Any of you guys ever get burned out? Like sometimes its more of a chore than enjoyable to be doing what you are doing? Been feeling that way lately.
You guys ever get this way?
Gosh ya. I recall some time ago posting a thread here about the possibility of photography being a career change (but I quickly realized that that would be a tough go, and wouldn't pay the bills).
I think that what exhausts me is not the work itself, as almost every job is different in some way for variety, I think it's the way the industry has gone, being so damned competitive and cut-throat, and how the computer has literally ushered in people who have absolutely
no concept of the most important component - DESIGN.
That, coupled with being ground down by customers on price, and having 22 years of experience fully ignored in favour of their nephew-art. And then there's the rush jobs that don't get picked up when they said they were needed; the stolen artwork/layouts; price seekers going through the yellow pages asking:
"How much is a _______?" ....without giving
any details of the job. I wish I had a dime for every time I got the call that said:
"Ya, how much to letter my boat?" In stead of screaming bloody murder, I have to take a deep breath and go through the long list of questions in order to come to a price. And even then they'll stop me part way through and repeat: "Can't you just give me a price - just a ballpark?"
The other thing that brings me down too is the slow times (like now). I find that when I'm busy, I feel much better.
So I think that if we had a reasonably steady diet of appreciative customers who left the design and color choices up to us, didn't bicker over the price, didn't leave their sign needs to the last second, paid on time, and if somehow the people who had the design skills of a chimpanzee weren't allowed to
be in the trade, I'd be a lot more content.
I won't hold my breath.