Building Good Habits: The 99U Gift Guide

Give the gift of good habits this holiday season. Our selections are geared towards making sure that resolutions last through January and beyond. Add them to your list, gift them to family, friends, or colleagues, or treat yourself. Whether it’s making more time to meditate, using devices less, or making more sustainable choices, we have just the gifts designed to help you slow down and establish the routines that make you happier and more motivated.

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Keep track of commitments

For those who find comfort in organization.

Getting back to basics with pen and paper is a great way to get through the bumpy first few days of setting up a new habit. Consistency is key, and the Habit Roadmap lets you track your progress by marking daily actions and week-by-week habit streaks. 

Get more organized

Who doesn’t love a good spiral-bound?

Based on the Behance Action Method, this notebook’s design template heralds the end of scribbled sticky notes and overlooked to-do items. The page is split into four zones to organize thoughts and help you leave brainstorming sessions feeling energized, not overwhelmed. 

Make to-do lists 

Why not bring a bit of whimsy to your paper goods?

Seeing your priorities mapped out and close at hand is an easy way to set up a routine of jotting down your lists of tasks and commitments. This fun desk planner is both functional and eye-catching–just the thing for making a habit of planning your weeks and months, sketching out big ideas, or just plain doodling.

Make time to meditate

The Calm app.

Calm is an app of choice for those looking to slow down and find some zen. The guided meditations are an easy way to take some time out every day, and the accompanying book offers tips and ideas on how to find some peace. Calm also offer a book and a gift subscription that allows a year of unlimited access to their content library. 

Create a meditation station

3rd Ritual Bel candle

Founded by Jenn Tardif, 3rd Ritual draws on her years of experience studying yoga and meditation to make thoughtful products and meditation tools. The Bel is a candle with brass time markings that make a gentle sound as they fall, making your meditation a phone-free experience. 

Make a caffeine habit more sustainable

For whatever hot beverage fuels your mornings…and afternoons.

If you’re keen to cut down on waste and plastic, a good reusable coffee thermos is a wise investment. This Kinto style is sleek and minimal, but boasts a vacuum seal and a clever double lid that will be a welcome gift to all caffeine devotees, yourself included.

Read more, on paper

Go back to the early days of New York Magazine with Anne Quito’s look at the work of Walter Bernard and Milton Glaser.

Here are some of our favorite book releases from 2019 to keep you turning pages rather than mindlessly swiping: Take an inspiring dive into the golden era of magazines with Mag Men. Explore how the spaces we inhabit shape our lives and identities. Let’s hear it for the late bloomers. A chill pill in book form. Forge connections and reestablish community in a world of isolating technology. Celebrate women in design. Blow your mind, change your life. John Maeda helps us speak machine, and to consider a new framework for impactful design decisions. We know multitasking is a myth, so improve productivity instead by managing your attention. Business as art? A new form of entrepreneurship comes with vision and principles.

Use the phone less

Jim and Chloe Read’s Wideboy Alarm Clock.

Looking to break the habit of checking your phone first thing in the morning? An alarm clock is an easy way to short-circuit this instinct. This mid-century-inspired style, designed by husband-and-wife team Jim and Chloe Read, is a chic way to cut down on how many times you pick up your phone. 

Make self-care a priority

Start the day with a positive mindset.

A Shine app subscription gives access to audio talks, challenges, and motivational messages that focus on productivity, burnout, mindfulness, and personal growth. Making time for daily check-ins with yourself establishes a healthy pattern, and will allow you to make more thoughtful decisions and feel more assured in work and life. 

Be more productive

Like sands through the hourglass…

One of the most popular resolutions for a new year is a vow to be more productive, more focused, and just get it done more often. But if you struggle to focus and find yourself frequently distracted (we don’t blame you!), it could be time to look at how you’re spending your work hours. With each turn of the Hay hourglass, you have a visual reminder of how you’re spending 15 minutes—a pretty way to parcel your time and prioritize.

Eat healthier

Bento lunch boxes by Ekobo.

If you want to make a habit out of bringing your lunch to work, a well-designed lunchbox could be the push you need to make it a daily routine. This Bento-inspired box is a sustainable choice, with neat, divided sections and bamboo cutlery. 

Get in touch with nature

Nils Plöjel’s self-watering planter pot.

Let a lush, thriving plant perk up your workspace, with no green thumb required. Making a habit of surrounding yourself with greenery is proven to help with stress and create a more welcoming environment, and this self-watering planter by Nils Plöjel is an easy way to add a touch of nature to your desk. 

Support artists 

A Bea Crespo print.

We might be a little biased, but we think supporting independent artists is one of the best gifts, hands down. Keep an eye out out for illustrators and designers who offer their prints for sale and add to your collection throughout the year. Our favorites include Yeyei Gomez’s striking graphic figures and Bea Crespo’s surrealist silk screens, or commission one of your favorites. 

Invest in mentorship

If you want to make a habit of keeping your interview and resume skills in top form in 2020, consider calling on the professionals. The Muse offers a range of services, from resume and LinkedIn reviews to one-on-one mentorship that could be just the thing you need to get out of a rut, go in a new direction, or achieve some long-standing professional goals.

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The Art of Doing Nothing

Over Thanksgiving break, I read Cal Newport’s latest book, Digital Minimalism, in which he urges us to engage in regular periods of solitude. “We need solitude to thrive as human beings, and in recent years, without even realizing it, we’ve been systematically reducing this crucial ingredient from our lives.” Newport defines solitude as being along with our own thoughts and having the ability to listen to our internal dialogue without distraction or input from other people, screens, or devices. When was the last time you had a moment of solitude?

