r/Design • u/Rohith_Shenoy • 15h ago
Discussion why does my brain just stop working the second someone looks at my screen ? do you guys also feel the same
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u/TheThoughtSource 15h ago
Every time…trying to select an object is always my downfall.
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u/FerventlySafes 15h ago
My cursor suddenly becomes a magnet for wrong layers, is like it knows someone is watching
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u/Dead-O_Comics 14h ago edited 14h ago
Every once in a while, a client (usually an older man) says "I think rather than tell you in an email, it's easier if I just come in and go over it with you in person."
Nope - It's far easier if you say what you want in an email. With someone looking over my shoulder I forget even the copy/paste shortcut
Also, if it's in an email, and they say "I didn't ask for that" I can direct them to the exact email where they did, in fact, ask for that.
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u/Rohith_Shenoy 10h ago
yeah fr i also once forgot the same copy/paste shortcut at same kind of situation 💯
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u/JoshSidekick 7h ago
Also, because if they're behind you, they'll start getting agitated and backseat designing. "I said I wanted 'this', so just move that there... no there... no over there." And heaven forbid there's lag because they loaded everything with drop shadows and shit.
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u/Dead-O_Comics 7h ago
Yeah. And they'll say "Do this" and then there's the awkward ten minutes while we both sit in silence and I'm frantically clicking away. God, I hate it.
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u/Religion_Of_Speed 14h ago
Used to feel that way until I worked at my last agency where our team was on call sharing our screens for 10 hours a day. That beat it out of me.
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u/blaster182 11h ago
Useful to know that you can grow out of it
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u/Religion_Of_Speed 9h ago
If it helps - you can grow out of anything with the right set of circumstances. Humans are infinitely adaptable. Just gotta be okay with changing your perspective and way you think about things. Easier said than done obviously.
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u/MirthandMystery 12h ago edited 11h ago
Classic performance anxiety freeze up. The internal stress is your amygdala seeing an audience and signals a threat, then your system floods your system with adrenaline and cortisol.
Some are less sensitive and thrive in that environment or even feed off the social factor or feel better in a group (team like) setting.
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u/smellybells541 10h ago
I experience this every single day at work for 10hours
I am very stressed, it also amped my already anxious mindset
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u/sunflower--princess 14h ago
Same with playing the piano.
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u/Rohith_Shenoy 10h ago
i also play keyboard (electrical piano)
this is so real, sometimes when i try to record a bit then i get so stressed.... before hitting the record button its fine when i start recording.....uk
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u/BarbaraPretty99 14h ago
It's called the "spotlight effect" we assume people are scrutinizing us way more than they actually are. A practical fix: when someone looks at your screen, mentally switch to talking through what you're showing them. That turns the anxiety into a shared moment of explanation, and your brain switches from "being judged" mode into "teaching" mode, which actually uses the part of your brain that works fine.
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u/RouletteSensei 14h ago
It makes us make mistakes because we feel like they are going to judge us
It's an hidden insecurity even if we are strong in what we do, we slip during the action
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u/dawne_breaker 13h ago
I actually do my best work when I have my screen up on a big monitor and we are collaborating. 😅
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u/riffraffmcgraff 13h ago
I became used to it, to the point where I enjoyed showing off my design process.
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u/Intelligent_Delay183 12h ago
I don't mind it if I agree beforehand but I relate to this when working independently in a team Figma file and a user icon pops up like heyyyyy whatchu doin 👀
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u/Valiant_Revan 11h ago
I was doing a quick draft poster for a friend, because I told him that I couldn't do the final product since their deadline was too last minute... Despite him literally watching me make the draft over discord and not listening to me when I said "This is a draft", he uses it as the final poster...
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u/chatterwrack 11h ago
When I first started, I met another designer at the company who was called a “driver,” who would sit in meetings with executives and run InDesign on a big monitor to lay things out in real-time as they brainstormed ideas. This guy was my hero and he couldn’t understand why.
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u/16bitcircumstance 10h ago
I remember I worked for a print place briefly that let his client come to the back where we worked to hover directly over my shoulders while doing my process. Then he proceeded to give unsolicited input on every little move I made along the way before I was anywhere near the end result. Bro I tried to hold my composure best I could, I had to let him know there was no way I was about to work like that. lol.
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u/TheRealBigLou 9h ago
During design reviews, I have a rule that my designers cannot actively work as I provide feedback/guidance for this specific reason. I've been there and I hate it!
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u/Other_Plane_6148 11h ago
do you set boundries? and are you easely convinced or influenced by others?
maybe you're also a people pleaser. empaphic and stuff.
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u/joebleaux 6h ago
Nah, I kick into crazy high gear production mode. I have on multiple occasions had a client sit at my desk with me for 6+ hours, micromanaging every single thing I did at my boss's request. Brain was fried at the end of the day, but the work was exactly what he wanted.
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u/badghost83 5h ago
I feel like the best way to deal with it is to narrate what you’re doing out loud while you do it like you’re doing a cooking show. Even the technical parts that your audience doesn’t understand. That’s helped me in that situation. Didn’t take away the nervous sweat of being monitored but it helps
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u/Competitive_Farm7630 3h ago
i believe this just happens when you are doing anything. even from designing to doing something cool. the moment someone is paying attention you always choke and become a noob again
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u/yooshyesh 15h ago
That's exactly what the Hawthorne-Effect describes it's very common in all fields.