99U on How to Get in Touch with Your Intuition

Being more confident and comfortable with yourself will have a real impact on everything from your decision-making to your self-esteem. How often have you felt stuck and completely unsure of how you really feel about something? This ambiguity signals being out of touch with your intuition and your instincts. Connecting with that impulse can serve as a guiding light in times of uncertainty and allow you the freedom to get out of your comfort zone. And when you trust yourself, it’s often easier to evaluate who else you can trust. This inner strength can ripple out across your creativity, productivity, and all your interpersonal relations.

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Listen to ‘that voice’ more often

Your relationship to your intuition is directly linked to your self-esteem and self-knowledge. Building a healthy self-regard all starts with respecting your limits. As Morra Aarons-Mele, an internet marketer and the author of Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert’s Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You’d Rather Stay Home) says, “It’s not your job to be the sparkliest, most interesting person in the room.” She herself sets clear boundaries when it comes to demanding occasions like conferences, limiting her social interactions and mapping out a routine that is comfortable and challenging in equal measure. Compassion is key. Be kind to yourself but know where to push. For Aarons-Mele, that means going to a group lunch (even if she’s dreading it) but keeping her nights free to recharge. 

Duncan Wardle’s time at Disney included time as Head of Innovation & Creativity. 

Be Playful 

Duncan Wardle knows a thing or two about playfulness, having spent 25 years at Disney. His time there included leading the innovation and creativity teams, and fostering the best environment for visionary teams to flourish. His experience taught him the value of allowing access to the subconscious, relaxed brain that gives rise to our best ideas. His best advice? “Be playful when you are looking for that big idea. For many of us, our best ideas come to us when we’re in the shower, when we’re jogging, when we’re on the train—in other words, when we’re anywhere but at work.” Pressure and stress are stifling to our imagination, and stepping away from the structures of the everyday will let you connect the dots and channel your creativity.   

Learn how to tell the time

We all intuitively know when we are most productive, often defining ourselves as early birds or night owls. But going deeper than that to figure out your specific cycles and rhythms can do wonders for your idea flow and creativity. 

“I define time management as managing your energy and brain power for peak performance in everything you do,” explains Julie Morgenstern, productivity expert and New York Times best-selling author. “The best time managers are super tuned into their energy cycles: how long they can concentrate before they glaze over, what times of day they’re best at certain tasks, that sort of thing.” If you tap into your own cycles and can see when you produce your best and brightest work, you’ll be more likely to replicate that flow.

Nicole Katz is the owner of Paper Chase Press, a family-run business in Los Angeles.

Weigh your words and actions

Today, Nicole Katz runs Paper Chase Press, a family business that has been a stalwart presence in the Los Angeles creative scene since the 1970s. But continuing the tradition wasn’t something she took seriously as a life path in her younger years. “It’s funny, because if you’d asked me back then, if I wanted to one day run the business, I would have said a resounding no,” says Katz. “I was being rebellious, but then I always ended up doing things that kind of orbited around the print world. My actions spoke a lot louder than my words.” 

Taking stock of your patterns can show you where your subconscious is pulling you. Often we will realize this only when looking back at the decisions we’ve made, but once you recognize the overarching values that shape your actions, you can have a more clear-headed grasp on where your instincts lie. 

Ask questions

Jay Acunzo, author of the book Break the Wheel: Question Best Practices, Trust Your Intuition, Do Your Best Work, believes intuition works as an “inherent tool to be proactive about our abilities,” available to us all if we make the switch to “investigator” mode and look inward. He says, “We can master that ability too, if only we’d make one switch in the way we make decisions at work: We need to stop obsessing over everyone else’s right answers for us and start asking ourselves better questions.”

Honing intuition benefits us with a clarity of thought and conviction rooted in a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. 

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Gratitude Goes a Long Way to Increase Creativity and Innovation

It’s the time of year when invites to work holiday parties arrive in our inboxes. Beginning with Thanksgiving, we enter a season that welcomes us to reflect, take stock, and express gratitude for the past 12 months. As we juggle tasks to wrap up the year and prepare for the next, gratitude can feel superfluous and even forced. Yet if we can define gratitude in our lives and cultivate a practice of thankfulness year-round, it will not only bolster our happiness and creativity, but sustain us through busy seasons full of demands and expectations.

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Defining Gratitude 

There are two components of gratitude, according to psychologist and UC Davis professor Robert Emmons. First, it’s an affirmation that there are good things in the world. This doesn’t mean we don’t acknowledge reality, but that we accept the dualities of life, knowing there can be challenges, burdens, and hardships and “gifts and benefits” we’ve also received. It’s about looking at our lives holistically and seeing goodness where it exists. 

Emmons explains that the second part of gratitude is “figuring out where that goodness comes from.” He goes on to note that, “We recognize the sources of this goodness as being outside of ourselves. It didn’t stem from anything we necessarily did ourselves in which we might take pride…We acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mindset—gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.”

Gratitude at Work 

When was the last time you acknowledged the good in your work life? It could come in the form of genuine appreciation for a boss who recognizes your talents, a colleague who covered for you during vacation, or perhaps it comes in the form of a new client project or another opportunity to grow professionally. Simply having made progress toward team goals during a given day can also be a source of gratitude. When you felt appreciation, did you express it, either privately to yourself or publicly to others? If you answered yes, you’re in the minority. 

Research shows that most of us are less likely to express gratitude at work than anywhere else, according to a survey of 2,000 participants conducted by the John Templeton Foundation. While 94% of women and 96% of men agree that a grateful boss is more likely to be successful, 74% never or rarely express gratitude to their boss. Yet people are eager for their boss to appreciate them—70% said they would feel better about themselves if their boss expressed gratitude for them, and 81% said they would work harder. 

