Ad guy, Hard guy!

Ad guy, Hard guy! 

Let your creativity breathe

As a proper ad guy (Creative advertising professional), how do you always feel when you have your table filled with ongoing briefs and your Account Managers bless you with a flurry of requests like; “The client wants this ASAP. Please drop whatever you’re doing and get on it.”, or “An urgent brief just came in, guys. We need it out before COB.”?

Even when you think you’re on a roll, and your inbox is telling you dey play, before it pops out another request, “The client wants a new 360 campaign delivered quickly. Top priority, please. They’re launching in 3 days” …

These are typical in the everyday lives of ad guys, and it’s never the best. They know how important it is to stay on top of their game, to create fresh and original ideas and get their deliverables done as best as possible, one brief at a time. But to manage these overlapping demands, they often resort to multitasking. Now, multitasking is okay when it happens once in a while. But when it becomes the norm, it stifles creativity, hampers productivity, and ad guys are at their wit’s end. 

In this clime, the ability to juggle numerous tasks simultaneously has been seen as a badge of honour. That is when our Ad guy will begin to form hard guy and chest it, forgetting that in advertising, creativity is the lifeblood that fuels innovation with groundbreaking ideas, drives successful campaigns and ultimately fosters productivity. But with hordes of deadlines, constant pressure to deliver, and tight timelines, the feasible outcome might be disastrous and only create an illusion of productivity. However, there are ways to manage the situation:

1. Single-task for more creativity: Multitasking can be damning to creativity and productivity (like a Dammy to a Baci). So, engaging in one task at a time can open the door to innovative thinking and problem-solving, and help you cook something remarkable for productivity to win in the end. 

1. Be curious and explore: Curiosity is essential in creativity. So, exploring new experiences, asking questions, challenging assumptions and feeding your mind with knowledge can help unlock the full potential of your creative mind.

1. Prioritize and Plan: Identify the most important tasks and allocate timelines to work on them. Give each task your full attention until it is done or until you reach a natural stopping point.
2. Take a break: Give yourself regular breaks to recharge and rejuvenate. Stepping away from work for short intervals can promote fresh thinking when you return.

1. Burn out na your mate? Establish boundaries between work and personal life.  Prioritize, organize, delegate tasks and set clear boundaries to prevent burnout.

In the end, your mental well-being matters. Reduce your multitasking, understand your peak hours, balance your passion and your performance, seek new sources of inspiration, learn new skills and collaborate with other creatives to exchange ideas. More burnout from too much multitasking can lead to less productivity, so let your creativity breathe.