Everyone is more stressed than ever these days, no matter what field they work in or what their job may be. A lot of people seem to think that creative industries offer stress-free employment, but that’s about as far from the case as it’s possible to be! Being a motion designer can be really hard, and stress is your biggest enemy.
Stress not only slows you down and robs you of your productivity, but it also contributes to damaging your physical and emotional health. It causes a host of problems including eating and sleeping disorders and can make your life feel impossible to deal with.
Motion designers face a whole raft of issues that cause their stress levels to rise. For a start, there are often pressured deadlines to meet, which, along with long working hours and the worry that sometimes comes with creative blocks, can lead to some major increases in anxiety levels.
Worries about not being able to find clients or, the complete opposite, having too many clients to cope with at one time, can feel debilitating. Even worse, it can be hard to deal with criticism and, unfortunately, that’s something that comes along with the territory when you’re a motion design artist. Your work will be pulled apart by your clients and your colleagues on a regular basis, so you need to have a thick skin to cope.
The good news is that it’s possible to beat that stress in healthy ways. Yoga and other forms of exercise are brilliant stress relievers (and they’re good for other aspects of your physical well-being too).
Maintaining a good posture is also important as sitting hunched over your computer screen is no good for your body or your mind, while meditation – although it may be difficult to get into – is also wonderfully effective to clear your mind and help you to focus on the things that really matter - rather than allowing yourself to get distracted by all of the other things that are going around in your head causing you anxiety.
Although it isn’t easy to manage stress, practice makes perfect, and if you put conscious effort into trying to relax and de-stress as much as possible, you can put yourself in the best position to avoid burnout – and that’s something that you want to do at all costs.