With the new year approaching, many of us are wrapping up work and hitting deadlines prior to winter break. Regardless of individual traditions or rituals around this time of year, one thing is certain: there are many requests on our time from family, friends, and colleagues. For many of us, this is the busiest season of the year, one in which we can feel obligated to participate, say yes to invitations, and fear missing out if we say no. 

In her book, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Jenny Odell suggests that “we reimagine #FOMO as #NOMO, the necessity of missing out.” Newport backs this up in his book, noting, “Minimalists don’t mind missing out on small things; what worries them is diminishing the large things they already know for sure make a good life.” Saying no can help us say yes to our most significant work priorities and to our own self-care. It’s vital to integrate downtime to reset on a regular basis, and what better time than the end of the year. 

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When to say yes: Setting guidelines to help you decide 

But how do we know what to say no to? We often say yes to everything because we don’t have any hard and fast guidelines for knowing whether or not we want to say yes. Setting guidelines for when you’ll say yes can help you make decisions that will better serve your priorities. Here are a few examples of when you might say yes to an activity or request:

1. You actually have the time. Don’t simply say yes and figure out where you’ll fit something in later. Take a hard look at your calendar before you respond and make sure you have the time you need.
2. You want to do it. This might sound oversimplified, but if you want to do something and you have the time, go for it. If you don’t want to do it, say no. 
3. It aligns with your mission and values. If you don’t have a personal mission applicable to your work and life, start there. Once you know your mission, it can be a guide. If an item doesn’t align with where you’re headed, perhaps it’s a pass for you. 
4. You have the resources to do it. Once you know you have the time, have checked in with yourself about whether or not you want to do it, and have decided it aligns with your mission and values, it’s important to determine if you have the resources to do it (i.e. money, skills, contacts, knowledge, and so on).

Here’s how you know when to just say no

1. You’re beginning (or already) feel burned out. This week, I noticed I was feeling more tired than usual after saying yes to more work and social engagements than I normally do. I decided to prioritize rest and cleared a day on my calendar to do something that refreshes me. Pay attention to your physical energy and what your body is telling you and respond accordingly if you need time to reset. 
2. You don’t want to do it. There are some work-related or social obligations that can feel tricky to say no to. However, if you don’t want to do something, you can say no and find a way to communicate your decision that feels good for you. 
3. It’s out of alignment with your goals. We only have so much time for work and living. If you know what’s important to you, you can determine what isn’t. Revisit your mission statement and values when you’re making a decision and ask if it supports your goals or not. 
4. You don’t have the resources to do it (even if you want to). Sometimes we do not have the time, physical capacity, money, or other resources to do something, even if we want to. Perhaps it’s not a no forever, but a no right now while you work on gathering resources or waiting until a more opportune time. 

Embracing moments of downtime without our screens 

The point of defining when we might say yes and no to something is to help us integrate moments of solitude and downtime into our schedule—yes, even during this time of year. When we think about resetting, we might imagine a long break that leaves us feeling recharged. However, we can have those moments in our day-to-day, integrated into our routine.

To begin with, screen time doesn’t count as downtime because it’s still input. My dictionary defines downtime as, “time during which production is stopped especially during setup for an operation or when making repairs.” Of course, that’s related to technology, but it also serves the purpose of our exploration. 

I encourage you to find at least 15 minutes in your day as a starting point to practice solitude. Use this downtime to do nothing. There are probably already opportunities for you to do this. Forgo input on your train or car commute. Resist the urge to stare at your screen while waiting in line. Take a quick break from work and go for a walk. Find ways you can practice having no input that are accessible. 

One trick I recently learned from my friend Jillian was to use the Screen Time features for iPhone. They allow you to set time limits for phone usage in general, and for specific apps. You won’t get locked out, but you will get a message to inform you when you’re done with your time limit for the day. You can also set downtime hours when you take a break from your device. I’ve set my downtime hours from 10pm to 7am and noticed I’ve spent more time reading books in the evenings.

Doing nothing can lead to more meaning

If we are always busy saying yes to everything, how do we know what’s actually important? If we spend time mindlessly inputting whatever comes our way, how do we know what we want to consume? If we have no moments of solitude with ourselves, we forget what our own voice sounds like. It becomes harder to know ourselves and thus harder to know what we really want when it comes to work and life. 

Doing nothing is just as important as producing and creating. As Jenny Odell puts it, “Our very idea of productivity is premised on the idea of producing something new, whereas we do not tend to see maintenance and care as productive in the same way.” Downtime may not look productive to others, it may not feel productive to us, but if we engage in it on a regular basis, we will surely see the positive effects: being more in tune with what we want and being more engaged in what makes a good life during the busiest time of the year—and all year round. 

For further exploration on this topic:

• Listen to an interview with Jenny Odell, author of How to Do Nothing, on the podcast, Hurry Slowly. 
• If you have an iPhone, experiment with your Downtime settings to limit and rethink how you use your device. 
• Read The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl.
• Watch Laura Vanderkam’s TED Talk, “How to gain control of your free time.”

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Busy Creatives Share Their December Work Rituals

The end of the calendar year offers a singular opportunity for dedicated reflection, gratitude, and downtime. But for busy creatives, even reflection, gratitude, and downtime require thoughtful planning.