Someone has to go first. If we want to be more appreciated, we could start with expressing our appreciation. Even if we don’t feel grateful, we can lean into it. In this New York Times article, by social scientist Arthur C. Brooks, he notes that acting grateful can lead to actually feeling grateful. Further, he encourages us to start with interior gratitude, or “the practice of giving thanks privately.” Next, he suggests public expression of gratitude, which could include emails or thank you cards to colleagues. Finally, he urges us to be grateful for seemingly insignificant things, like a warm, sunny day or a smile from a stranger on the street.  

Although we express gratitude the least at work, gratitude in the workplace can be transformative. As the HeartMath Institute notes, “The greater your capacity for sincere appreciation, the deeper the connection to your heart, where intuition and unlimited inspiration and possibilities reside.” This can lead to increased creativity. As Steven Kramer and Teresa Amabile note in their book, The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, feeling accomplished and appreciated can lead to greater internal motivation and “when people are more intrinsically motivated, they are more likely to be creative.” 

Further supporting the theory that gratitude improves our work lives, Kim Cameron and his colleagues at the University of Michigan found that workplaces characterized by positive practices, including expressing gratitude increased positive emotions in employees, which amplified their creativity and ability to think creatively. Whether you are a company of one or one of many, gratitude can boost your creativity and increase your happiness at work. 

Tips for Putting Gratitude into Practice Year-Round 

Practicing gratitude year round, not just during the holidays, can have a positive, lasting impact on your creativity and career. Building a sustainable practice can start with small steps integrated into your existing life:

1. Shift your focus. In his book, Consolations, the poet and author David Whyte reminds us that, “Being unappreciative might mean we are simply not paying attention.” Gratitude can start with simply setting an intention and looking for things to be grateful for in your day-to-day rather than focusing on negative aspects of our work. For example, if you had a challenging problem come up at work, perhaps you can be grateful that you have the skills to address it or the power to change it. 
2. Build gratitude into your routine. It doesn’t take much time to develop a robust practice. You could set aside 15 minutes once a week to make a list of what you are grateful for. Or you could make it part of your nightly routine to say thank you for one part of your day. As a coach, I encourage my clients to use these prompts if they’re stuck: What opportunities have arisen for you this week? What accomplishments or small wins have you had? Pro tip: Put time for this kind of reflection on your calendar to automate check-ins.
3. Rule out negativity. The people around us and the environments we spend time in influence us. That includes ourselves! Start by reframing negative self-talk. For example, “I’m no good at this. I can’t get the hang out it,” could be reframed as, “This is hard, but I’m learning and I’ll get the hang of it with time and practice.” If there are relationships or spaces ruled by negativity, consider how to address them. You could demonstrate gratitude and see if the tone of conversations changes, you could confront the negativity directly, or you could remove yourself from the situation. If you can’t remove yourself because it’s at work, for example, you could set boundaries like refusing to participate in negative gossip.  
4. Show your appreciation. Just as negativity can be contagious, so can gratitude and appreciation. In this episode of the podcast Hurry Slowly, psychologist and author Adam Grant suggests setting aside time each week to show appreciation through a note, card, or email: “Would you have guessed that just the words ‘thank you’ would be enough to not only lead to a 50% increase that they’re willing to help you again, but also then make them more likely to help somebody else who reaches out?”
5. Keep it real. Yes, there’s usually something we can find to be grateful for, but don’t force it. Do your best to express your gratitude while still accepting the complexities that exist. Your gratitude doesn’t negate the challenges, difficulties, or realities of your situation, but it can give you a foundation for resilience as you move forward. 

Developing a gratitude practice takes time and patience, but the power of thankfulness can shift your attitude toward your work and make the process more creative, innovative, and fulfilling—not just during the holidays, but all year long. In the words of the late poet, Mary Oliver, “Pay attention. / Be astonished. / Tell about it.” Look for it, feel gratitude for it, and express it. 

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Design Debate: To Cowork or Not to Cowork?

Comfortable armchairs, frothy cappuccinos, friendly collaborators, and rubber plants that seem to rise higher than the clouds. On the surface, what’s not to love about coworking clubs? 

For freelancing creative professionals today, hunkering down together in formerly abandoned warehouses to foster collaboration and idea sharing has become somewhat of the status quo. Research shows that 33% of today’s workforce is independent or freelance—and this workforce naturally needs desks to occupy—so it’s no wonder that in 2018 over 2,000 coworking membership spaces opened worldwide. And these numbers continue to rocket.

If it’s between Skyping in pajama pants (“has it really been three days since I last left the house?”) or the regularity and community that a collaborative work space espouses, it’s very easy to understand why so many freelancers are opting for membership packages these days. But is the price tag, which can easily surpass $250 a month, really worth it, or are we better off sticking with coffee shops and the local library? And given the meteoric rise and current crisis of WeWork, should we be more mindful of which cozy, bean bag-laden haven we embrace?

For our newest installment of Design Debate, we spoke with a remote freelancer traveling the world with his laptop, a researcher of Urban Planning studying the effects of coworking hubs on a neighborhood in Ontario, and the co-founder of a feminist, intersectional membership space in Minnesota. To cowork or not to cowork, that’s the question today—so ready, set, debate! 

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“Whether or not coworking is right for you depends entirely on the business you’re running, and what kind of environment you work best in.”

– Alex Deruette, Design Director and Co-Founder of Kickpush 

“Coworking spaces can be very useful. When I started my own company, being part of a membership workspace helped us with promotion and it introduced us to a lot of people. But for some individuals, maybe working in more creative roles, the atmosphere of a coworking space can ultimately be a problem.

“In 2014, I left my job, hired my friends, got an apartment in the suburbs of London, and founded Kickpush. We worked out of the apartment for an entire year but then decided to become a ‘real’ company, and so we rented a little studio out of a coworking space in central London. When I say little, I mean it—it was the size of a bathroom. 

