Considering our entire user-base are creators of some kind, it’s inevitable that we face the same kind of issues. When it comes to writing, you might suffer from your classic “writer’s block” and struggle to get past whatever is preventing you from writing. As a designer, painter, producer, you will likely experience that same kind of block that stops you getting work done.
Some of our users have been asking some key questions lately;
Do you find you can ‘schedule’ your creativity in or do ideas have to come organically?,
How do you deal with creative blocks?,
How do you motivate or inspire yourselves to create?
Each of them follow this similar theme; being pinned down by this force that prevents us from creating the things that we love to create. One of the key differences, that I think exists, is between creating for the shear passion vs. creating for a deadline, for a job, etc. Regardless of the drive to create, blocks can exist and often it can prove difficult to stay motivated, feel inspired, and to produce work you’re satisfied with.
A few of us might find that if your driving force is simply the passion for the craft, a lot of the pressure is relieved. No deadlines, at least.
Now, though, you’ve got to do it for a job and so, you’ve got yourself a deadline. Inspiration and motivation aside, what now? Are you one to structure your time up or one to leave it last minute and panic? The graphic below is an interesting one. From my experiences — mostly in Uni — this was the go to formula. Three months to do a project means 10 weeks of nothingness, I think?
When it comes to scheduling their creativity, I get a feeling some can literally just dial it in and get right in to the required frame of mind. At any moment they might be in the zone and ready to go with the work at hand; for others, though, the process might take a little longer to see through.
I fall into the latter category. I can’t just do it. It has to feel right, and if it doesn’t I won’t force the work. For example, with my writing I’ll put it on pause if necessary and find new ways to approach the task. Bullet points help. I can come back to the thoughts another time and thoroughly unpack the ideas and make sense of it all. Alternatively I can type it from memory at a later date, a method which is quite difficult because I can’t be as concise as I would have liked. That, and I end up tied up in tangents struggling to make sense of my own words.
Currently my preferred method is to handwrite the thoughts the moment they hit me. That “Eureka!” moment often comes at nonsensical times but you might have been trying to piece things together for years and it suddenly hits you. You can’t stop that, so why fight that drive? I find it to be far more honest when it is in the moment.
Apparently bullet-points are a popular method to get work done. Our very own Zai tends to do the same. “Write in bullet points about what I want to write and see what happens,” seems to be a pretty solid method when you don’t have a chance to get it out in the moment.
Liz Lyne, one of the many talented writers over at FWRD, has a similar method;
I also write down topics as I think of them. Doesn’t mean I’ll write about it right now but at a later date I’ll come back to it.
And on the topic of scheduling the creativity, Liz says;
I procrastinate for the longest time and then when it gets to crunch time I magically pull it out the bag whilst wondering why I couldn’t have just done that in the beginning avoiding unnecessary stressing. I’ll do it again next time though for sure….And the time after that.
It seems kinda common for people to do that, I think we’re either all guilty of it or have all been.
It’s all too easy to feel lazy if you can’t get cracking with your work but it’s true that some work best during certain periods and under certain conditions. Whether it be the time of day or the time of year, it varies. Just look at this conversation, lifted straight from Circular;
Tashinga: During that two hour slot (1am-3am) I seem to come up with a million and one ideas. But I’m not just limited to that specific time frame. It just seems to be the time when my creative juices are flowing
Olive: I work best in the morning, sun light helps me work a lot. Darkness stresses me. But if my room isn’t tidy. It’s all over. No work will be done
Farida: I definitely need sunlight, which is why I’m so much more motivated to work during the Summer. I find it so hard to work in the winter months
Tev: Ha I’m the complete opposite working in the day light irks me, I’m not at my full potential ’til night time
You probably shouldn’t feel so discouraged — if at all — if you find that there are periods of time you just can’t get going with the work at hand. It’s a slightly different scenario, though, if you have found a time in which you work best but still you are struggling with it. Your typical creator’s block.
Creator’s Block is a significant topic in its own right. It’s something that comes up regularly during discussions of creativity.. typically while talking about writing. I think it might be a bit of a cliché to experience this block but for sure it can happen from time-to-time. You might not even realise.
There are occasions when there are thoughts in mind that I am trying to articulate on paper. Often that’s an insurmountable task; just stuck fighting in an attempt to piece together the words in a way that makes sense. Or the most sense possible.
What is your work around though? What do you do while you cannot get past your block?
With writing, for me at least, I will choose not to; not until it feels right again, anyway.
For me, with writing at least, I will just choose not to. Not until it feels right again. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be a short time before I get going again. Similarly, Zai choose to “leave writing alone and do other things until it [feels] natural.” For me that’s the 🔑. Some things just take that little bit longer.
It’s worse when I want to write but I can’t. I try to watch things and surround myself with things that trigger emotion. — Zai
Seems to be a theme that runs true for many of us. Taking that time away from the task, to try and gather inspiration. Sam, founder of FWRD, follows that mantra, too. “Take a break and do something that exercises the mind,” and then “something will naturally come from it.”
Some of our users follow that same routing with other disciplines, too;
Anything to reduce my stress levels. — Tunde
Leave it alone and do other stuff. Trying to force creativity always backfires. — Suave
Farida, for inspiration to overcome creative blocks, likes to think about how she felt that day and why: “Think about my day and whatever made me feel some type of way. If something really annoyed me or made me super happy.” An idea Liz likes too;
What better way to draw inspiration than from the things around you and how they made you feel. — Liz
My personal method for overcoming blocks lately is to try and relieve myself of everything I’m trying to have control over. It’s proving to be a rewarding method of clearing my mind and reducing my stress. In the way that some of the users at Circular do, I have to reduce the stress and focus on something else. Endless reading, and research. Trying to learn something new.
I’ve found a nice technique to lose control and clear my mind. It’s quite a simple thing to do, but I’ll just go to a new place for some food and drink.. I don’t mind too much, that’s the idea. I’ll ask whoever is working to suggest what I should have, and I’ll go with that.
I find it leaves another thing out of my hands, and therefore it is another thing that I don’t have to spend time thinking about. It just is. During these moments, I can free up some brain power to think about something new. The view, perhaps. From there, I can gain some new inspiration.
Two users asked the same question, for how to find inspiration, and both times new lines of conversation were sparked. Trying to pin-point that one thing (if possible) proved difficult.
Books are a repeat offender — as though it was crime — and many look to life itself. Liz, Courtney, and myself gain some from books; while Samuel and Dami gain some from life.
On inspiration, I think Zai had the biggest gem of them all. Detailing how it is he stays inspired and motivated, he looks to the bigger picture, to the grand scheme.
[I] look at the bigger picture for what it is I want to achieve in life and then find out what I need to do along the way to get to that point. I inspire myself by thinking about how small the problem you may be facing is in the grand scheme of things. — Zai
Another gem came from Dami when we were talking about what inspires us. He said, “Life. Our experiences shape us” and went on to highlight Kojey Radical as an inspiration. Talking of whom, Kojey has a new one out via COLORS BERLIN, check that!
Whether we are facing these creative blocks or not, we all can find inspiration from a myriad sources. It would be incredibly nice if we were allowed the freedom to create whatever we want, however we wanted, in any time frame. Especially without those blocks that arise. It’s obviously a bit more complicated when it comes to deadlines due to the pressure involved; typically a lot more is riding on it.
Find what inspires you, go back to the source, and just remember to breathe and take your time (but not so much that you have to rush it all last minute.)
What is your fix for creative blocks? And, where do you go to for inspiration? Let us know over on Twitter, or as a Medium Response below 😉
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