Ritualizing these practices is the key to their success: like holiday traditions, year-end habits are annual commitments to ourselves and the people around us. They evolve as we evolve. And in an era of unprecedented burnout, they give us a rare pause for real examination. 

We asked some of our favorite creatives to let us in on their December rituals from self-evaluation to file organization to team celebrations. Whether you’re perfecting your own rituals or just starting to establish your habits, their practices are a cheat sheet to winding down the year that was and gearing up for the one ahead.

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“I try to save a vacation day or two to process.”
Youngna Park, Executive Product Director, NYT Parenting

“December is always a buzz of celebrations, reflection, and lots and lots of planning for the next year. At NYT Parenting, we are in the midst of setting our goals both for the first quarter of 2020, as well as looking big picture at what we want to accomplish in the year.

“Formally, the New York Times has all employees do self reviews, then each person is also reviewed by peers who they’ve worked with closely during the year. As a product team, we also review and score ourselves on OKRs. More informally, I try and check in with myself: how am I feeling about what my team and I accomplished this year? I have a lot of aspirational goals about work/life balance, my role as a parent, and pursuing creativity outside of my job that are part of my personal self-reflection. I try to save a vacation day or two [in] December to process all this.

“The NYT Parenting team is celebrating [the end of the year] with a family-style dinner. We have a fair number of remote employees, so most of them are coming to town to celebrate with us, a rare chance to all be in the same room. Our department also does a fun year-end party and we have a ‘Best of 2019’ highlights reel meeting to cap the year off in work.”

“I’m very much looking forward to unplugging.”
Irene Pereya, Co-founder/Designer, Anton & Irene

“[December is] usually: Wrapping up projects, setting up new projects, getting paperwork sorted, and having our studio Christmas dinner and party. Dinner is just with the studio, and the drinking and dancing is for our extended friends and family as well.

“I’m very much looking forward to unplugging and being somewhere completely different. I feel most relaxed in unfamiliar surroundings.”

“We do one new conference talk a year, so that [time] really allows us to look back on the previous year and see what some of the highlights and low points were that we can share with others.

“Our whole studio takes two weeks off. We just leave. Go somewhere for vacation. Turn off all our devices, don’t answer any calls or emails. As for me, I will be traveling around China. I’m very much looking forward to unplugging and being somewhere completely different. I feel most relaxed in unfamiliar surroundings. Then when I get back to work in January I am completely refreshed.”

“No professional process or ritual should be happening only because, ‘It’s how we’ve always done this.’”
Jess Freaner, Data Scientist & Senior Design Lead, IDEO

“December at IDEO is a mix of planning for the year ahead, holiday cheer, travel, a few surprise client projects because of end-of-year budget surpluses, baked goods, a mad dash to submit all lingering expenses, and very strong sweater game. We evaluate ourselves based on the IDEO values, a framework we use to define professional development, and how we’ve measured up to the objectives we set for ourselves. Currently, we’re piloting a new tool to standardize how we capture feedback in a more consistent way across our global organization. It’s a work in progress, but a great example of how no professional process or ritual should be happening only because, ‘It’s how we’ve always done this.’

“I also go through a process of ‘winter cleaning’ my physical and digital workspaces to silence lingering mental noise. One tactic that seems to be standing the test of time is the use of three very special folders on my desktop called ‘the_past,’ ‘the_now,’ and ‘the_future.’ The past is an archive of past work and memories I’d like at my fingertips. The now is a repository of resources I continue to turn to most frequently. And the future is inspiration I gather and things I’d like to learn. The end of the year is a nice time to clean out, reevaluate, and shuffle these around.”

“I go through a process of ‘winter cleaning’ my physical and digital workspaces to silence lingering mental noise.”

“IDEO’s moments of gathering continue to evolve as we strive to be inclusive and responsive to the needs of the community. These are moments to show appreciation for each other, celebrate the hard work that can sometimes fall under the radar, and acknowledge creative excellence. Along the way, we also sprinkle in smaller opportunities to connect and share our passions and gratitude with the community. A new tradition started this year is the #BYGI (Bring Your Gratitude In) effort. When put in difficult, uncomfortable, and less resourced situations, it’s important to acknowledge and appreciate what others do to alleviate discomfort, and bring joy to the office. We started giving #BYGI cards to each other to acknowledge small gestures and huge efforts alike. I imagine some version of this newest tradition will stick around for a while.”

“Everything happens in December.”
Christina Amini, Executive Publishing Director, Chronicle Books

“As a publisher, we sell the greatest number of books and gift products in the last month of the year. At the same time, the creative teams are hustling to send out our files for our books for the following year before the end of the year. Everything happens in December. It’s a lot of output in a short amount of time.

“I keep a ‘good file,’ where I stash away the highlights of the year as they happen: emails of appreciation, awards, team celebrations. At the end of the year, it’s a way for me to celebrate the successes. For the last five years, my colleague Bridget Watson Payne and I have each chosen a Word of the Year. For each of us, the word (e.g. Joy, Love, Tenacity) emerges as the one to focus on. It can be a word to inspire, direct decisions, or just give an aura to the year ahead.

“[I prioritize] all the lovely traditions: Friendsgiving, an annual latke party, Christmas with my large family (I have five sisters!), New Year’s Eve Cooking Club. It’s been a long Chronicle Editorial Team tradition to host a white elephant of sorts. This is a clever and creative team, which means the gift exchange is hilarious and very competitive.”

