51 THINGS YOU COULD BE DOING RIGHT NOW… February 2, 2009
Posted by randydeutsch in architect types.trackback
…instead of reading this blog. [Actually, I’m grateful that you’re reading this blog.] If you are feeling a bit marginalized – as though in a game of musical chairs and find yourself in a wide circle looking in at one or two architects remaining in the game – then consider all of the things you could be doing right now
1. learn new technology or software
2. become a better collaborator
3. attend an architecture lecture with a non-architect friend
4. assess your emotional intelligence at work
5. write a note to a client or a former client
6. discover Chicago’s greatest architects
7. become a better wordsmith
8. take a seminar in marketing
9. read DesignIntelligence online or in print
10. mentor an emerging architect
11. give a 7 minute slide presentation – join Pecha Kucha
12. enhance their portfolio
13. start a free blog on WordPress.com
14. really consider your personal brand
15. memorize your elevator speech
16. study for the ARE exam
17. re-learn how to freehand sketch
18. wordsmith a colleague’s proposal
19. get comfortable rendering in Photoshop
20. attend UIC’s summer would-be architect program
21. help younger architects understand downturns
22. get inspired watching TED Talks online [for free]
23. work on a side project with a friend
24. peruse the day’s architecture articles
25. recharge your architecture batteries
26. give a talk on architecture to local high school students
27. look up “architect” in the Oxford English Dictionary
28. watch an IM Pei DVD
29. write a recommendation for a colleague
30. visit an architecture website
31. complete your profile on your favorite social networking site
32. watch a Maya_Lin DVD
33. give a lecture on campus
34. study for the LEED_exam
35. serve on a school design jury for half a day
36. get_involved at Architecture for Humanity
37. volunteer to conduct a peer review
38. improve both your creative & critical thinking
39. work on a design competition
40. ask a younger architect to teach you something
41. join a professional organization
42. get comfortable speaking in public
43. revisit why you went into architecture in the first place
44. apply for a grant for a pet project
45. meet a former co-worker for after work coffee
46. discuss creativity with other creative types online
47. return to school
48. watch Sketches of Frank Gehry
49. ask a colleague or employer for a recommendation
50. become a better writer
51. redline a co-worker’s drawing set
We need to do what we can today, to focus and bolster our resolve, while the music is still playing and not listen to the naysayers and the eat-or-be-eaten crowd and those who would love to see architects everywhere succumb to economic, technological or evolutionary forces.
Architects 2Zebras 
Comments»
No comments yet — be the first.