One of the key skills that a good graphic designer has too possess is time management. Even if you’re the most skilled designer in the world, you’re no use in reality if you can’t keep to an agreed timeframe. Therefore, organisational skills are paramount. You’re a service industry, not a temperamental artist.
As an individual, my normal modus operandi is getting the difficult things sorted first. However, for say a typesetting project, this can be a hindrance.
I will have a set number of days and a set number of pages to design. Therefore, with my designers hat on, I tend to knock out the ‘easy stuff’ first to get ahead of schedule.
This does two key things. Psychologically, it relieves stress as you know you’re ahead of the game, and also frees up more time later for the more creative (and time-consuming) aspects. I never allow myself to get bogged-down on day one.
It’s also an effective way to ease myself into a project that when viewed as a whole can seem quite overwhelming. Constantly flapping about with no set structure to your project management is a killer for your mental health, so give yourself a break and try to make the most effective use of the time that you’ve been allotted.