“It was fun to start with and a good move for the company. Our neighbors were a virtual reality production studio called Visualise, and we ended up working on a very, very cool project with them for The Economist. The coworking space itself was a beautifully designed environment. We were exposed to a lot of great people as well as nice food and coffee.

“But after six months, we all started to feel like we were back to a nine-to-five job. And while the space looked amazing and was a great place to bring clients, it was not comfortable at all. There was a big problem with the chairs for example: We had these old, very cool chairs from the ’50s that were impossible to work in.

“Eventually, everyone on the team decided we’d had enough. We all just wanted to travel, while still working together but remotely. I first went to Lisbon and now I’m in Mexico. I now spend my mornings in a coffee shop, and then I finish my day at home where I can play my own music and have access to all the things that inspire me. When I’m working creatively, I find it very difficult to concentrate when there are lots of people around me in one crammed space, which is why I ultimately stopped renting from coworking spaces. I can understand why people do it though. Luckily, I’m disciplined enough to work office hours, but for some people, coworking can be invaluable if they’re finding it hard to start the day.”

“Coworking is not meant to be exclusive—and membership clubs have turned the practice into one of privilege.”

– Filipa Pajević, PhD candidate at the School of Urban Planning, McGill University

“Coworking as a work style is nothing new. ‘Coworking’ is defined as a community-orientated practice of sharing resources and contacts when both are in short supply, and it’s easily detectable in creative professions, where the unpredictable nature of the work warrants shared space.

“What is new is the appropriation of coworking as a business model—and as a form of ‘membership club.’ Now, the practice is tied to the real estate market and real estate development. Coworking in this new sense is not just about work, but also about cities. The buildings housing coworking businesses have an impact on the neighborhoods where people live—not just work—because they are overvalued, which raises prices and makes it harder for other people to afford living and working in the vicinity. 

“The fee component of coworking is founded on exclusivity. We shouldn’t ask whether coworking businesses create community, because they do, but rather we should ask what kind of community do they create? And to whose detriment?

“It’s also a concern that coworking spaces present themselves as a home for the digital nomad. Freelance and remote work is increasingly correlated with anxiety, due to its temporary ‘gig’ nature and the lack of regulations to protect freelance workers. Coworking spaces profit from this anxiety, because they present themselves as an antidote to isolation and loneliness. 

“The casualization of work has produced two specific needs: The first is the need for flexibility, and the second the need for comfort. This is why coworking spaces are flexible and cozy in design, with rotating desks and bean bag chairs. It’s easy to be distracted by all the furniture, the beer, the gym, the social events—the general playfulness. But if you take a step back from all that, you realize that all these perks are dissolving the boundaries between work and leisure. And not only is your whole life revolving around work, but also the same workspace. Coworking providers rely on rent, and so it’s in their interests to keep you there for as long as possible.

“By equating work with leisure, we are essentially removing the very boundaries that exist to keep work from becoming overly exploitative. I’m not saying that work shouldn’t be a joy—but I’m saying that we need to be mindful of our limits, and the need for mental breaks.”

“When you have camaraderie—a feeling of sisterhood—you can achieve great things.”

– Bethany Iverson, co-founder of The Coven 

“The Coven is a network of inclusive community and work spaces for women, non-binary, and trans folks. Our mission is to create the physical and psychological safety that people like us need so that we can do bold and courageous things—both professionally and personally. There is something really powerful about women, non-binary, and trans folks moving together with purpose—and membership clubs like ours can help foster and create a space where that’s possible.

“We think about ourselves as a catalyst for professional transformation. We do that through workshops, connections, coaching. A lot of our members use us to work out of and as a resource to network and build. We try to equip our members with resources so they can start the business they’ve always wanted to start, or get a promotion if they work in the corporate world, or have healthier relationships with their friends or partner or kids, whatever it might be.

“We do all of those things through an intersectional lens. Having a membership base that is reflective of the community that we’re a part of is very important to us. And so here in Minnesota there are some really, really big wealth disparities that you would find around race. That led us to create a social enterprise at the heart of our business. We give a membership away for every five that we sell, and we make sure that those go to folks from historically marginalized communities.

“When you’re sitting across the room from peers who are also trying to figure out how to accomplish something, that creates a collective energy that’s very potent and can lead to great things. Two of our members, for instance, met when they were sitting across from each other and one needed to borrow a power cord. They got to talking, and now they run a business where they consult with women-owned startups to help them raise money. We also have another member who joined The Coven after leaving a really toxic work environment. In a year, she’s helped open five black-owned businesses out of our space. 

“We’re always mindful of having lots of different identities and experiences represented. So we have a beauty and self-care room, for instance, that features hair and skin care products for every hair and skin type. We aim to create physical and psychological safety for people who maybe never have never felt that professionally, or who are dealing with some really serious trauma, either in the workplace or in their personal lives. What spaces like ours can offer is a sense of community that’s lacking elsewhere, along with a vital support network.”

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8 Ways to Flip Your Fear of Conflict

In the past, 99U has tackled arguments by digging into how to safely bring sparring into shoptalk and mediation into meetings. But, here’s the thing: it’s 2019. Disagreement is our reality. We have increasingly divisive elections, impending family Thanksgiving dinner, and let’s not forget that we still can’t agree on what we want the future of work to look like. So, if disagreements are a part of our fabric right now, let’s acknowledge the reality, wade in, and figure out how to disagree productively.

Unspoken arguments are like cockroaches—they live forever in our heads, where we refine and relive them long past their expiration date. But, what if, instead of dead-ends, disagreements were doorways? What if they weren’t about self-protection and judgement, but rather tools to find unexplored territories, new mental models, and broader realizations?

