10 Tips on how to overcome a creative block
So, the past couple of weeks I have been getting over a massive creative/writing block. Which most of the time when I have those blocks it ether has to deal with me distracting myself too much, self doubt/self criticism and also burning myself out. So this week I have been kind of working on breaking those habitual thoughts and patterns and I’ve finally had a breakthrough this past week by doing these things so I thought i would share some of these tips here :)
1. Meditation, this helped me a lot to just clear my mind, it also really helped me process what was stumping me
2. Taking breaks, whenever I would feel frustrated or stuck I would walk away for an hour or so and do something else, like read, work, listen to music
3.Quitting or limiting distractions (whatever works for you), for me this was youtube,and I feel shameful for admitting it but I would spend hours down the YouTube hole just watching videos and not maintaining my responsibilities, so I deleted the app from my phone, saved a playlist of videos that I use for ether research or meditations
4.Challenging myself to create something everyday, it can even be for a little bit, but this helped me kind of get those creative juices flowing :)
5.Learning it’s okay to fail, the desire to be perfect just cages creativity, so allowing myself to mess up, and learn from that. No one is perfect. So why should I try to be something that is simply impossible
6.Remembering why I started creating in the first place, remembering when I was younger and I would play the piano, paint, draw, write, and why did I do those things? Because it was fun, because I genuinely enjoyed it
7.Taking a class, this helped me a lot in finding my footing again, I personally love Creative Live, I took a writing class and a social media marketing class, they also have so many other options like music classes, art classes, personal development classes and more, it really helped me to invigorate my belief in myself, my passion, and drive. You can check it out here
8.Being more aware of my emotions, when I would feel sad about not being able to write, or frustrated, I would observe my thoughts and my feelings then, then I would write about it.
9.Find things that bring you inspiration and study them, weather that would be your favorite album, (my go to creative inspirations are actually orchestra music as well as an artist called MARINA) your favorite movie, book, show, art piece, literally anything. Figure out what you like about those pieces of art, and why? do you like the production of a song, the lyrics, the artists emotion? Or the script of a film, it’s poetic nature, the story, the art. Think about those things, study those things.
10.Be patient and be kind to yourself, this one was a tricky one, especially because I run a business where I write poetry and share things that I’ve learned along my journey, and it’s hard to not be able to keep up with the grind, wether that be social media, or your own expectations. But one thing I’ve learned is I have to be authentic, and if I’m not ready to share my work, that is okay, if I can’t keep up with the grind of the world, that’s okay, I’ll go at my own pace, and I can hop back in whenever I’m ready.
Disclamer: The above does contain affiliate links, however these are products I would and or have personally tried. Plus it helps support my work and allows me to continue to provide content for you all :)