Happy’s Content and PR Manager Nick often emails various blogs and articles around the Happy Office that we’ll find interesting, funny or inspiring.
Our word wizard recently emailed an article about future technology and asked for my thoughts and maybe as an idea for a blog. I did start to write a blog about the internet of things (IOT) and its implications, making connections between Westworld, Skynet, Johnny 5 and Alexa the latest A.I. who is seeking world domination through dollhouses.
But… I kept thinking about another article that he’d sent me about the benefits of slow running.
I enjoy running and try to run regularly each week tracking my progress with popular app, Strava. I acknowledge my progress with faster times over regular routes, checking my latest run and comparing to previous times.
Am I improving? Getting faster? Can I defy age, sore knees and the risk of calf strains to continually chase personal bests? They say no pain, no gain, but I kept thinking back to the benefits of slow running and how I can draw comparisons with my role as Creative Director of Happy.
Achieving PBs requires running fast, but there’s a risk. The more you push. The harder you run. The higher chance you have of getting an injury.
As a designer, everyone pushes you…clients, account managers and your own worst enemy… yourself, to meet tight deadlines, design standards and work expectations. If your long-term goal is to run for years and years, limiting the number of times you push the envelope is a wise approach.
So should you be a design tortoise or a hare? Too much “tortoise” and you’re looking at design stagnation. Eventually becoming bored, frustrated and settling for mediocrity. Too much “hare” and you’ll burn yourself out.
The secret is that you can actually be both and training/designing a bit like both will take your running and design skills to a new level. Push yourself on those runs and projects that require that you to make those design PB’s but balance your work output with projects that have a longer deadline, working methodically and building skills that you can rely on when time is right to release your inner hare.
James Chantler is a creative thinker, runner and Creative Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