Buster Benson, head of the unofficial Disagreement Appreciation Society and former product lead at companies like Slack, Amazon, and (you guessed it) Twitter, believes that the ability to have productive disagreements is a meta skill. Actually, he calls it a superpower. With his new book, Why are We Yelling: the Art of Productive Disagreement, Benson aims for everyone to find growth and connection in a situation where we usually feel anxious and squashed.

It all sounds pretty good to us. So, we pulled eight lessons from Benson’s book to help unearth the deeper roots of disagreement. From making sure you’re having the same argument, to reading the map of your anxiety, here’s how to turn your tug of war dynamic into something worthwhile.

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1. Align your argument (with the other person).

Have you ever been in a disagreement and thought, “This person just doesn’t get it”? Here’s the thing: that might be true. Even if they understand the scope of the fight, it’s highly possible that they don’t realize why it matters so much to you—important information to make sure you both understand the stakes of the conversation. Step back and ask yourself whether this argument is about something true (what we can verify), meaningful (what matters to you), or useful (what situation we’re in). And make sure the other person is having the same kind of argument you are.

2. Seismograph yourself.

Anxiety spikes are like the needle of an earthquake monitor—they mark the places where something you care about feels threatened. These spikes are the moments when a disagreement starts to feel personal. They can easily lead to unproductive positions like self-protection and judgement.

“Boiling a disagreement down to information fails to acknowledge the emotional conversation staring you in the face and likely leaves it simmering for later.”

Use those spikes as signposts guiding you to a wiser version of yourself. Resist the urge to shut down and, instead, dig into why these spots are so important that they’re worth protecting.

3. Only speak for yourself.

Conversations go haywire when we move beyond our own personal experience and speak on behalf of other people and groups. Don’t do it. Not only will you exaggerate, oversimplify, and stereotype, you’ll make your position in the disagreement vulnerable. It is almost impossible to contest someone when they speak to their own experience. But when they speak for others, anyone can dive in and argue back. If someone else’s experience is relevant enough to bring into this conversation, do the legwork to get their voice involved.

4. A rush to resolution leaves the roots in.

A trap that can send a conversation spiraling out of the realm of productivity is when we shy away from big questions like “This clearly matters to you, can you help me understand why?” and instead focus on the facts.

“Conversations go haywire when we move beyond our own personal experience and speak on behalf of other people and groups.”

That can feel particularly crummy because boiling a disagreement down to information fails to acknowledge the emotional conversation staring you in the face and likely leaves it simmering for later. Take the time to ask open-ended questions that try to find the roots of the argument. Resist the urge to resolve without investigation.

5. Look for ghosts.

Let’s say, for a moment, that ghosts may exist. Pause, and with this new mystic mindset, do you find that brushes of air have new meaning and the creak down the hall new potential? More importantly, would you have noticed the wind or the sound if you hadn’t been open to paranormal possibilities? To Benson, accepting ghosts is the mindset we need to bring to arguments—one that allows people to turn off the clinical brain that want to get to knowable answers quickly, and instead, step outside the grooves of our mental models, see the world from someone else’s perspective, and notice things you might otherwise have blocked out or overlooked.

6. Don’t be married to the cal invite.

All of our biases point us to the familiar and easy. They want us to find an answer quickly so we can get out of the discomfort zone of new ideas. Thinking, after all, is hard. To actually find the growth and new perspectives that come out of a productive disagreement, release yourself from anything that would encourage your time-efficient biases to kick in. Set a ridiculously long calendar hold or say up front that this is going to be a multi-part conversation and schedule the next time block. That way, your shortcut biases can take a back seat.

7. Change the venue.

Environment sets the tone for a disagreement. Make sure that yours is neutral. What are the power dynamics of the space? Are all voices welcome? Can anyone leave at any time? Is it okay to change your mind in this space? If your regular workspace can’t accommodate, head out for a walk around the block. If that’s not possible, pick up the phone. Whatever you do, don’t do it over Slack or email.

8. Aim for aporia.

Aporia is my new favorite place. It’s the ancient Greek concept of realizing that what you thought was a path to the truth doesn’t actually lead there at all. We’re trained that winning a conflict feels good. But Benson says there’s an even better feeling out there. Pulling in a little Socrates to back him up, Benson says that the goal of these big, deep conversations that help us grow and connect isn’t to come to a right answer. It’s to realize the moments when we don’t know what we’re talking about. That may not sound like winning, but it sure sounds like wisdom.

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Confronting Ageism in the Creative Industry: 5 Invaluable Lessons Learned from Getting Older

“This is the one -ism that affects every single one of us,” Cindy Gallop, the self-proclaimed Michael Bay of business, told me. She continued, “Say your age from as early as possible and as often as possible.” Gallop does just that. At age 59, the New York-based CEO & Founder of Make Love Not Porn, has been vocally challenging ageism in the advertising industry for years. 

Cindy is right. We are all aging. I’m 38. Born in 1981, I’m an elder Millennial and one of more than 75 million in my generation, which is overtaking the boomers. As my cohort and I slide into middle age in the years ahead, we will be met with critical questions about our careers: How do we remain relevant? Will we continue to thrive professionally? Will our contributions still be valued? And, ultimately, how can we carry the baton passed to us from previous generations like Cindy’s to continue challenging youth-centric ideals that permeate our culture, and thus our industries? 

In an effort to understand a road that I — and many of us — have yet to traverse, I began the conversation about ageism with what happens as we get older. I spoke with creatives who have been there, done that. All over the age of 40, each generously shared their experiences, which challenge the oft-held myths we believe about aging and offered practical insights to take action toward future-proofing our own careers.  

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Defining ageism in the workplace 

The definition of ageism was updated in 2009 as “negative or positive stereotypes, prejudice and/or discrimination against (or to the advantage of) elderly people on the basis of their chronological age or on the basis of a perception of them as being ‘old’ or ‘elderly.’” 

