I dm’d 50 people for their career changing habits

In honor of our 50th article on Frocks in Stock, I wanted to post something that would be helpful and immediately actionable, without being overwhelming.

So I reached out to my network via email, Slack, LinkedIn, and good ol' dm, to try to get 50, or at least a significant amount of, habits that have had a positive impact on peoples' careers. 

I got 30! (Which, tbh, was more than I expected 😆)

And I organized them here. Interestingly, there were four common threads that appeared, as you’ll see below.

Read on to find something that speaks to you - some small change you can implement for big results in your career and your life.

(Special shoutout to Adobe Firefly for these cool images I generated)

Inspiration & Trends

Look for inspiration everywhere

Surround yourself with good design. Check Behance, Pinterest, Instagram and Dribbble. Look at the latest trends and live and breathe design. - Esti Meisels

Follow the work of design legends, past and present. Surround yourself with great design and it will rub off on you. - Miriam Kirzner

My first habit is staying curious and always looking for ideas for my next design. I see ideas in everything that I look at. When I buy something, I read the copy to see if it's funny and entertaining or boring. When I get an email I check to see if it's engaging, has good layout, hierarchy, CTA etc. I save things I like in mymind or Pinterest all the time. It helps jumpstart projects and helps me stay creative. - Chana Miriam Rosen

Have a morning inspo boost

Obsessively read design blogs every morning - Rivkie Leiberman

Get out of the house

Shopping. And I don’t mean buying things - I mean browsing to see new and different things constantly. First of all, it gets me out of the office/away from the computer screen. It also helps me to get lots of creative inspiration. - Chaya Teitelbaum

Inspiration is everywhere, so take the time to intentionally walk away from the screen and look around. - Shayna Kaweblum, CEO The Rare Guild

Learning & Practicing

Stay curious. There's always something new to learn. - Esther Werber

Constantly learning. Our industry changes often and if you don’t learn you become outdated. - Tova Borowski

Take on a design-a-day challenge

I think my style solidified and my workflow improved when I made a point of doing an illustration a week or a pattern a day. I'm not the take-a-hachlata-on-forever kind of person, so every time I've done something like that, it's been for just one year or only a month. Not making it a long-term commitment helped make it less intimidating, and posting to social media kept me accountable. Nowadays, I don't have the time, or maybe I don't feel the need, because, Boruch Hashem, I find my actual day job more fulfilling and busy, but I think it's a good thing to do at least once if you're at a time when you don't think you're really finding yourself in your work or are facing downtime. - Raizel Shurpin

Learn a skill a week

Learn new…design skills every week. I'm always looking for different types of designs that appeal to different client types to widen my portfolio. - OC Presentation Designs

Think about the designs you see

Absorbing (and analysing) the best design I can get my hands on. - Yael Slasky

Create every idea, even the bad ones

A habit that I just formed lately is allowing myself to make bad designs first. I know I'll come up with something good but sometimes all the ugly stuff has to get out first. And sometimes it's a springboard for a better idea :) - Chana Miriam Rosen

Listen to podcasts

I’m an avid podcast listener and I am always listening to a podcast about business, design or self help. This habit has given me a wealth of knowledge. There are so many brilliant minds to learn from and so much free information! For brand design I love “better: the brand designer podcast” For business I love “how I built this” by guy raz. Those are my top faves. - Miriam Noble

Learn from others

Reach out to those that are ahead of you for guidance and feedback. (I have people constantly reaching out to me.) - Esti Meisels

Tools & Processes

Prepare in advance

Planning my day everyday the night before - ST Rappaport

Use a calendar software

Finally starting to use Google Calendar has been a game changer. - Shiran Zaray-Mizrahi

Create a morning routine

Doing the miracle morning - every day. There's this book called 'The Miracle Morning' and it explains a morning routine in depth, involving meditation, affirmations, visualisation, exercise, reading a self help book, and journaling. - Miri Miller

Do your daily exercise

Well for sure exercising, which gives me energy to keep going. That has been life changing. - Shiran Zaray-Mizrahi

Have a designated office space

When I started working in a shared office space as opposed to working from home, I found my productivity was greatly enhanced! - Anonymous

Have set working hours

Another thing which I really try to do is start my work day at 9. It gets the day going on a much better note and I end up feeling more accomplished (not to mention getting home earlier!) - Anonymous

Write down your process

Creating a step by step creative process that enables me to produce quality work even when “the creative juices” aren’t flowing. I broke down my design flow into a set of steps that lead to a great result. This has made me faster, better and more efficient! - Miriam Noble

Create lists

Implementing the GTD method by David Allen. Basically, it's a system where you empty your brain into your inbox list. This is part of the "Capture" step, the first of the five steps in GTD: Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect, and Engage. Then you go through everything on your lists and sort it into categories, which aligns with the "Clarify" and "Organize" steps of GTD. I use contexts like work, home, errands, and calendar, organizing tasks by where or how they can be done. This approach helps streamline decision-making and increases productivity by grouping related tasks. (I use Notion for my lists) - Mindy Beane

Just do it

The two-minute rule: If a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. This prevents small tasks from clogging up your system. - Mindy Beane

Customer service

One of my habits/nature is that I’m a people pleaser which means I have to please my clients all the time. It puts a stress on me but ensures I keep their satisfaction top priority. - Malka Glick

Aim for perfection

I’m a perfectionist which I think is a huge asset in corporate design. But I think the artsy, creative, uneven style has its place in other design styles. - Malka Glick

Empathy

Give back

At one point I had a commitment to help someone for free - every single day. That was very empowering and meaningful - especially in the times where projects/clients were slow. - Miri Miller

Remove the ego

Work with the clients goal in mind, not your portfolio, or what you learnt is best. If you’re truly on your clients ‘team’ it’ll be a successful project where all sides leave happy and on good terms - Rachel Segal

Work with good people

Only work with positive, good people that appreciate your work and value your time! - Leah Markowitz

Network

And another habit is 'bring other people business.' I have that written on my wall to remind me. Whenever I meet someone new, I try to connect them with a potential client - as much as I can. - Miri Miller

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And this felt like the right note to end this article on:

Include Hashem in my business. Not dafka a positive impact on the business, but a positive impact on myself. - Fraidy Margulis

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While having a virtual mentor through this Learning Center is great, the advice here is necessarily general in order to apply to anyone reading.

If you’re looking for more personalized advice to help you grow your design skills and increase your confidence in your work, pricing, and communication skills, check out design critique and coaching options here.