It’s tough sometimes to have to do something creative; you want to produce something and you simply can’t come up with anything original. So instead of working on what you need to, you worry about coming up empty, making your creative block worse rather than better. Don’t sit and mope. Here are three things that you can do to get those creative juices flowing again.
1. Let Your Mind Wander
Rather than focusing on the problem, it’s a better approach to just sit back and let your mind wander. You probably do this automatically, but generally, you’ll jerk yourself back to the problem at hand. When you’re badly stuck, it’s best to not give in to this reaction and instead let your gaze fall where it may and see what thoughts rise to the surface.
Another method is to free your mind by occupying your hands. Do some mindless manual task, like washing the dishes or cleaning your glasses. In either case, you’re letting your mind take a break from the problem and come back to it refreshed when it’s ready to do so. If this doesn’t work, maybe it’s time to take an actual break and go for a walk or some other form of exercise so you can relax and work out whatever is blocking you.
2. Explain The Problem
Sometimes rather than seek distraction it’s better to take your problem and either explain it to yourself or to someone else, though this would have to be someone you trust. By forcing yourself to tell an (imaginary) party how your idea works and how it’s blocked, you may in fact learn what it is that’s stopping you from completion. In that case, it’s solved and you can get to work again, but if it’s not you’ve taken an important first step.
The next step is to take your explanation and flip it; turn it around so that it’s a solution to which you need to find a problem. Though this is by no means a way to get past a creative block, it is an exercise in lateral thinking that challenges your mind. By making your brain do something unexpected there’s a good chance you’ll shake something loose that will kick-start it and get you thinking properly again.
3. Do It Differently
Look at the ideas with which you are able to come up and work with those. In particular, pick out the worst one and work with it. Though it may seem like taking the long way round, it is a great way to have some fun and, again, to shake things up. In doing so, you should be able to make up enough ideas that you’ll be able to lift your block. In the end, the best way to get around a creative block is to do things differently than you usually do them so you can feel challenged and thereby invigorated.
Though creating routine is a good work habit, it has a tendency to put your creative center to sleep and you need to find ways that fit into your habits to wake it up again. So whenever you’re stuck, just shake things up in a silly or serious way. Think of the worst possible idea or think about it in a foreign language if you happen to know one. Think of how the kookiest person you know would handle it, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s creative. The most important tip? Even when you’re stuck, never forget that creating something is supposed to be, above all, fun!
