How to Overcome a “Creativity Block”

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How to Overcome a “Creativity Block”

Not sure if I should have given this article the heading “How to improve your creativity” but you get the idea so no worries. No offence to my folks that don’t identify as creatives but this is where we the shunned-from-society artistes find peace and home. One thing I know for sure is that every creative can relate to having a ‘creativity block’. It’s probably one of the most dreaded times for anyone that is accustomed to creating and bringing to life some really ‘beautiful messes’.

Creatives are some of the most impulsive humans to walk the face of the earth, even in our minds, being impulsive practically describes us and makes us who we are. The ability to just sit there staring at a bird flying from a tree or listening to your mother yell at you for making her life hard and then suddenly thinking of an incredible idea is something we’re not strangers to. It is us. We are it.

Usually in the journey of a creative, rarely does anyone prepare you for the shock that hits you when you can’t come up with an astounding idea anymore. A writer staring at her blank page with so much dread, a poet failing to come up with excerpts that hit the heart, a filmmaker giving up on making outstanding movies because all the creativity has been stopped by this devil called a block. Now normally this is referred to as writer’s block because of writers failing to come up with something nice to write about, but I decided to coin the term creativity block because not every artiste is a writer.

I must say though, if this term already existed I promise I did not plagiarize it and make it my own. I genuinely think I coined it but if there is someone out there that made it famous before I did, then cheers to us, great minds really do think alike! I just had to make that clear before one of these days I get violently woken up by cops knocking on my door on account of plagiarism and copy right infringement.

Ezawa saying (if you’re not Ugandan you won’t get this joke…actually it’s not that hard to get regardless of your nationality *scoffs*) being a creative is already tough enough as it is. Now being a creative and momentarily losing what defines you, boy that’s a whole other battle. It is literally losing you. And if that’s all you’ve ever known it’s even scarier. I think by now my point is crystal clear; WE CREATIVES HATE CREATIVITY BLOCKS!! So yes, my sweets, that is why I’m here to help a creative improve his /hercreativity as we fight this block together or as a brotherhood/sisterhood or as one creative helping another.

Wow this has been a long introduction and for the record any long article is one I have enjoyed writing *wink wink*.

So your creativity tank dried up, huh? Well let’s figure out how to get your creativity juices flowing again! Let’s get into it!

Rest, breathe and drink water.

There’s already too much going on in the world left, right and center. As if that’s not bad enough, your mind starts to take this direction too. A creative’s mind is one of the most rampant and random minds you’ll ever come across. It’s like a whole war up there. It doesn’t help that most creatives are prone to anxiety…tell me a better example of adding fuel to the fire. One’s creative vessel might actually break down and let out smoke like a car that’s broken down in the middle of the road and that could be a sign that you’re over working the poor thing hence stressing yourself out. (I just imagined seeing smoke actually coming out of someone’s ears and I swear to God I’d run)

Relax! Take deep slow breaths through your nose and out through your mouth, loosen your shoulders and unclench your jaws and drink water. Unplug from the world for a second and be selfish and selective with your space and energy…I know it’s starting to sound like I’m instructing a yoga therapy class but believe you me, this goes a long way to dramatically improve your creativity. Your mind gets much clearer and you can easily navigate through awesome ideas because of all the fog you’ve cleared up in your mind.

You know that saying that goes “when you’re not looking for something is when it comes to you”? Yeah that totally applies here. The creative idea you’re looking for might even come when you’re in the shower and your mind wanders…someone weird out there calls these “watery thoughts”.

Even simply hanging out with your buddies could do the trick

You might stress too much and bash your brain to come up with something impressive and you end up not getting anywhere at the end of the day. MORE FRUSTRATION! So just lay back and let your brain do its thing, quit putting the poor thing on pressure!

Set the mood right

A lot of you look down on setting the mood right but don’t ever underestimate the power of a great ambience. The things it does…hehe! You don’t wanna know! *insert Ugandan local’s accent*. Actually you do because it brings something close to heaven to you; mentally, physically and emotionally…let’s also add the financially because that’s a plus for anyone.

We vary as humans. The diversity is what makes us so beautiful. So I trust that not 2 people have the same exact way of setting the right mood. For one it could be listening to loud music blasting the speakers and for another it could just be relaxing in a very quiet serene environment. It’s amazing the wide array of things to do to just get your mind in the right space for the better of your creativity. For some it can just be simply taking a walk and for others it might be doing something to get your adrenaline levels high like bungee jumping or skydiving. I know the thought of someone getting a creative idea while they’re 10,000ft in the air is crazy to say the least, but like I said before; with creatives you get used to even the impulse of the mind.

Take for example Steve Jobs; he used to use music to get in the right mood and get creative and see what that did for him and for a greater part of the world.

It can be really extremely frustrating to be monotonous with your ideas or not even have any. Navigate whatever options you have to have the right ambience for your creativity to thrive. Just discover yourself and know what works for you. That’s all it takes.

P.S you could relate this to basically doing something you love; something like a hobby or a skill that makes you get lost in it.

Do something you’re passionate about

This could be a hobby or just a pastime that gets your mood from a flat to 0 to a straight 100 when you indulge in it. Just as the animation Soul put it, something that you lose yourself in; takes you to that zone that’s neither being alive nor dead…you just kind of wholly become that passion.

It could be playing a musical instrument, baking or even taking your car for a thrilling drive. Anything that helps you fight stress can boost your creativity drastically. Larry Kim, the CEO of MobileMonkey, puts it amazingly when he says “Love and creativity are intertwined”.

Tired of monotonous mundane ideas? Then make your imagination as wild as it can get! Think of the craziest most impossible out-of-this-world ideas you can imagine. Yeah we’re crazy like that but it always yields great results. And of course these can’t be the only ways to give your creativity a boost. I just took a different and much healthier route with this blog. If you do hope for a more serious one, then stick around this page. It’ll come or perhaps you’ll find it.

Eh guys! I’ve really said too much!

By now you must have noticed these points revolve around the idea of relaxing and taking as many chill pills as you can. I unapologetically stand by this because a big number of creatives can’t function the way they want to under stressful conditions so yeah! I’m a big advocate of relaxing and using the most of your time for enjoyment.

How to Overcome a “Creativity Block”

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