How To Break Free From the Chains of Creative Block
Unleash Your Creativity and Break Free From Creative Block
Unleash Your Creativity and Get Your Breakthrough
I can see you now. You’re sitting at your desk with a ton of crumpled paper around you or you’re staring at the blinking cursor, struggling to find the words.It’s like your creativity is held captive and you can’t break free from the chains.Creative block is a universal “artist illness” that we have all dealt with, maybe more often than not. It doesn’t have to be this way. You can avoid this from happening.I literally can’t remember the last time I’ve had creative block and I’d like to share with you my secrets.I have discovered several ways to avoid the pain of creative block and I hope you can implement them into your routine:
Mindful Consumption
Preparation
Take Breaks
Set Restrictions
It’s time for you to have a break through.
Mindful Consumption
What kind of things are you consuming on a daily basis?What are you feeding your mind?If there is one thing I want you to take away from this is: we become what we put in our minds.In my journeys as Perspective-Collective, I’ve grown aware that the more I mindfully consume, the more breakthroughs and self-growth I see month to month. You should be enjoying these breakthroughs too!Picture your mind as a car. Your car needs fuel to get to where it needs to go. If you’re fueling your car with improper oil and not taking care of it, you’re not going anywhere. You’re going to be stuck.The same goes for your mind. Your brain needs to consume the right fuel in order to get ideas to execute. If you’re consuming countless hours of Netflix, video games, YouTube videos, scrolling through social feeds, then you’re always going to deal with creative block. I love a good cat video but it’s not going to help me get to where I want to be and I rarely catch ideas from this avenue of consumption.If you are a creative entrepreneur and constantly dealing with creative block, I can tell where you spend the majority of your time consuming.Every single free moment you have needs to be dedicated towards fueling your mind. How serious are you taking yourself? How badly to you want to succeed?
Ways to Consume
Podcasts & Audiobooks
90% of the time I am listening to a Podcast or an Audio Book. It’s been the catalyst for my rapid growth. Doing this will give you a huge advantage compared to other “hustlers”. Your iPhone has a free podcast and iBook app that are loaded with gold. Use them.These apps allow me to keep pounding my brain with new knowledge throughout the day. I’m force feeding it like a body builder needs to force feed themselves to make gains. When they think they’re full, they mindfully need to shovel in more of the right fuel in order to get to where they want to be.I listen to these:
all day at work
while I’m driving
while I’m getting ready in the mornings and at night
while I’m showering (get a bluetooth speaker)
while I’m doing cardio (for weights I need angry music)
every time I draw (I need silence for writing)
I love music but podcasts have captured my attention.
Websites / Articles / Books
When I’m not consuming via audio format, I resort to reading.There are an abundance of resources online in regards to anything you could ever want to learn about. There are websites that are highly curated to showing you the best artwork, the best business related articles, the best tutorials, etc. The web is loaded with useful content you should be consuming.Maybe books are your thing?I hated to read until I gave it another shot this past year. Wow, what a difference they made in my growth.A book is crammed with years of knowledge that it took the author to obtain and I can learn what they learned in a fraction of the time. I read books about self-development, hand lettering, growing your business, design and branding, etc. I’m all about reading something that will fuel my mind and progress my growth quicker.Take advantage of the gold mine of knowledge out there and fill your free time with learning. Knowledge is power.I should mention that there is a difference between consuming mindfully and applying action vs. being a chronic consumer and not making any moves. If all you’re doing is consuming inspiration and not applying it, than you’re wasting your time! I will cover this more in depth in a later post.
Preparation
Okay, so you’ve been consuming wisely and your head is filled to the brim with ideas. Do you just sit there and flip the creative switch on?For most of us it doesn’t work that way. We need to prepare.Mindless doodling takes no preparation but for writing something like a blog post or creating an in-depth illustration, you need to mindfully collect your ideas and let them marinate overnight.Preparation happens in 2 ways:
1. Capturing Your Ideas
Last week I discussed 9 Ways to Never Lose Your Idea Again and I feel it’s extremely valuable to those who deal with creative block. When you lack a memory bank supply of overflowing ideas, you’re setting yourself up for failure.Trying to create day-to-day from scratch ideas is going to stress you out and put you behind. It’s defeating as you put a ton of pressure on yourself to perform at the drop of a hat. Sure you may be able to do this for awhile but you’re eventually going to burn out.I capture every idea throughout the day and it helps me build a list that I put in the queue. There are no shortage of ideas primed for execution as I produce weekly, illustrative lettering content.
