4 Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity
Your ideas are waiting for you.
There’s nothing worse than staring at a blank page, knowing you have to write something, but your brain feels locked up in solitary.
It might seem as though you’ve totally lost your creative edge, but don’t worry — you’re not doomed. There are a number of ways to free your mind and get back to your art refreshed and brimming with ideas.
Explore Different Genres
Sure, only reading historical nonfiction or only listening to country music may bring you joy, but mixing in some sci-fi or Dua Lipa can expand your mind and allow you to make different connections than you would if you stay inside your genre bubble.
Each individual genre of any form of media — podcasts, TV shows, books, you name it — has certain characteristics linking them together. You can read a bunch of historical nonfiction by many different authors but they’ll all be, on some level, familiar to you. Familiarity is comfortable, yes, but it means you don’t learn anything new.
I recently started freelancing. I was devoting a lot of time reading articles about self-employment, audience engagement, making money on Medium, and search engine optimization. It was literally all I could think about and because of internet algorithms, it was also taking up my entire online environment. I felt totally stuck in my writing because of this loop, which especially sucks as someone who is just getting started out.
So I decided to shake it up a little. I used the ‘play something’ feature on Netflix to watch a show I wouldn’t have chosen myself. While it’s unlikely I’ll keep watching Manifest, getting out of my regular rotation of Community, Great British Bake Off, and Bojack Horseman helped plant seeds for stories later on.
Novelty begets creativity.
Get Outside
Recently, author Michael Easter published an article about how much time you should spend outside for your mental health. He broke it down really simply into a 20–5–3 rule:
- 20 minutes, at least three times a week: Put down the phone and get to a park or botanical garden. This gives your brain an opportunity to enter into a mindfulness state called ‘soft fascination’. Here, you’re engaged by nature but not fully concentrated on it, providing your mind some time to gently wander.
- 5 hours once a month: This could be an afternoon at the lake or a hike through a large park filled with trees and wildlife. Breathing in the fresh air and removing the hurried pace of a city invites relaxation. For me, it’s a day trip to a warm beach, pelicans diving in and out of the waves, the occasional silver fish glinting in the sun.
- 3 days once a year: Easter recommends going completely off the grid here, camping out in the wild and really getting into that granola lifestyle. You can sleep in a tent or a cabin, alone or with friends, but the key is to unplug and devote your attention to your surroundings for peak revitalization.
The other day my husband and I took our dogs on a much-needed walk through a nearby park, leaving our phones at home. With the article in mind, I took notice of leaves wafting in the breeze and the confetti of crepe myrtle dancing in the street.
Suddenly, a white flash darted from ground to tree and back again, rustling in the pine straw before racing up a trunk. It took a moment before I realized it wasn’t just the white underbelly of a squirrel I’d spotted — the little guy was entirely white! I’ve never seen a squirrel like that before and I wouldn’t have noticed him if I hadn’t taken Easter’s advice.
Is an albino squirrel going to completely revamp my writing? No. But getting out of the office and into a green space has allowed my brain to make connections and spark ideas that were otherwise crowded out by notifications.
Get Moving
Trust me, exercise is not my favorite activity. On this, I channel Ann Perkins: “Jogging is the worst! I know it keeps you healthy but god, at what cost?”.
However, research has shown that in addition to managing your weight and blood pressure, strengthening bones, muscles, and joints, and lowering the risk of diabetes and cancer, regular exercise can boost creativity:
“Specifically, researchers noted that regular exercise seems to be associated with improved divergent and convergent thinking, which are considered the two components of creative thinking; the former involves thinking of multiple solutions for one problem, while the latter involves thinking of one solution for a problem.”
Regular exercise also promotes better sleep and endorphin production. Feeling well-rested and happy can only have a positive impact on your creativity.
Know When to Walk Away
Not forever, of course. There is no way that your art or writing or other creative outlet is so bad that you should just give up completely. But sometimes you need a little space from that particular project to give your brain time to reset. It takes the pressure off, even if just for a couple of days.
Coupling some time away with any of the above activities is especially beneficial.
There is hope to help you get back to your art! Shake up your environment, get outside, and give yourself a break.
