Do Not Give Up

By Mona Sharif

Hard work, stress, excitation, passion. The countdown is on and you can feel it in the studio. And if not, Marc is here to remind it to us every morning.

Monday, 22 May 2017, 52 days until portfolio day.

So here’s a short list of learnings from these past months in and outside of SCA. Learnings that I need to use during those 52 days that are gonna fly like the 2 and a half terms that are gone and felt like 4 weeks.

◉ Like most of the art director, when it gets to crafting, I can get really REALLY absorbed by details, looking for the perfection that I would probably get to…And tend to feel like time has stopped when it hasn’t.

‘It’s okay…We’ll be fine’ is probably one of the sentences I say to most to Krista, my partner. If at first this might have worked and she might have thought I totally had the control of the situation. She now knows that we need to start stressing out when she hears those words coming out of my mouth.

Thing is, when I say ‘we’ll be fine’, what I’m unconsciously trying to do is pretend to myself that we’re fine and that we have the control when I start to panic about the amount of work, the deadlines, the details…

So today, Krista made me realise that if it might be easier to manage my time if I just stop focusing on the details for a second and look at the top-right side of the screen.

◉ Learn when to switch on and off. To have great ideas and produce great work you need to work hard. Then work hard. And work even harder. But you also need to know when you need to have a break. Collect dots. Do things you love. Get inspired by the real world and from people outside the ad bubble. I’m a people person, I usually love to be surrounded by a lot of people, go out with friends, but I sometimes need to be alone to find my balance. A few days ago I went to do something I love – photography – in The City, to discover the Lloyds Building that was designed by Richard Rogers then came back to Brixton, sat in a park and spend maybe 1 hour just looking at people. I came back home and felt so good, relaxed and grateful.

◉ Look up. Look around. Go for a walk, take the bus, look at people, have eye contact with people. Realise every random person you see has a story, a background, a life as complex and vivid as your own. Realise all that stress, anxiety, insomnia, worries, hallucinations you have aren’t as horrible as you think they are. Walk. Breathe. Smile.

◉ The Attitude. Be passionate. Be true. Be honest. Be nice. Don’t judge people. Don’t gossip. Care about people and not only on yourself. Ask for help and criticism. Thank people.

◉ Believe in yourself. Trust your gut.

◉ DO NOT GIVE UP.