Published by Leonardo Calcagno
Who are you :
Mark Lindner
Your current job :
Director and Co-Owner of design company Panoply
In which city are you located?
London, UK
A word to define what kind of worker you are:
Meticulous
What tools are essential to your life (app, software, etc..)
My day-to-day tools are Houdini, Cinema 4D, Adobe’s Creative Suite, Spotify and Evernote. We’ve also recently implemented Fusion into our workflow for our compositing needs.
What does your office space look like?
Mostly clear of anything but a Wacom tablet, notebook and a consistently restocked cup of coffee.
What kind of music do you listen when you are working ?
I’ll usually listen to something classical whilst I work, nothing too distracting.
Do you have a way to organize your day to maximize your work ?
I have two “to do” lists, one is a master (larger) list of tasks I add as I remember them. Each evening I take around 3 from this list to create a daily to do list for the following day. I’ve found taking daily chunks out of my master list has helped me prioritise which tasks are more time sensitive to my workflow.
What tips would you give to improve productivity ?
Always be generous and realistic when planning how long something will take to achieve. In order to create something of worth and of a high quality you need a decent amount of time.
You’re better than your colleagues to :
Probably being “Bad Cop” – nothing too scary though. More family friendly like in the Lego Movie
What is the best advice anyone has given you?
In order to create great work you need to not be afraid to take risks
What is your best tip for saving time ?
Plan ahead – anticipating client changes and preparing at least in theory as to how they might achieved can save hours, sometimes days of work.
What is your routine start and end of the day ?
I’ll usually get into the studio around 8.30am with a coffee to start the day and do anything I’ve prioritised as urgent on my to-do list from the previous day. The mornings are the best time to get anything done as they usually have the least amount of interruptions. After an afternoon of meetings or project work I’ll go to the gym or for a run to relax the mind a little – getting away from your desk is so important. Then just before I finish for the day I will prioritise my daily to-do list for the next day so I’m ready to hit the ground running the following morning.
Aside from your computer and your phone, what gadget can you not you go without?
I don’t really have a gadget that I can’t do without but my latest is a Fitbit – allows me to be a little competitive with my friends and colleagues while getting me fit in the process. Hard to argue with the benefits.