. I’m not sure yet what that means in practical terms.

“Second, I’m wondering if the generic ‘look’ that so many brands have adopted will continue in full force. So many brands and Instagrams look the same right now, and I’m very curious about how that particular pendulum will swing.

“In the next year and in the next decade I’m looking forward to seeing what happens as the trend towards people being more excited about the world of design in general continues to evolve. What if people start spending less on fleeting fashion items and more on sustainably produced objects and furniture they can live with until 2030 and beyond? Are there ways in which the democratization of design appreciation can lead to the (responsible) democratization of design itself? I hope so!”

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