During my time as an intern at the Greater Gainesville Chamber, I have either acquired or strengthened four skills. These skills are marketing, communications, event management, as well as how to properly network. I am extremely grateful for my time there and for the wonderful experience, I had at the Chamber. Most of my employment was smooth and I got a tremendous number of projects done. However, my whole time interning there was not so easy.
What is Creator’s Block?
This is because there were some tasks that were given to me that I struggled to find the motivation to do or even complete. My position at the Chamber is similar to everyone’s career. There are tasks that employees do not enjoy as much as others. There were two reasons why it was arduous to work on these certain projects. The first reason is what I call “Creator’s Block.” It is similar to “Writer’s Block,” but it is for visual artists and creatives. The second reason why a task may be difficult to find the motivation for is that the task can give me so much grief. I will go over both of these reasons more in detail as well as how I overcome this challenge on a regular basis.
“Creator’s Block” is something that all individuals in the creative industry encounter. Whether it is finding inspiration, passion, the right color, or sound. To an outsider, these things may appear to be little, however, these little details really impede our work process. Especially for me, since I strive for perfection in each and every single project that I submit to a supervisor or a client. What I have done is taken a step back from the project. I have taken a break and played games on my phone, went to go on a walk, or even tabled the project till the next day if I was able to. By stepping away from the project, my mind felt free and at ease from the pressure of the current obstacle that was presented in front of me. Also, by taking that necessary break, I have the ability to find inspiration from the world around me.
Conquering Creator’s Block
Despite dealing with “Creator’s Block” it is not the only issue that causes me to lose my interest in some tasks. This loss of motivation occurs when the project just becomes either too arduous or never-ending. These instances occur much less than “Creator’s Block.” As I have stated previously, I try to exceed my client’s as well as my supervisor’s expectations with every project. I also always try to figure out how my work can get better after each project as well as my own areas I can improve in as a creator. When I am first given a new project, I am extremely thrilled. I get to access my creativity, work with different clients, as well as get to experiment with a ton of new design elements and ideas. Then, I get in my zone and I start happily working on my computer. After I take the necessary time to complete the project I submit it to my supervisor to be reviewed. Lastly, I expect a few rounds of revisions to the projects. After this, I get my next assignment and I start the cycle all over again. I am used to checking tasks off my list and moving on to the next one.
With this process happening, I know when I leave the office or sign out of my computer, I confidently assure myself that I was productive. Toward the end of my most recent internship, I was tasked to complete approximately 70 new members’ shareable social media posts. I have been working on these posts for several weeks or maybe even a month now. The first part of the project was to design the actual post. I was given four times the number of requirements this design than the previous design included. After fourteen designs, my supervisors were not pleased with any of the designs. My immediate supervisor was asked to step in and made this off-brand design for the shareable social media posts. Which did not incorporate any principles of design at all. I went along with it and was asked to modify the post per each member. This was a long and tedious process because of the research I had to do on each member. There were even some new members that did not have any online presence. One example was this laundromat. I ask about how I should handle this member in particular the supervisor assigned me to this task. She replied by asking, “Why do you think I have more information on the clients than you do?” This is the point where the motivation disappeared with this project. I knew that this particular supervisor has access to a membership database and even gave me an attitude for doing my due diligence. If I had more power or information, I would have personally reached out to the business owner and tailored the post based on what I can gather. Lastly, I was tasked by the same supervisor to schedule all these posts to be published. I knew what my immediate supervisor’s parameters were for scheduling posts who is in responsible for or organization’s social media. However, the supervisor who assigned me this task requested I go against my immediate supervisor’s social media rules. When my immediate supervisor first found out about this, I said, “I was just following orders.”
The end result of this is that our social media followers will now be bombarded with several posts from us on Mondays. Thus, this assignment created an incredible amount of turmoil and stress for me which caused me to lose my passion for this project. However, I still muster my strength and get my work done in the end. I learned that I just have to do my job and be grateful when it is time to go home and at the end of the day. This is because completing difficult tasks are a part of the job.
Learning and Looking forard
In summary, there are two reasons that can disintegrate my motivation to complete certain tasks. The vital solution to both is just stepping away from those tasks and leaving them at work. In terms of how this obstacle will affect me professionally in my career, I will keep working on it. Similarly to every other creative professional in the industry struggles to fight to maintain their interest and passion with difficult projects. This will not deter me from following my passion of working my way up to being a creative director. I am excited to see what is in store for me in the near future. Which company I will be employed by as well as where I will be living? I am proud of all the networking I have done during my time at the Chamber. Not only have I met hundreds of people and kept learning from each interaction.
Michael Cohen 