“The end of the year is about closing chapters.”
Reggie Black, Multimedia Artist, Designer & Principal, All Things Progressive

“The theme of every year is captured in one word. The word dictates the direction of what’s to come. The framework of my brand and client work is centered around it too.

“Every year, I refer to the Muji notebook (always Muji) that I set intentions, goals, and objectives in at the beginning of the year. The ritual starts with a gratitude list and outlining all of my accomplishments. Celebrating what I’ve achieved allows me to create moments of appreciation and pause. With goals I did not accomplish, I examine why, what went wrong, how can I improve, and what ways I can incorporate those things into the upcoming year. I think oftentimes as designers, as well as entrepreneurs, we gravitate towards assessing areas of improvement. It’s the nature of the industry and creative evolution. I try not to beat myself up about falling short, since it’s how we continue to learn and grow.

“It’s a time to slow down, reflect, and spend time lots of time with family and friends. Slowing down and reflecting helps me appreciate the current moment.”

“Acknowledging the end of the year for me is about closing chapters. My objective is to always purge clients, work, projects, ideas, and people from my life that no longer serve the direction I want to go. Closing chapters is a powerful act for progression.

“It’s a time to slow down, reflect, and spend time lots of time with family and friends. Slowing down and reflecting helps me appreciate the current moment. Spending time with family and friends reminds me of what the core and purpose of everything is all about. It grants me the space needed to intentionally refuel. It’s also a great time to express my sincere gratitude to clients, supporters, and collectors of my work.”

Our takeaways:

• Tie up loose ends; bring projects to a close and tidy your physical and digital workspaces so you can take a true pause over the holidays and enter the new year feeling refreshed and ready
• Celebrate successes: make time to celebrate your personal or collective achievements from the year, whether by writing them down or announcing them at a gathering with colleagues
• Practice gratitude: find ways to thank your team, collaborators, clients, and supporters
• Step away from work: schedule dedicated days (or weeks) for decompression and reflection, and to spend quality time with loved ones
• Set an intention for next year: consider choosing a word as a theme for the year ahead, or map out your professional and personal goals

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Alexis Lloyd: Small Design Choices Can Change the Internet

A few years ago, a notification popped up in Alexis Lloyd’s DMs. It was John Maeda. 

“Hey,” the design luminary (and then head of computational design and inclusion at Automattic) said, “I am a fan of your work.”

“I said, ‘The feeling is mutual,’” Lloyd recalled.

Pretty soon the experience designer, who had started as creative director of the New York Times R&D Lab and left the legacy company to be employee number two at Axios, was installed as Head of Design Innovation at Automattic.

In all of her roles, her work has centered on designing experiences for how we read and write on the internet. As the sky-high stakes of that work become ever more apparent, Lloyd has recently launched the Ethical Futures Lab, a design community and newsletter that looks at how small choices impact the future in a big way. 

“Designers have the opportunity to intentionally shape how we communicate and how we understand the world around us,” says Lloyd. “That’s what’s really powerful that keeps driving me forward.”

We sat down with Lloyd, now VP of Product Design at Medium, to talk about design ethics, how to manage a crack design team, and how designers can build an internet that empowers rather than exploits.

It turns out that, just like John Maeda, we are a big fan of her work.

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Q. You spent nine years at the New York Times R&D Lab from 2007 to 2016, which must have been a fascinating time to be innovating how we consume journalism. 

A. It was a super interesting time to join because a lot happened at once in 2007: Twitter had recently been founded, Facebook had just opened up beyond universities, the iPhone had just launched. The mission of the Lab was to look at the challenges and opportunities presented by emerging technologies and realities and start conversations about how we approach them as an organization and as an industry.

Q. From the New York Times to Axios to Automattic to Medium, you’ve always focused on the experience of writing and journalism online. What is the involvement of a designer in that work?

A. Many people hear “design” and they think it’s putting the pretty face on work. It’s so much deeper than that. User experience design is designing systems. And those systems shape the possibilities and expectations of how people engage with the world around them. So, designing experiences around how people read and write is to create the framework for how we understand the world and each other.

Q. Why is it important that designers be involved in that conversation?

A. We’ve seen the kind of impact the design of systems can have. For example, Facebook and social media platforms have largely been designed to optimize for virality and reach as the default. That’s had profound effects on the shape of our personal and political discourse. Designers can really consider the impact of small decisions like those defaults and how we can use them to facilitate the long-term effects that we want them to have.

Q. There are agency designers, and then there are in-house and R&D. What’s the value of each experience?

A. The advantage of working for an agency is you get to tackle new things with every project, so you’re constantly learning about a new company or industry. But you’re often handing over a set of recommendations and you don’t get to do the iterating, testing, and learning part of the design process.

“Give the people the space to surprise you.”

When you do in-house work, you get to go deep with your users and the product. It allows for more long-term thinking. And R&D is about having a group of people who can think a little further out and be the vanguard to understand what’s possible in the future and how we might get from A to B.

Q. You ended up at Automattic because John Maeda slid into your DMs. Was a call out of the blue like that exciting?

A. It was exciting for a number of reasons. One was that I’d been working in a developing industry for a long time so I was often the most senior person doing what I do. I’d never really had the mentorship that comes with reporting to someone who deeply understood my craft.

Q. In working with John, did you realize anything about what makes a good mentor or manager?

A. Give the people the space to surprise you. You can try to drive a really direct path toward the outcome that you want. Or you can plant a lot of seeds that maybe don’t seem related to each other and let them grow. Then you’re acting as the gardener for the environment, figuring out levers you can pull to help the whole organism come along with you.

