5 Things to do at home to Bust Out of the Creative Block

Ah yes, you're sitting there at your desk, minding your own business when all of a sudden you get smacked in the head by a creative block. Who threw it?? Who knows. But... now it's sitting there staring at you in the face. Great. You can't get motivated to start and it's become impossible to move it aside. Here are a few things to do to throw that block away and really get those creative juices going. (Hint: It starts with doing simple things that have zero to no pressure.)

#1 Start a craft that has nothing to do with your niche and cannot be monetized.  

The other week I was FaceTiming my best friend. I was sharing with her my ideas about personal projects. She called me a “dabbler”. Which seems really fitting for myself. I get incredible joy out of trying new things. Knitting washcloths and scarves, baking sourdough bread, making patches, cooking a new dish. Even if they completely flop, I can walk away knowing I tried it. When you’re stuck in a rut and unsure what to do next, simply doing something new with no pressure of success is a great way to stretch those creative muscles. When we apply rules to our creativity, it can be easy to get bogged down with words like “not good enough” or “what if it doesn’t work”. Rather, we should be asking ourselves “what IF it’s good enough just the way it is.” Sometimes making and learning new skills with no pressure of perfection is just the ticket to move outside of the walls we subconsciously build for ourselves.

#2 Assign yourself a personal project. 

Now, this one requires some self discipline. With no one putting a time crunch on your personal project, you have to be motivated to finish it all on your own. I’m not good at this one. I get distracted by something else very quickly. Although, what I have found motivates me to make work for myself is doing something that I believe in. Something that I find continues to give me joy every time I do it. 

I guess this is where Marie Kondo comes in. “Get rid of the personal projects that you don’t believe in and only do the ones that bring you joy.”... 

Blogging really has been that outlet of enjoyment for me as a personal project. I find that because I enjoy writing so much, I do it, almost daily. I’m not doing it because my boss is standing over my shoulder, I’m doing it because I love it and it has no pressure.

#3 Learn a new app. 

I’m purposely leaving this one rather broad, because that app could be anything. Sometimes when I’m stuck in a rut, I go onto the App Store on my phone and just peruse for fun. What apps are out there for budgeting, fashion, games, art or news? I let great marketing and app design woo me over for a bit. Sometimes when you’re the creative who is doing the wooing it’s easy to forget that we need to do market research. Really what I’m telling you is to go out and get inspired by the way other people are making things. Allow yourself to be in the audience and not as the maker. The App Store is just a cheap way of doing that.

#4 Listen to some creative podcasts.

In a similar vein, be in the audience of other creatives. Sit and listen to them talk. Sometimes the best way to get fueled up for creative thinking is to turn off your brain and just listen.  We live in a world of talking. Especially when your brain is exhausted, it’s me to just sit and absorb knowledge. 

Here are a couple of really great podcasts to listen to:

Perspective Podcast

By Perspective Collective - Scotty Russell talks about the everyday struggles of being in the creative field, entrepreneurship, adversity and more.

Creative Pep Talk

And a pep talk is just what this is! It’s a really awesome podcast series by Andy J. Pizza. He interviews lots of artists and creators on various topics. Definitely worth checking out for a nice inspiring time.

#5 Don't compare yourself to others. 

Social media is a great place to share work, but it doesn't always show the 50,000 iterations it took to get to that point you're seeing. It goes without saying that comparison doesn’t lead to productivity. It’s okay to see what other people are doing and support them, but the moment you say you’re not good enough is when it’s time to shut down the social media. Giving yourself limitations when you’re feeling stuck isn’t going to help you. 

If there is one piece of advice I can give you when you’re feeling stuck, is to take some time to just absorb what other people say. It’s easy to think we always have to be producing work. That’s me every single day. I base my mood off of my amount of production. So, especially when I’m feeling stuck, I have to remind myself to make something or listen to something without limitations I’ve set out for myself.