Ageism can take many forms, including implicit bias, like believing older people have less to contribute in the workplace; stereotyping, such as the idea they’re resistant to technology, not open to change, slower to make decisions, and difficult to train; and digital ageism, which assumes that youth means digitally capable and older people are digitally incapable, regardless of empirical evidence.

In the US, the federal government prohibits ageism in employment practices for employees age 40 and older in accordance with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. Yet, in a survey conducted by AARP, results found that out of workers age 45 and older, 16% believe they didn’t get a job they applied for because of age, 12% said they had been passed over for a promotion because of age, and 7% said they’d been laid off, fired, or forced out of a job because of age discrimination. 

We know discrimination happens, but what can we do to extend the longevity of our careers and thrive as older adults in the workplace? Here, creatives share five invaluable lessons learned from experience: 

1. If you can’t find the resources you need, create them yourself.

Austin-based 59-year-old author and entrepreneur Chip Conley founded the Modern Elder Academy, the world’s first midlife wisdom school, located in Baja California Sur, Mexico, where students learn how to repurpose a lifetime of experience. “My most recent book and the Modern Elder Academy offer people my age a means to navigate the transitions around midlife that can be so problematic for so many,” he said. 

Additionally, Cindy Gallop shared a handful of ventures started to market to older people through the lens of older people, like Grace Creative LA, Fallow Fields Agency, The Silver Group, Flipside Global, The Uninvisibility Project, and hiretheoldf*cker.com.

2. Re-evaluate how you spend your talent, energy, and time. 

Soon-to-be 54-year-old art director and designer Andy Clarke, based in North Wales, UK, has been in the creative field for over 30 years and has mostly run his own business with shorter stints working for others. He noted that as he’s aged, he has re-evaluated how he wants to work and how he spends his resources of talent, energy, and time. 

“You are the person responsible for your own future at the end of the day. You have to be self-motivated.”

He has diversified by including more focus on discovering opportunities for passive income. For example, he’s currently writing articles, which will turn into yet another book and perhaps a video series or workshops. “You have to be mindful of maximizing every opportunity. You are the person responsible for your own future at the end of the day. You have to be self-motivated.” 

3. Be intentional about your career whether you work for yourself or someone else.

Boulder-based Kara Fellows urged, “Keep learning and growing and adding to your skill set.” The illustrator and designer notes that it’s easier to follow an established structure when working full-time for others, while on your own you have to create a strategy and plan for the future. 

“I think most artists get better with age.”

But, even if you work for someone else — as Fellows did for several years before being let go, which she believes was age-related — she advises making sure you’re getting paid what we’re worth and getting matched on your 401k contributions. Now running her own studio again, she noted, “Artists don’t retire; we keep working because it’s what we love to do. I think most artists get better with age. What can you do for the rest of your life that supports you financially and feeds your soul?”

4. Utilize the skills you’ve acquired to reinvent yourself.

Fifty-five-year-old Leon Lawrence, Design Director at National Association of Counties and AIGA Design for Good Chair in Washington, DC, advised utilizing the skills you’ve acquired and turning them into other things. “Once you acquire a certain amount of skills and networks, it’s easier to transform those assets you’ve acquired into ancillary fields. You’re finding avenues to grow that you might not have thought about before. You find ways to expand.” 

No stranger to reinvention, Lawrence first worked at a design studio, then in entertainment at BET, then in publishing before taking his current role at a nonprofit as he shifted from print to digital. He also credited his work at AIGA with keeping him connected to younger generations and giving him opportunities to try new things. 

5. Challenge your beliefs about opportunities that come with age.

At age 45, Nacho Ginestra, Creative Director of Rosàs in Madrid, Spain, said, “I thought it was going to be worse, but I am at my best moment creatively.” After eight years, Ginestra has became a partner and was offered an opportunity to move from Barcelona to Madrid to direct creative at the agency’s new outpost. “I’ve been lucky to grow inside of the company and serve in a leadership role.” 

“I believe I still have a lot to say. We are not old. We are timeless.”

He reflected on his expectations versus reality. He now needs less time to complete tasks, is more focused on what he wants, has more experience supervising teams, and understands his clients much better — all a benefit to his employer. “I believe I still have a lot to say. We are not old. We are timeless.” 

Own your age, know your value. 

Older people, or, if you will, experts, are extremely valuable as Cindy Gallop noted. “The mistake businesses make is failing to see, champion, hire, promote, and value older people.” She expounded that older people know what to do in a crisis, can come up with an appropriate and relevant business strategy in an instant, are experts in people management, and are phased by nothing. 

Gallop left me — and us — with one last challenge. See your age as an asset. “Your age is a very special number because it’s the sum total of you. It’s the representation of all your life experience, learnings, and things that make you uniquely you over the years. Your age is enormously valuable.”

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Know Your Worth! A Guide To Setting Your Rates

“What’s your rate?”

It’s hard to think of another question from a potential client that instills a greater sense of dread in freelancers. Even seasoned independent workers tell us they still balk when asked for their rates. If you think about it practically, it’s silly: you’re a professional, you’re good at what you do, and you have the experience and skillset to back that up. But in reality, emotions often kick in and it’s not that easy. Maybe it’s because we’ve been conditioned not to talk about money. Maybe it’s because of a nagging sense of imposter syndrome. Maybe it’s a fear of over-bidding and losing the gig or burning a bridge. Or maybe it’s the opposite, that we’re afraid of coming in too low and under-valuing our work.

