“We’re shifting towards real meaning, honesty and IRL community connection”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

Every week our talented roster has been answering our reader submitted questions. Now that the year is drawing to a close – we thought they’d like to take a break. We’ve taken over this week’s question to give our advice givers a chance to look back and forward to the new year.

This week’s question:

As you are the latest addition to the Creative Career Conundrum roster, instead of thinking back on the questions you’ve answered throughout the year – what common themes or topics came up in conversations in and around the industry? What are you looking forward to in 2026? And are there any areas or topics you’re excited to explore more in the new year?

Kat Wong, founder of career change platform Oh Yeah:

Across the board, I’ve had so many conversations about the need to stop constant productivity and reactivity to everything. Work, life, schedules, the whole lot. And it’s no surprise this intersects with a feeling of wanting to bring better value and purpose to our lives and our own communities.

Through Oh Yeah, a platform which takes a more balanced approach to exploring career change, I’ve heard from many questioning their level of pace and reactivity and wanting real change in their working lives. We’ve been trained for years, if not decades, to go at a certain pace, react fast, and constantly strive for success. But at what cost?

Workplace culture can breed constant reactivity, where multiple demands dominate our days. The question is about balance: how do we sustain good energy and personal growth throughout our careers, remaining curious and creative without burning out? We’re actual humans needing a more inclusive, balanced approach to live well. That's really been the key theme, regardless of industry or level of experience.

So in 2026, I’m really looking forward to this growing movement of folks turning their backs on performative culture and putting more healthy boundaries in. And how we’re shifting towards real meaning, honesty and IRL community connection. And I’m inviting everyone to experiment with a more conscious and playful approach in how we want to live our working lives. To not run for the bloody bus, or to eat your Pret breakfast baguette over your keyboard in 45 seconds. To call out unreasonable demands. To choose not to multi-task; to not wear busyness or constant productivity as a badge of honour.

Because guess what, no one is gonna give you a medal for going at that pace or include it in your leaving speech. But your body and mind will thank you for taking more moments of pause, cutting short that path to burn out. Balance has to be learned, habits changed bit by bit, and I’m excited that more folks are opening up and finally experimenting to see how life can be more fulfilling and grounded through that journey.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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