Naomi Atkinson: My Story and you
Naomi Atkinson (@NaomiSusi ) was talking about our mindset and opportunity at #TIDE, these are my notes from her talk.
Mindset
We live in an overley immersive world that depends on technology. Boundaries between digital and physical are blurring - do we care any more? Our audiences don't care how things are put together - they care what is the experience like?
Coming up with a job title is the hardest thing we will do! You have so many skills that it's hard to sum it up in a few words.
- Web designer
- UI designer
- Software engineer
- Account manager
- Head of marketing
The title gives people a hint to what we do but calling ourselves something specific can be feel limiting. Ask yourself what is at your core? Disregard the medium or the tools. You can learn about the medium or the tools - consider what your core focus is, it's really powerful.
A lack of variation in what we do can cause physical and mental stress - burnout. Challenge is the key to staying passionate. Think about how new skills could improve your overall work ethic - trying a project in a different medium could open up new areas of thought. If you don't just see your work as a job you'll get more happiness from it.
Opportunity
Lessons learned from starting up Whosit & Whatsit:
If you feel stagnant in your job then move on quickly. Avoid being your usual self, prioritise the things you don't know. Start doing research and use new tools. Speak to friends - they often know a good person to talk to. If you have a lot of questions but don't want to sound stupid spread them round several people.
Test out your ideas with small steps, don't go all in at the start - break it down into manageable steps. Do limited trials - limit your risk exposure as you find out what doesn't work.
- Feeling scared of a challenge is a good thing.
- Keep the finished product in mind - you need that focus when times are tough.
- Seeing opportunity is one thing, acting on it is another - motivation is key.
- Talk to strangers - you create your opportunities.
Question yourself:
- What's your core
- What's your passion when you take away your tools
- How can you think bigger
- How can you create opportunity
- Are you heading in the right direction