“Freelancers have worked really, really hard for their rate,” explains Cindy Medina Carson, CEO and Founder of Wager.co, a new company that’s working to narrow the wage gap by pairing professionals to have open and transparent conversations about how much they make. “They feel every dollar they get.” But then why then do we find it so hard to ask for what we deserve? Medina Carson has a hypothesis: “There’s a kind of identity crisis: A fear that the dollar amount quoted becomes who you are. But it’s not. The rate you quote once is one decision you make. It doesn’t define you.” There’s a second part of her hypothesis: “People have a really hard time having honest, open conversations about money. They don’t know how. So then they don’t have the information necessary to make an informed decision.” And as any person who’s ever had to set an hourly or project rate knows, Medina Carson’s right on both counts.

In that spirit, here are a few tips, formulas, and some general advice to keep in mind when it comes to setting your rates.

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Don’t Go First

If you can help it, don’t be the first person to give out a rate. Why? Quoting your rate before having a ballpark idea of a project’s budget puts you at a distinct disadvantage in both directions — you risk sounding wildly expensive or insanely cheap.

One way to get around this? If asked for your rate, come back with a polite and professional, “It varies depending on the project and scope of work. Can you give me an idea of what you’re looking for and your allocated budget for the project?” It doesn’t always work, but it’s a strong first step.

Get Comps

If you were researching a fair compensation package for a full-time job, or getting ready to ask for a raise, you’d do your homework and get comparable salaries. Freelancing is no different, except for the fact that it can be harder to find the information you’re looking for. “Get bold and talk to people,” says Medina Carson. Of course, she adds, you have to be careful how you go about these fact-finding missions. “Going from totally opaque when talking about salary to radical transparency is hard, you have to walk people to that a bit,” she explains. 

So how do you go about these delicate conversations? First, find your people. Facebook groups or Slack channels for your industry are a good place to start, as are your peers. Medina Carson suggests asking open-ended questions like “My background is X and I’m looking for work doing Y. What’s a good range to expect?” or “I’m new to freelancing. I used to make $Z dollars, what’s a realistic goal? Any tips on pricing?” And of course, don’t just ask for help from others — offer it, too.

It’s worth noting that the point of Wager.co is to connect people for the purpose of having deeply transparent conversations about compensation. As there’s a fee for this service ($75 per call), this seems like a relevant time to note that it’s ok (and important!) to invest in yourself as part of your career growth — ”you have to spend money to make money,” as the saying goes. Investing in professional development like workshops and conferences, a career coach, a co-working space, new equipment, or a service like Wager, is often part of the path toward success.

Account For Everything — Especially Time Off

Naming a rate isn’t as simple as taking your full-time annual salary and dividing it by 52 40-hour weeks. There are a lot of other factors to consider: health insurance, vacations and sick days, admin time, the aforementioned professional development, and self-employment tax, just to name a few.

In a previous article about the guilt freelancers often battle when taking time off, we mentioned this spectacular tip from Courtney Glashow, LCSW and psychotherapist at Anchor Therapy: Divide your annual target income by the balance of weeks in the year after your ideal time off for vacation, holidays, sick days, and personal time. “I try to really take off six weeks over a calendar year,” she explained. “So when I calculate the money I want to make in a year, I’m counting the year as having 46 weeks.”

Knowing that you’ve accounted for these things helps you track your work, which will likely be a mix of high- and low-paying projects, and can alleviate any nagging feeling that you’re “aiming too high.”

Be Flexible With Your Rates

Anna Davies, a freelance writer and content consultant who’s worked independently since 2005, has these words of wisdom: “I wish I had known earlier that rates can be so fluid, depending on time involved, the people you’re working for, and quite honestly, how much you need the cash.” She suggests you take a hard look at what you’re trying to achieve as a freelancer and identify your priorities: Are you trying to build your business? Then you might take on more work at a lower rate (the same goes if you’re trying to expand into a new field). On the other hand, if you’re looking to hit a certain target each quarter, you’ll have a better idea of when to say no to a low-paying gig.

Every freelancer we spoke to for this piece agrees that their rate fluctuates based on current goals and priorities, and that it’s a constant cycle of re-evaluating. “You have to mess with your rates and projects,” adds Medina Carson. “Once a month, take out your [budget] spreadsheet. It’s a lot of self-management, but it’s worth it.”

Consider the Client

Freelancing is a business of relationships, and those relationships play a factor in determining rates. “It’s good to get a combination of different types of clients in the mix: I will lower a rate if a client has me for a contracted number of hours a month and charge more for a one-off project,” explains Davies. “There’s value in ongoing relationships.” She also considers another factor: “My rates are also determined by how hands-on a client will be. If it’s a ton of phone calls and midpoint deadlines, I’m going to set a rate higher than if I have control over my time and the client is pretty hands off.” In other words, does your client deserve a PITA (pain in the a**) tax? It’s fair game — all that micromanagement costs time and attention.

Still Lost? Try a Formula

There are a few formulas we’ve seen that suggest how to tackle setting an hourly rate. One is to take your desired and fair full-time annual salary, back it up into an hourly rate, then add 40% to cover those freelancer additional expenses we mentioned. Another is to take the annual salary you’d make at a full-time gig and move the decimal three spots to the left to determine your hourly rate. Through this method $120,000/year becomes $120/hour. Then say you want to work a total of 48 weeks a year (that’s four weeks of “paid” vacation) at 35 hours per week, that’s $120 x 35 hours x 48 weeks = $201,600 — likely enough to cover your vacation, taxes, personal retirement contributions and more. While these approaches may feel a bit reductive, they’re at least a helpful starting point.

Parting Words

At the end of the day, there’s no golden rule or one-size-fits-all approach to setting your rates as a freelancer. The best you can do is have informative conversations, do the research, and be confident asking for what you know you’re worth. 

But remember these words from Medina Carson: “As a freelancer, you’re likely wearing 17 different hats. You’re managing the project and writing content and doing multiple roles. And you can do that all without having to be managed. You might be more expensive than the others, but you can do the work of four people. You’ll give it to them on a silver platter,”  she says. “And people will pay well for good work.”

