What separates the best creative minds - those who consistently put a smile on their clients' faces - from those who do a decent job, but never quite hit the mark?
For me, it's all about learning from your mistakes.
You may be reading this - if you're Eddie Redmayne or Felicity Jones, for example - and thinking, actually I don't really make mistakes. But for us mere mortals with busy schedules, it can be easy to leap from one project to the next without properly analysing how the previous job went and honestly admitting what you could have done better.
Say you've completed a project and your client gives you some great feedback. However, there were a couple of minor style issues that you missed. It's easy to take the good comments and forget the minor moans. But getting it right next time is the difference between your client thinking you listen to them or you don’t.
If only there was an easy way to make sure your work is on a constant journey of development. Hello, did an apple just fall on my head? The solution is a logbook.
Your dad's greasy old Viva might have just sprung to mind. Sorry if it has. The logbook I'm talking about though is a creative one - where you store the details of your work, your mind and what you can improve on each job.
I’ve kept notes in this way for a long time, without using the term 'logbook'. But I recently listened to a great podcast - www.beingfreelance.com - where a photographer who’d been in the business for a long stretch talked about the benefit of using one. It's the simple path to constant creative improvement.
There’s nothing more frustrating that feeling your skills or motivation have plateaued. If you're in this boat, you may feel you need some external training to ride the crest of a wave again. To a certain extent, you can fire your flames with a logbook.
So how do you do it?
1. Buy a notepad that you commit to keeping exclusively as your logbook. That means no doodling on it when you’re on the phone. Use of glitter pens is allowed.
2. For each project you take on, write a brief synopsis of the job. Once it's complete, record feedback from your client and any recommendations they've made for next time. Then, being as objective as possible, record two or three things that you feel you could have done better.
3. Before you start any new project, read back over some of the projects that are relevant to the forthcoming one. I guarantee you’ll read something you’d forgotten and it will inspire you to provide a better service this time around.
4. You’ll notice small improvements with every project you do. And so will your clients. This is pure gold for any working relationship and will almost certainly lead to more work, more praise, and more word-of-mouth recommendations.
As well as the health benefits to your business, keeping a logbook also makes you feel better about the work you’re doing. It’s great for your morale and job satisfaction when you can see that you're progressing with every piece of work - and when you're being so proactive and doing it for yourself.
Happiness is logbooks. Well, they're part of the story anyway. It may not quite be a Theory of Everything, but I’m convinced they’re an amazing way to build self esteem and better businesses.