Q. Is that why you made a design playbook for Automattic?

A. I think that playbooks and design principles can be a useful way to have a common set of principles to evaluate our work. Most importantly, it’s a tool to facilitate good conversations centered around the users’ experience. At Automattic specifically, we kept it at a high enough level that it wasn’t prescriptive, but it helped to build culture and expectations.

Q. What would you suggest to someone looking to make a playbook for their own company?

A. It’s about really bringing people into the process so that it’s not a top-down exercise. I gathered a lot of the writing that designers on the team had been doing and acted as an editor to pull out common threads and synthesize those into principles and best practices. That allowed me to say, “This is a distillation of what we have all been doing together,” rather than, “This is my idea of what could work. And now you have to go to it.”

Q. Speaking of people management, Automattic is famously a fully distributed team. Do you have any advice for managing remote teams?

A. It can be easy for the time you spend with people that you’re not co-located with be very transactional. One of the most important things for culture and team-building is building space for non-transactional relationships to develop.

“One of the most important things for culture and team-building is building space for non-transactional relationships to develop.”

One tactic is “coffee break time,” which is just a remote hangout where everybody gets on, has a cup of coffee or tea, and it’s explicitly not talking about work. It’s a way to recreate those casual moments where you run into someone at the water cooler, which where you really start to build trust and relationships. At Medium, the whole design team does it for half an hour every couple of weeks. The conversation leads to all different kinds of things, from people’s tattoos to their travel plans to what insects they’re afraid of.

Q. You and your former NYTimes R&D co-lead, Matt Boggie recently started the Ethical Futures Lab together. What about that conversation is exciting to you?

A. It’s easy to talk about ethics in broad strokes, like doing good or evil. I’m more interested in levels of decision-making; what’s the default? What’s the expectation for how people use this? How do we make explicit all the choices that are built into those frameworks and designs?

There’s this sense that the path of technological progress is inevitable. But it really is a set of explicit choices made by people. The more we can reflect on that, the more we can imagine other choices made in a more intentional way. Those are choices that lead to systems that empower people rather than exploit them.

“There’s this sense that the path of technological progress is inevitable. But it really is a set of explicit choices made by people.”

Matt and I started writing a newsletter every couple of weeks called Six Signals, where we would find signals of emerging futures. We want to move into more community-building, more making, and bridging that gap between theory and creation.

Q. How do you build that kind of ethical thinking into the initial stages of your work?

A. It starts with thinking about people who aren’t your default user. We tend to design for the ideal state of what we’re creating and plan for the user who understands the system and uses it as we intended. The most basic, low-hanging fruit is to ask, “What’s the worst thing that someone might do with this?” That should encompass everything from accidental misuse to intentional malice.

We can get pretty far by simply having diversity of experience when we’re creating products. We’ve seen terrible misuse of software and platforms because those systems were created by a homogenous set of people who never considered questions that might have be obvious to someone else had they been in the room. For example, how social platforms can be used for stalking and abuse is something that, if you’re not in a position where you’ve ever had to consider that, it might not come to mind. It’s a matter of seeing what’s possible, both good and bad.

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How to Have a Successful First Conversation With a Prospective Client

That first phone call with a new client is a nuanced maneuver that’s equal parts fact-finding, checking for professional rapport, and understanding the scope of the job. It’s kind of like a first date: What is each party hoping to get out of the relationship? Are they looking for something long-term, or a brief engagement? Does everyone have similar or complementary ways of operating and communicating? How much are they willing to invest in the partnership? And — most importantly—do you want to see each other again?

Like most things, this is an effort that gets easier with practice. And to that end, we’ve asked seven successful freelancers and independent workers what they’ve learned from their years of landing new business. Here’s what they had to say.

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Get a good understanding of the commitment. 
Melissa Liebling-Goldberg, founder, Bureau De Femme marketing and content consultancy

“In my experience, the most important questions to ask up front are around commitment, both in terms of what the client expects from you and what you can expect back from the client. Understanding who your contact will be and his/her availability will help you tackle the project correctly. Also, ask as many questions as you need to! Don’t feel you are bothering the client. Once you fully understand the scope of the project on the first call, I recommend codifying it in writing with deliverables, timeline, and cost so everyone is in agreement before work begins.”

Talk budget—it saves everyone’s time.
Annie Tomlin, writer and content strategist

“I’ve learned the hard way that I need to talk budget first. I’ve wasted too many hours preparing for and attending meetings, only to find out that the potential client is offering a small fraction of my usual rate. It’s a poor use of everyone’s time and it’s time that I’m not earning. Now, I’ll usually say something like “I’d love to meet with you! I just want to make sure my rates align with your budget. My rate is typically $XX-ZZ range. Does that work for you?” If it does, or it’s in the general ballpark, great! If not, then at least everyone knows and can move forward accordingly.”

Ask a lot of questions to thoroughly understand how they want your help.
Anne Gomez, product and program manager

“For me, the first conversation always focuses on trying to understand the potential client’s project, perspective, and what problem they’d like my help with. I generally ask a lot of questions and check my understanding along the way. This is for a few reasons: to make sure we’re on the same page and to see if we can have a real dialogue. I find that this approach sells. People want to know that you get them and will dig deep—not that you’re just going to apply a one-size solution to whatever project comes your way. And yes: talk about rates in the first discussion. Also dig into working style to find out how a client wants to collaborate.”