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Increase Your Productivity by Saying Goodbye to Drains and Incompletions

“It’s the end of the day and I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing.”

“My to-do list is constantly growing and I feel overwhelmed.” 

“I want to feel more productive and accomplished at work.”

“I’m spread so thin that I’m not successful at anything.”

Sound familiar? You’re not the only one. Over the past two years since beginning my coaching practice, I’ve worked with nearly 100 creatives. Many of my clients come to me feeling overwhelmed, distracted, and unable to find time in the day to do their most important work. One of the first places we start is to take a comprehensive look at how they are spending their days. More specifically, we examine the drains and incompletions that often leave them with little to no energy to complete the work that is their actual priority.

We have a finite amount of attention to devote to daily tasks. Research shows that, on average, in an 8-hour day, employees are only productive for 3 hours. According to the study referenced, the other five hours are littered with unproductive activities, like reading news websites, checking social media, discussing non-work-related things with co-workers, searching for new jobs, texting, smoke breaks, making coffee, and so on. 

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Defining Drains and Incompletions 

What about the tasks, which may be categorized as productive, that drain the time and energy we want to spend on priority work? These drains actually include things we may have to do: commuting, personal admin, email correspondence, meetings, calls. It might not be an option to remove these items from our to-do list, but perhaps we can rethink how we do them. 

If drains take away our time and energy from important tasks, then incompletions take a toll on our mental bandwidth. How many to-do items are rolling around in your head at any given minute? I forgot to call so-and-so. I need to reply to that email from my boss. I promised my co-worker I’d get that report to them last week. And the list goes on. 

Incompletions are any items on our to-do lists that we have yet to complete. They can be related to work, but they can also be personal. Regardless, they take up room in our minds. Incompletions can be negligible, like responding to a simple email, or they can be acute, like dreams we have put off, conversations to be had, projects we need to wrap up, or promises we’ve yet to deliver on. 

List of drains and incompletions.

Identify What is Stealing Your Time, Energy, and Attention

Addressing both drains and incompletions can help you free up bandwidth and be more present and productive in your day-to-day. In his book, Deep Work, author Cal Newport reminds us that, “Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.” If you are spending your time, energy, and attention on tasks that don’t support your overall mission or key priorities for your work, it’s time to re-evaluate where your energy is going. Here’s how you can start: 

Step 1: Identify your drains and incompletions 

Set aside 15-20 minutes on your calendar and minimize distractions for this check-in with yourself. Spend five minutes listing down all of your drains and incompletions. There’s no need to categorize them. Write every last item you can think of, from the light bulb that needs to be replaced in your bathroom to that conversation you need to have with your colleague, until you there is nothing left swirling around in your mind. 

Step 2: Understand what you can and cannot control

Before you begin to decide how to address the items on your list, there’s a critical step. You must determine what you can control and what you cannot. How much time do you spend worrying, problem-solving, and fixating on what you cannot control? This can leave us feeling overwhelmed, helpless, and disempowered. 

Drains and incompletions can be divided by those within your control and those outside it.

Even when it feels like you have no control, you can still choose how you engage, respond, or proceed. It’s more fruitful to spend your time, energy, and attention on what you can do something about. 

Take a look at the drains and incompletions you listed. Now, cross off all of the items you have no control over. It’s time to stop giving away your precious resources to these things. Commit to redirecting your energy to addressing the things you can actually do something about. 

Step 3: Make a plan of action that works for you

Take a look at the drains and incompletions items left on your list. Confirm they are all items you can directly address, meaning you have some level of control over them. Now, spend ten minutes going through your list and deciding how you will tackle each item. 

A few ways you could address incompletions include:

• delegating or outsourcing 
• stop procrastinating and do it
• identifying if you’re missing a resource to complete the item and, if so, how you’ll find the resource(s)
• let it go altogether 
• putting an end to perfectionism that causes you to wait until the “perfect” time or until you can do the task “perfectly” 
• automating the task on your calendar if it’s something that needs to be done on a regular basis so you don’t forget 

To address drains, you could consider: 

• setting clear boundaries around what you are available for and when (i.e. scheduling time on your calendar to work without distraction)
• shifting the way you use your time (i.e. finding a way to make your commute more enjoyable or using it as an opportunity to decompress)
• limiting time spent on drains that can consume your day (i.e. only checking email at certain times throughout the day)

Motivation for Change 

The biggest hurdle in beginning to address drains and incompletions is that it’s a process that will require your time, energy, and attention. It may feel like an overwhelming request at first, especially if you already feel depleted of energy. However, the short-term investment will create long-term rewards as you take action and see results. Addressing drains and incompletions may seem like a small, simple idea, but it can dramatically improve your workflow and increase your energy and feelings of productivity. 

When you think of your ideal day, it likely doesn’t include back-to-back meetings, endless calls, being stuck in email land, or completing urgent, but unimportant tasks that don’t support your main work. What if you could feel more productive, less distracted, and have an increased ability to give your most important — and finite — resources to the work that truly matters? Not only is a more productive, focused, fulfilling day within your reach, but you’re the only one who can make it happen for yourself. No one else will value your time, energy, and attention as much as you do. It’s time to rethink the way you spend your days, one drain and one incompletion at a time. 

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9 Creatives on Their Most Valuable Career Lessons

We all dive into the unknown with plenty of excitement and a good measure of tenacity. The wisdom tends to come later, after a fair share of stumbles and tests of courage. Looking back at their careers so far, nine thinkers and creatives let us in on some of the most important learning moments that act as their touchstones when making decisions and planning for their future.

