How to get out of a creative block
Hey y’all!
I know it has been such a long time since I've last posted a blog article. The end of 2021/beginning of 2022 has been full of health challenges for me. A surprise gallbladder removal surgery and unexpectedly becoming a type 1 diabetic, more to come on those topics later; but I just have not been feeling inspired or creative at all for almost a year now. Have you ever just felt blocked or no interest in doing anything creative for a block of time due to how you are feeling?
Now that my health is more stabilized, I am starting to feel more like my old self where I am getting projects done around my home. I even started working on some puzzles that prior to this I just would’ve felt stuck to even start working on one. I’m not quite sure if it is a result of the past few years due to the extra stress from the pandemic or if I just had a creative block; but I figured if I was struggling with it, someone else out there might be as well and may need some ideas to help bust out of that rut.
Some ideas to break a creative block:
Make sure your health (physical and mental) is in a good place. As the saying goes, health is wealth. If you aren’t feeling good, it does creep into other areas of your life sapping your energy which makes it hard to want to do anything fun and creative. Rest. Take naps if you need to recharge.
Declutter your space. Clutter tends to be very distracting even if you aren’t consciously aware of it. Any time I need to get in the creative vibes, I usually pick a spot in my house that needs some cleaning up/decluttering love. I usually notice that clutter creeps in when my creativity is blocked.
Try a new creative hobby to see if something new ignites your interest. Sometimes you need to get out of your comfort zone to get those creative ideas flowing.
Go for a twenty minute walk. Sunshine and fresh air does wonders for your health. Let your mind wander while on your walk. You would be surprised at the ideas that pop up during your walks.
Put on some classical or jazz music. When I really need to get outside of the box and create something new, I put on classical music. It’s an old holdover from growing up when I would listen to classical music while studying and it still works almost twenty years later.
Set a fifteen minute timer to work on your creative efforts. Fifteen minutes is a short spurt to focus and hopefully to get at least started. If not, you may have spent the same amount of time on social media (been there, done that) so at least you took a stab at your project.
Last, but not least, try not to stress over a creative project if you can help it. Stress always makes it worse and it adds to the creative block by becoming even more frustrating.
I hope you find some of these ideas helpful. I’ve been using them a lot more frequently and am starting to get back to my usual creative self. I plan to incorporate these into a regular routine and I will report back on how that works out.
Until next time,
Megan
