Is anyone else's imposter syndrome running rampant lately? I just feel like I no longer know what I'm doing.

Part of feels as though I need to go back to basics and re-learn the craft. I've been doing so much basic crap lately that I've completely forgotten how to think outside the box or even concept anymore. And the fear that I'm getting further from a bump / promotion, not closer, is making it ever harder.

Unsure how to get back to feeling good, hoping somewhere here does 😓

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I’m feeling exactly the same right now, and although I’m just as worried about getting back to being/feeling ‘good’, it’s at least comforting to know I’m not the only one. I hope it’s comforting for you too.

I think the reason we both feel like this is because we just haven’t had a decent brief in a while. When you do, it’ll be like riding a bike.

What often helps me is looking back at all of the genuinely solid ideas I’ve come up with over the years - even if they never made it over the line. It’s reassuring to remember that you are still that person. Nothing has changed. You don’t lose skill like that.

I also find regularly watching/reading/listening to ads helps you feel mentally on top of things. And re-reading books like “Hey, Whipple” can be motivating.

Just remember that you made it this far. That wasn’t a fluke. It was all you.

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This is like group therapy. Come here and give me a hug. 🫂

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Psh. I just ask ChatGPT to tell me how objectively awesome my work and I are.

And if anyone criticizes my work, well they’re really criticizing AI, not me. Jokes on them.

So nothing to feel insecure about 😃

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Every. God. Damn. Day.

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Same here! To me it’s because our timelines are faster, we’re spread super thin, and we’re not taking the time to get to know the client in the upfront. Everyone is choosing faster, faster, faster, and cheaper, so quality goes out the door. It’s not you that doesn’t know what you’re doing. It’s our leaders and clients.

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I don’t really have anything useful to say, except that I’ve been feeling the same. It’s like I don’t know how to make any of my higher-ups happy anymore.

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Mine is derived from a place of personal frustration. I used to read anything and be inspired, I'd take notes in a pocketbook and write in my spare time with the intention to someday decipher my ideas into creative projects. I've had creative works published that I loved and that I thought would help me professionally. They didn't, and as time went on my writing became more technical, more directed through the lens of style and formatting guides, more intentionally directed toward raising awareness and selling things to people who don't need it.

Now, I read my early work and see how talented I was and feel stifled that everything I try to create for myself is a recycled thought written by a person who spent so long optimizing for search that sentences feel both too long and incomplete. Probably weird to say that I became so comfortable doing my job that I became a worse writer for it. What a gross place to be in with AI able to generate jargony copy in seconds while skipping the human touch, aka existential burnout and self loathing saturated edits. lol

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Well, there’s not much you can do with the crumbles of this fallen empire either.

Maybe we have to figure out how to return being a kid in the sand, building new castles.

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I feel this all the time. Especially the working with basics. I try to keep up on the new trends but its not easy

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yeah - i can produce a lot of things in the past decade. but the constant expectation for higher output (and crazier ideas) and much much smaller budget is something that even magician can’t make. just kinda feel like … i can’t do this nor im having fun anymore

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