For a creative professional, a creative block isn’t just frustrating — it’s potentially career-damaging. Whether you call it a creative block, writer’s block or simply, “where is my inspiration when I need it?!” it can happen to the best of us.
At a time when your inspiration seems to disappear or your creative fuel dries up and the blank page won’t stop glaring at you, that’s when you need strategies, and plenty of them!
So here are some block breakers to help you get inspired:
- Go for a walk (or run!) outside
Moving your body, getting your blood pumping, and taking in that fresh air will help clear your mind and reinvigorate your body.
- Get it down on paper
Write your main ideas down in columns, and list absolutely everything that comes to mind. You can mix and match the lists for unusual and original combinations.
- Look in unlikely places
Go and do something entirely different like taking a trip to your local art museum, coffee shop, or the park. Getting out of the workspace and being in a new environment can do wonders for rewiring your mindset. You’d be amazed at where new ideas are hiding. They’re often where you would least expect them to be.
- Read a book
Read a new book, skim read through a favourite book, or go to a bookstore and flip through some books. Each book is full of seeds for ideas and you can absorb and connect ideas to get inspired to create something new again.
- Go against the flow
Try to approach every brief with the opposite of what everyone else would do. It might not be the direction you choose in the end, but it can help to avoid clichéd scenarios.
- Grab some ‘you time’
Working on too many projects at once can stifle your creativity. Once you have a little more time in your day, don’t automatically fill it with more ‘to-do’ tasks and busy work. If you’re feeling burned out, take some time to yourself and give yourself time to relax.
- Sleep on it when you can
Try not to think and do on the same day. You tend to sort the good from the bad naturally, and occasionally come up with some really off-the-wall things overnight.
- Turn off your computer and phone to disconnect
And finally, give yourself a digital break sometimes. Get off social media, stop checking emails, and turn your text messages and phone calls on ‘Do Not Disturb’. Unplug from the world every now and then, go off the grid, and let yourself sink into a more free and creative mindset.
We have to remember that these blocks are just part of the creative process. It takes time & effort to create something new and original.
Don’t let a creative block get you down. Try some of these ideas, stay true to your art, and keep fighting the creative fight.
