So says designer Jessica Walsh. Don’t you love her for that? She was answering a question about how she works, what specific processes she has for handling her job and her full reply was:
The obvious answer is to-do lists and apps (Evernote, Clear, Sparrow, Text Expander, iCal). Most importantly though, I’d say to choose good clients and coworkers who are nice and open to interesting creative work. If you work with assholes / ego-maniacs / lazy people, no to-do list will help you work efficiently.
I liked her pithy summary the best but the article is about her and 14 more designers all being asked various questions to do with their work and it’s an interesting read. It’s also a summary, really, of a much bigger project:
Since April, Samara, Russia-based designer Yevgeny Yermakov has been asking designers a series of five questions–about work habits, favorite books, career challenges, and creativity–and publishing their answers on his website. The project, “5 Questions for 100 Designers,” is growing into a trove of wisdom from the industry’s leading minds. Forty-four interviews are up so far, with designers from Jessica Hische to Debbie Millman to Michael Bierut.
Read Fast Company’s article for more extracts and links out to the growing 5 Questions project.