Keep quiet!
Diana Kelly Levey, writer, editor, and content marketer

“I can recall a few prospecting conversations I had with potential clients early on in my freelancing career where we talked about my background, what they were looking for, and the project they were working on. I’d take diligent notes and go as far as sharing ideas and strategies that would help them execute the project. At the time, I was doing it to ‘sell’ myself as a contender for the work, but I later realized that I’d actually been giving away my IP and experience for free! I was sharing services and ideas I could offer as part of the project proposal that a client would pay me for. Now I focus on listening to what the client wants and letting them know if the work is something I’m interested in and could execute. Then I follow-up with a recap email and offer strategy work as part of my consulting fee.”

Show that you care 
Rebeka Morales, freelance graphic designer and web designer

“To have a successful first conversation with a new client, I try to make two things very clear. One, that I care that the actual outcome of the project matches the client’s desired outcome, and two, that clarity = time, meaning the clearer the client can convey their vision for the project, the faster it can be achieved. This framework puts some of the responsibility on the client to streamline their preferences when speaking with me. 

I limit the first onboarding conversation to one hour, and then I follow-up with an email including three attachments: Price sheet of services offered (some prices are negotiated depending on the project), contract draft outlining the scope of work based on initial onboarding conversation, and a design brainstorming form. The design brainstorming form is something I created to help the client, who’s likely never thought as a designer before, clearly convey their ideas. For example, one question is about fonts—it shows various font styles and asks the client to check which they prefer. This follow-up achieves both of my aforementioned objectives: that I’m striving to achieve their desired results and that I’m efficient in doing so.”

Be kind, be thorough, and ask for help if you need it.
Valery Rizzo, food, lifestyle and portrait photographer

“Always be positive, open minded, and kind. It’s a working relationship and they also have to enjoy working with you personally as well as creatively. 

Since there are always different variables, I like discussing the details and scope of a project first, which then allows me to formulate an appropriate rate—and it also shows my interest in the work. Depending on the assignment, there may be travel, equipment rentals, assistant fees, and other various things to consider when discussing rates. Additionally, I will often ask what kind of budget the client is working with. Once I thoroughly go over all this information, I get back to them with a quote. And always put everything in writing, so everyone knows the terms and what to expect. 

One more thought: The biggest mistake beginning freelancers make is low-balling themselves by not charging enough for the work, and that never feels good. If it’s something you are unfamiliar with, which is most often the case, reach out to a fellow photographer to help guide you in the right direction, which really, in the end, benefits the industry as a whole.” 

Make sure the client feels heard.
Marcia Layton Turner, business book ghostwriter

“Make sure you sound interested and energetic when talking on the phone. I’ve had multiple people comment that other writers they interviewed lacked any kind of energy or enthusiasm. Sound like you’re interested in the work! Part of doing that means asking questions about the client, the project, the expectations, and anything else you want to know about. This demonstrates interest and shows you’ve done this before, which conveys confidence and experience. It also helps you evaluate whether the work is a good fit for your background. You’re also assessing whether you want this work, after all. So come prepared with questions. And on a similar note: Do not make it all about you. If they ask about your background or experience, answer the question but don’t go overboard talking about how great you are. I always try and ensure that I’m talking much less than the client, so that they end the call feeling like they were heard and that I was interested in their project.”

Our takeaways:

• It’s ok to talk money and budget—even before the call if needed. There’s no use wasting everyone’s time if you’re not in the same ballpark. 
• Listen well. Make sure the client feels like they’ve gotten their point across—and that you’re not giving away the goods for free. 
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It’s important to have clarity. 
• Understand the ask. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of the task at hand, your desired role, and key players on the team so you can plan accordingly. 
• Get all the details so you can price accordingly. Are there many rounds of edits? How many contacts will you be dealing with? Is there travel or other expenses involved? And don’t underestimate yourself!
• Send a follow-up email that outlines the project discussed as well as next steps.

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How to Answer the Dreaded Question “What Do You Do?”

“So, what do you do for work?” This is one of the first questions we’re asked—or that we ask—upon meeting someone in both professional or social settings. We might reply by mentioning our title, role, or the company we work for. Yet rarely does this paint the full picture of the value we contribute. Furthermore, sometimes simply replying with our title or the company we work for gives no context to the asker. A rote answer can also be a reflection of our own confusion about why we do the work we do or an indication that we’re on autopilot—maybe we haven’t considered what motivates our work or the direction of our careers in some time. 

If you are employed by a company like Airbnb, Netflix, or the New York Times, your company has a mission statement you are likely familiar with. As consumers, we may also know the missions of these brands and companies. For example, the mission of The New York Times reads: “We seek the truth and help people understand the world. This mission is rooted in our belief that great journalism has the power to make each reader’s life richer and more fulfilling, and all of society stronger and more just.”

For those of us who aren’t employed by companies and are freelancers or have started our own businesses, perhaps a mission statement was part of your business planning stages. You may have written a mission when you set out to consider your goals. However, even these mission statements may only capture a portion of your overall career paths. 

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Defining the traditional mission statement

The definition of a mission statement varies depending on who is assigning meaning. According to entrepreneur.com, a mission statement is “a sentence describing a company’s function, markets and competitive advantages; a short written statement of your business goals and philosophies.” 

Wikipedia identifies it as “a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, identifying the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation.” 

On their site, Shopify defines a mission statement as “a brief description of why a company or nonprofit organization exists. In one to three sentences, it explains what the company does, who it serves, and what differentiates it from competitors.” 