2. Preparing the Night Before
Successful athletes don’t just show up on game day without preparation. They practice and sleep on the game plan. When it’s game time, all they need to do is play and react.The same goes for creatives like you. Prepare yourself so you can get into your zone and find that conscious stream of thought. There’s no thinking, just creating.In order to do this you need to at least prepare the night before. When I write my blog posts, I’ve captured the idea of my topic well in advanced. The day before I write I will usually make a mind map and break down the topic into a visual outline. This helps me organize my thoughts on how I will deliver the content which is easiest and most understandable for you……and myself.Once I have things mind mapped, I will give it a look over again before I go to bed. Doing this allows me to subconsciously dream and prepare while I’m sleeping.When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you should be doing is working on what’s most important to you and what you had prepared for overnight. Get up early and get it done!Your preparation will allow you to find your zone and just go.No distractions, just focus time.No creative block, just results.
Take Breaks
Even though it’s extremely tough to turn off hustle mode, you need to take breaks to make sure your brain can rest from heavy consumption and refuel.My breaks consist of going to the gym, playing basketball, going on a walk, riding my bike, kayaking, listening to music, hanging with friends and family and playing with my cats (they love the laser.)One of the most important breaks is getting enough sleep. Sadly this is my biggest weakness as I do not do a good job of getting enough. I can sense the wear and tear taking it's toll on me at times as I become a sluggish zombie. I’m sure you struggle with this too!Taking time to rest and engage in other activities will help clear your mind. It will allow you to come up with new ideas spontaneously as you’re not in consumption mode.
Apply Restrictions
Many times creative block comes from having too many choices and a lack of direction. This will drive an artist crazy so placing self-imposed restrictions is a trick to get your brain working differently. It leads to serendipitous light bulb that are waiting to be captured.A famous example of this is with Dr. Seuss and his book Green Eggs and Ham. His editor challenged him to write an entire book in under 50 words. This restriction led to Green Eggs and Ham becoming one of the most renowned children’s books.A couple of restrictions that help me:Time Limit - Set a time limit for yourself to get something done and eliminate distractions. This creates a sense of urgency and some of us tend to work better under the pressure of deadlines. It’s a rush and an exhilarating feeling once you’ve completed the task.Limit your tools - Narrowing down a project to only a few simple tools will spark your creativity. You’ll use techniques and styles you never would have thought of due to the constraints. There’s no second guessing if this other tool will be better for the situation; you work with what you have and you create.Get weird - Overcoming that creative slump means thinking of things you never would have thought of before. Sometimes you need to brain storm and think of something stupid and ridiculous. When you get to the ridiculous stage, you’ve crossed a safe zone barrier where you were once thinking in a box. You can focus on that crazy idea and tone back the ridiculousness as you work.
It’s Time for Your Breakthrough
I’ve shared with you the tools that enable me to never have creative block. Mindful consumption, preparation, taking breaks and restrictions are imperative for keeping your mind fueled so you can always be ready to throw down and create with a purpose.
Key Takeaways
Knowledge is power
Mindful consumption will lead to an abundance of ideas
Your mind is a car that needs the right fuel to get to where it needs to go; consume wisely
Every free moment needs to go into devouring purposeful content
Success happens when you prepare the night before
Avoid consumption without action; don’t waste your time
Take advantage of the free resources out there
Taking breaks is essential for clearing the mind
Restrictions breed creativity
Awhile back I posted a blog post in regards to Self-Development and being a Lifelong Learner. I shared an extensive section at the end on the the inspirational resources I consume. You can view them here. Feel free to email me and share your resources as I'm always trying to have as many options as possible.There is no excuse for creative block in my eyes. There are so many tools and resources we have to battle this that it should never be an issue.If you take yourself serious and you suffer from these symptoms, I challenge you this week to be aware of what you are consuming. If you have a gap during the day where you’re just listening to music, alert yourself and try one of the podcasts I recommended from the above link.I promise you you will have a non-stop inspirational bank ready to withdraw from at any given moment.Stop making excuses and get to work. Creative block is a crutch and it’s avoidable.Step your game up and get your breakthrough.-If you have found value in this post, you can share this or join my weekly newsletter. As part of my team, you have direct access to me for questions and advice. Your input will allow me to keep this focused on delivering value on the pressing issues you struggle with. My mission is to help and grow along with you.