Break Free from the Chains of a Creative Block
If overcoming a creative block was as easy as jumping over a puddle, we would live in a world brimming with creativity. The multiple connections that give rise to new ideas would make science, art, and practically all the manifestations of our civilization 100% enhanced. Obviously, that would be some kind of a creative utopia that’s far from possible — at least in this day and age. After all, we have to fight creative blocks on a daily basis, and not just when creative jobs are concerned. Still, when it comes to creative issues professionally, you’d often hear about writer’s block. But, as Charles Bukowski would say, writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all.
Meet your own basic needs first
It may seem like a silly advice, but let’s be honest here. It’s not at all that uncommon for people to ignore their own basic needs when they get stubborn over finishing something. Is this the same case with you? Really though, you can’t be productive when you’re hungry, overly tired or in dire need of a shower.
Self-care is not only essential for your health and happiness, but for giving your best every day in every aspect of your life. This includes creative thinking that’s essential for putting your mind to work when necessary as well. So, don’t be afraid to take a break. After all, tending to your basic needs shouldn’t be something you consider a break at all, it’s something you have to do in order to better yourself in every sense of the word.
Find out why you’re stuck
Creative block can be beaten if you only manage to direct all your efforts to overcome it to its weakest point — rationalization. No matter how mystical and metaphysical this wall that blocks you from inspiration may seem, everything has a reason and getting to it is a much simpler process than demolishing that mental wall brick by brick.
A great way to get to the bottom of your creative block is to employ the 5 whys exercise, a technique developed by Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda. For example, you can ask yourself the following:
I am demotivated — why?
Because I have no ideas — why?
Because I don’t like the formal tone we’re using — why?
Because it doesn’t align with the strategy — why?
Because the strategy indicates that the project is aimed at young people — why?
Because our studies indicate that they make 90% of the consumers.
Solution: Speak with your team and propose a change of tone.
It’s not necessary to literally go through five whys if you can resolve the issue with fewer steps.
Redefine the concept
One of the biggest problems that involves the creative block is the term itself; people tend to visualize it as an indestructible wall that’s extremely difficult to overcome.
Social psychologist Susan K. Perry suggests visualizing it not as a wall, but as a soap bubble that will disintegrate at the slightest touch. Audrey Niffenegger, author of the book The Time Traveler’s Wife, doesn’t perceive it as a wall, but as a signal to stop thinking directly about the subject and approach it occasionally. Most new ideas come from patiently waiting and stirring the thing (idea) in my head, he added.
Forget about one perfect idea
More often than not, creative block occurs because you’re looking for that one perfect and ideal solution, the one idea to rule them all. And you basically disregard everything else that comes to mind but doesn’t quite meet your perfectionist expectations. Let your mind go and write down every single idea you have — one, five, ten, thirty, however many!
Look for inspiration outdoors
Sometimes, it won’t be enough to just stop forcing yourself to find new ideas; it may not even be enough to tend to your own needs. If you feel like you need something more in order to find inspiration and break your creative block, spending some time outdoors can do you a world of good.
You don’t have to book a trip to some breathtaking place in order to get inspired. It may as well be more than enough to take a walk in the park, nearby forest or riverbank.
Of course, these are not your only choices. You may enjoy a visit to an art museum, go to the movies or theatre, or engage in some other interesting activity outside your home.
It’s not uncommon for four familiar walls you spend most of your time in to feel pressuring and threatening instead of comforting from time to time.
Keep track of everything that inspires you
Why should you try to remember something when you can write it down or take a picture of it? Keep track of whatever you find inspirational — thoughts, quotes, songs, articles, technologies, art, etc. You can take notes on paper or computer/app and save images so that you literally have your own inspirational corner that you can turn to once you get trapped within the creative block.
Look for inspiration among the people
An interesting tip that Mike Brown (expert in creativity, strategies, and innovation, and founder of the consultancy The Brainzooming Group) proposes is to look for inspiration in people, which is something he calls crowdspiration.
Go where there is a crowd of people and use the looks, conversations and the murmur of the crowd to catalyze your creativity, he says. In the digital age, the crowd can also be found on social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook, so take advantage of them!
Change your “canvas” for a while
Brown also proposes to change the “canvas” if you’re having difficulties to come up with new ideas. For example, if your computer doesn’t seem to help, go old-school with a pencil and notebook.
The idea is to move to a blank “canvas” that allows you to see things in a new way. Something similar says artist Marc Johns when talking about pretending to be someone else: Stop thinking like a designer, writer or whatever you are for a minute, pretend you’re a baker, a handyman or a doctor — how do these people look at the world?
Don’t think about it and open a random book
Jessica Hagy, the winner of the Webby prize for her blog Indexed, suggests opening any book on a random page and looking at a specific phrase. Each book has the seed of thousands of stories. Each sentence can produce an avalanche of ideas. Mix ideas between books.
Hagy proposes that this continuous remix of ideas forces the mind to make connections and recharge your idea-generating powers. If nothing happens, keep doing it, says the artist and keep connecting ideas out of context until your mind is distracted and ends up in a new place, a place that nobody has visited before.