A more holistic view: the career mission statement  

However, to take a more holistic approach to our paths, it’s important to define our career mission statement, which can capture various facets of our work and encapsulate multiple seasons of our professional lives. It goes beyond our current role, title, the company we work for, the business we started.

A career mission statement helps us clarify what we ourselves bring to our work: our skills, resources, and interests. It tells us why we are doing the work we do right now and who we are doing it for. It can guide us in making important decisions about our futures. It reminds us of our priorities and values and signals when we’re out of alignment with them.

As you grow professionally, it’s important to revisit your career mission statement and refine it as needed. A changing career mission statement will build on what you’ve already achieved, and help you remain relevant as your focus shifts, your contributions expand, and your skillset evolves.

Drafting a career mission statement in 5 steps 

Drafting a career mission statement can feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve never done an exercise like this before. However, once you write a draft, you can edit and work with it until you have a version you’re satisfied with. Here are 5 steps to get started: 

1. Take the pressure off. I recently led my first online course and when it came time to talk mission statements, my students said the phrase itself paralyzed them. “Mission statement” felt daunting, like it had to be perfect the first time. I gave them permission to rename it and call it something else, like “My focus right now” or “What I’m currently working on.” Rename it to something more casual if that helps you get over the initial hump of sitting down to write such a zoomed out look at your life. 
2. Consider what makes you unique. List at least 10 things that articulate your value. They do not have to be related to work or your current role. If you get stuck, reach out to 3-5 people who you’ve known for at least a year to ask them how you contribute value to the world, personally and professionally. For example, you could ask, “What do I contribute to the world that adds value?” Or you could ask, “When have you seen me the happiest at work? What kind of activity was I doing?” 
3. Explore your interests and curiosities. Our career paths often follow our interests, curiosities, and passions. While we may believe someone we admire and consider successful had a plan all along, many people fell into their career through a personal interest. For example, many designers I know came into design through a connection to music, which led to executing visual work for their band. Your interests and curiosities are clues about the career path you might want to take. Write down at least 10 things you are interested in or curious about. 
4. Identify your resources. Resources include formal training, degrees, certificates, on-the-job training, your time and money, your network and community, and your life experiences. You bring all of these parts of you to your work. Spend at least 10 minutes writing down all of the resources you have acquired over your lifetime, making note of the resources you currently have access to. 
5. Put it all together. Look at your lists of what makes you unique, your interests and curiosities, and your resources. You will see themes and patterns emerge. What are they? For example, perhaps you are drawn to leadership positions that include an entrepreneurial approach, even when you are working for others. Maybe writing is a key theme that emerges—no matter your role, writing might play a part. Or maybe you find great meaning in helping others learn and grow, so an element of teaching or mentoring is a consistent interest. 

There’s no exact formula for how to write your career mission statement, however you can start here: “I [verb] [who/audience] to [outcome/result] by [how you do it].” This fill-in-the-blank statement can be intimidating, so here’s an example. As a coach, I say, “I [help] [creative professionals] to [live into their possibility] by [coaching them to take action].” That’s only one of the many ways I could state it. Most simply, I say, “I help others live into their possibility.” Not only does that encompass my coaching, but it also guides my writing and speaking.

Even now, my career mission is shifting. After two years of building a new business, I’m realizing that helping others live into their possibility is my highest level career mission. But evolving out of that is a more focused career mission: to help people live into their possibility on the other side of transition, change, and reinvention. 

That’s the thing. As we grow, our careers also change. A career mission statement allows you the flexibility to continue to evolve while also offering you a stable foundation—a thread that runs through the highs and lows and all the in-betweens of creating a path that is fulfilling now and in future seasons of your work. 

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Which Personality Test is Right for Your Creative Team?

Who doesn’t love a personality test? There’s a reason why online quizzes like “Which Succession Character Are You?” make the rounds on Slack, and why—despite being described by researchers as an “act of irresponsible armchair philosophy”—Myers-Briggs remains so popular. 

It’s easy to understand the allure of such tests. If you can relate to a type, you can better explain why you feel and act the way that you do. And if you understand the traits of your friends, co-workers, and loved ones, then all their little ticks that drive you mad no longer feel so frustrating. They’re an “INTP” type, after all.

While there are countless professional personality tests to choose from, sifting through all the information about them online can be overwhelming. It’s difficult to work out not only which tests are scientifically valid, but also what they can offer groups of creatives. The makeup of a team of designers, art directors, and project managers will likely be very different to that of a tax department, so a personality test will offer a creative team different insights than it would a financial one. That’s why we’ve asked a group of professionals to help us demystify five popular personality tests, with a focus on how they might benefit the creative workplace.

There are many reasons to try the following tests, and also many reasons to take their results with a grain of salt. “Personality tests can be useful in terms of team building because they’re actually really fun to do together,” says Alisa Cohn, an executive coach who has worked with teams at Etsy and The New York Times, “but you shouldn’t be spending your whole life doing them.”

According to Arthur B. Markman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, a good test can “provide information that helps groups work together more effectively.” But there’s a danger in overinterpreting results: “We have to recognize that even with the best personality tests, those results are only going to predict about 20% of the difference in behavior that you see between people, and that’s in the best condition.” 

With an understanding that personality tests aren’t going to solve all of your creative or collaborative problems, it’s time to find out: Which personality test is right for your team?