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1. Learn How to Be Alone

Julia Bainbridge is something of an expert on loneliness and solitude, and the distinction between those two states. Her podcast, The Lonely Hour, explores the social distance that has come to define many of our lives, and digs deeper into the creative value of solitude. For Bainbridge, taking the time to sit with herself with no distractions is where she finds her expression. “I am my most creative in moments when I am alone — when I’m on a quiet walk, not listening to anything on my iPhone. That’s when I come up with ideas. I want to underscore how important this time is for us all. We are constantly entertained today. If there is a void, we are taught to fill it.”

2. Use Social Tools Your Way

For many of us, social media is a necessary evil, and this goes double for creatives and designers who rely on online exposure and self-promotion for their professional livelihood. Sabrina Hall is a self-confessed lifelong introvert, who as a designer has been compelled to find a way to use these tools to her advantage. After some trial and error, she found that maintaining a Twitter presence, with boundaries, worked for her personality. “As I always tell myself: my voice may not be the loudest, but it is equally as important. It’s the shy, introverted voice; the Afro-Latina voice; the voice that loves reading and gets excited about typography. I can still be my true, introverted self online and share as much or as little as I want with others in the online community, without competing for likes.”

3. Support Your Community

Finding “your people” can be a lifelong quest for many. Creative work flourishes in a supportive community, and being embraced by like-minded creatives allows us the freedom to thrive, fail, and take necessary risks. For Nicole Katz, the creative culture in Los Angeles sustained her when she took the reins at Paper Chase Press, a family business that started in the 1970s. Entering the industry at the height of the recession was a fraught prospect, but Katz was buoyed by the passionate artists and designers that appreciated the business’ dedication to quality and innovation. Today, Paper Chase Press is a hub for a niche print culture that thrives with its independent-minded spirit and investment in the local community.   “You have to sustain the community that sustains you,” Katz says. “We’re keeping people interested in print, and doing projects that use print. That’s our long game: making projects happen so that we continue to support the print community, and the medium in general.”

The San Francisco headquarters of Rapt Studios feature a barista instead of a receptionist. Photography by Noah Webb.

4. Stay True to Your Priorities

For David Gallulo, CEO of Rapt Studio, making interaction and communication natural is the first order of business when working with brands like Ancestry, Dollar Shave Club and Dropbox. Rapt Studio’s interdisciplinary approach to building teams and spaces and fostering environments that bring together people to work on one project, mirrors the complexity of the world itself. Making a space for this variety of viewpoints comes with challenges that aren’t supported by a traditional workplace. “With clients, we often start our processes not asking what kind of spaces people need, but what kind of interactions you want people to have,” says Galullo. “If you want people to bring their best selves, to look at things with curiosity, you can’t expect them to stand at the same desk for ten hours a day.” Rethinking the obvious answers has led to unexpected but human-centric results, such as doing away with standard reception desk at Rapt’s San Francisco headquarters, replacing it with a barista and espresso machine. This casual, welcoming note sets the tone for the day’s interactions for their team and clients.

5. Stoke Curiosity

Shana Dressler, co-founder of DLW Creative Labs, believes that “possibility thinking” is one of the ten major skills for the future of work. Opening yourself up to the uncomfortable and unexpected can have transformative effects on your ideation process. This can be a shock to the system, but as Dressler says, “Challenging rigid ways of thinking and working enables new ideas to form. Allow yourself to experience moments of awe and wonder, and bring that practice to your work.”

Mediator Brad Heckman is also an accomplished illustrator.

6. Learn to Listen (Really Listen)

Conflict is uncomfortable, awkward, and…inevitable. But it doesn’t always have to be a fraught crisis situation marked by old defensive coping mechanisms. Brad Heckman, professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and founder of the New York Peace Institute, has lent his mediation expertise to everyone from the NYPD to NASA. The biggest lesson learned in his time spent diffusing tense situations is that there is no conflict resolution without really hearing what the other person is saying to us. “We hear from our clients all the time,” says Heckman, “that people value being heard and understood more than they value a detailed agreement. Agreements and resolutions are important, but being heard is a necessary step for that.”

7. Keep a Record

Getting into the habit of noting your inspiring ideas will allow you to see the workings of your mind and let you follow up on nascent concepts. Even if they don’t pan out, you shouldn’t let the spark of an idea evaporate. “Keep a sketchbook,” says designer Kelli Anderson. “Your good ideas aren’t going to come on a schedule,” so make sure you’re prepared to capture them at all times. That way the next time you need a prompt, either for your own project or for client work, you’ll have a trove of ideas to sift through.” Given that our best ideas often strike us in odd moments, work out a method that suits your lifestyle, be it an audio recorder, the notes app on your phone, or a pocket-sized notebook to keep on you at all times.

The Type-A pen is a minimal, stainless steel pen that doubles as a ruler and is meant to last forever. Photo courtesy of CW&T Studio

8. Make it Personal

Husband-and-wife team Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy are the creatives behind the Brooklyn-based CW&T Studios, responsible for singular projects such as the “forever jump rope” and a 100-year clock. “On the simplest level, everything we make is something we want for ourselves. We often find a small void or need in our lives, then furiously search for a solution. When we can’t find one that we find satisfactory, we make it,” says Levy. Listening to that inner compass can lead you to your most fulfilling work and memorable ideas. For Wang and Levy, they are motivated by a desire to inspire “joy and a regular dose of delight” from those who engage with their products.

9. Recognize Telltale Patterns

Keri Elmsly, Chief Creative Officer at Second Story, was used to spearheading ambitious projects with huge scope. But with every launch came a deep dissatisfaction and inability to look past the small imperfections that only she could spot. She was focusing on the negatives so much so that she couldn’t appreciate the hard work and beauty of her team’s efforts. Realizing this prompted some serious soul-searching. She reflects, “I took a pretty deep look at ownership and attachment. It made me realize: if you’re going to take on epic projects you’ve never done before, you need to plan for recovery and you need to see the patterns — the peaks and troughs that you go through. It’s not worth it to let the anger, frustration, and disappointment undermine everything.”

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