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1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 

Let’s begin with the classic. In a nutshell, the MBTI attempts to summarize how an individual approaches the world. Personality types are indicated through their assignment to four polarized characteristics: people are either extroverted or introverted, sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, judging or perceiving. So if you’re introverted, sensing, feeling, and perceiving, then you’re an ISFP type.

The MBTI was originally developed to help match newly working women with suitable jobs during the Second World War, so now it’s quite antiquated from a scientific point of view. “It doesn’t predict anything, so it’s just a bad test,” summarizes Markman. “People are multifaceted,” adds Cohn, “so just because you’re a natural P style, doesn’t mean you can’t run an effective meeting or meet deadlines.” Ultimately, the test’s binary opposites make it limiting: It doesn’t paint a nuanced picture of a person.

On the other hand, the MBTI’s broad strokes can help bring people together—as long as the results are taken lightly. “I recently had a group of creatives who bonded over their shared NFP style,” says Cohn. “There were a couple in the group who didn’t have the same style, and wouldn’t you know, those were the folks that were causing a lot of conflict on the team. The resulting back-and-forth gave them all a language to joke about the issues and pull together.” 

2. The Big Five

If you’re hoping for a more complex and scientifically sound personality profile than the Myers-Briggs, then look no further than The Big Five. It explores five characteristics: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism, forming the acronym OCEAN. Each factor is measured on a scale; for instance, extreme extraversion and extreme introversion form two polar ends. The Big Five aims to explain the biggest differences between people, so it’s especially useful for shining light on group conflicts.

And what can the Big Five offer creative teams, specifically? “You often need a couple of disagreeable people in a creative group, because you need someone who’s willing to tell everyone, ‘No, this idea actually stinks,’” says Markman. “But if you’re leading a team, you want to be able to tell that person, ‘We need you to let the idea develop a bit so that we don’t kill it before we’ve considered it’s potential.’” 

Creatives also tend to have a high score when it comes to “openness,” but they’re moderate to low in “conscientiousness,” so don’t always complete the things that they start. “Once you know this about yourself, you learn that you’re going to have to develop strategies to overcome your tendency to let things slide,” says Markman, “and it might be good to surround yourself with people who nag you to finish things.” 

3. The VIA Character Strengths Survey 

If your team is on the sensitive side (and who are we kidding, what creative takes criticism well?), then the VIA Character Strengths Survey might be the assessment for you. The psychological measure is designed to identify a person’s “core strengths,” so they Tcan learn how to better capitalize on them. For example, it will show you whether you’re a good social catalyst, good at nurturing others, or good at generating ideas. Why focus on the negatives when you can focus on the positives?

When it comes to strengths that are invaluable to a creative team, vulnerability is essential, Markman suggests. During idea generation sessions, sometimes people need to be willing to come out and say things that aren’t perfect, because that sparks new ways of thinking through a problem. And good social catalysts can help others be vulnerable: sociability is therefore another invaluable strength. 

“Understanding the kinds of strengths that people have, and giving them a sense of their strengths, is something generally valuable in the workplace,” says Markman. “And as creativity is so much about group dynamics and the culture of an organization, teams will really want to pay attention to what is it that their people are bringing to the table.”

4. Narcissism 

If you work in the creative field, it’s safe to say you’ve likely come across a fair few narcissists—so in love with their own designs that they can think of little else. Or, if you yourself cannot tolerate criticism well and believe that only special people can understand you, then it’s possible a bit of narcissism runs through your own veins. Many successful leaders have a touch of the trait, so it’s not exclusively a bad thing. 

There are degrees of narcissism, and understanding its tendencies in yourself and others may make dealing with it a bit easier. While we do not recommend that teams quiz themselves as a group for narcissism, it may be helpful to explore tests like the Narcissistic Personality Inventory on your own in order to familiarize yourself with the trait’s degrees. That way, you can shield yourself from potential narcissists around you.

“There are two brands of narcissism,” says Markman. “Grandiose narcissists are focused primarily on their own specialness and they often put themselves up for positions of recognition and authority. It can be a little frustrating for people beneath them to feel like the people above are getting credit for their own contributions.” The second kind of narcissist is a bit more dangerous—a vulnerable narcissist. “Those are people who not only believe they’re special but need to be reminded all the time, by everybody else, how special they are,” says Markman. “They can be really bad to have as a boss because they don’t want anyone disagreeing with them.”

5. Creative Types

For those searching for something a bit more playful and less time-consuming than the tests above, try Creative Types. It can be done for free online in under 10 minutes during a lunch break, plus it comes with a stylish 3D avatar (*new Slack profile pic alert*).  

The personality test (designed by Anyways for Adobe Create) helps you explore your “creative personality,” and uses psychological research to assess your habits in order to understand which type you’ll pair best with. There are eight possible types, including The Adventurer, The Dreamer, The Producer, The Innovator, and The Artist. While as a creative you’ll probably have a bit of all eight inside of you, the test aims to provide you with a little glimpse into your most defining creative trait.

Ultimately, Creative Types has been designed by creatives, for creatives. Although it lacks the heftier research backing (or opposing) the aforementioned tests, it does appeal exclusively to creatives in a way that the first three may not. “I never took personality tests because they reminded me of a career fair—they felt quite dry and technical, and more like an exam,” says Creative Type art director Charlie Sheppard of Anyways. “While making the Creative Types test, we therefore asked ourselves: Is this something that we would want to take? Is this something our peers would do? We decided to bring a playful narrative to it and make something visually stimulating and abstract, especially for creatives who may think in a more abstract and visual way.”

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