Every artist had one (or more) of those days in which it seems like creativity has decided to hide.
They are a little different than an art block, that can last for a longer period of time. These days are occasional, but really annoying.
You struggle finding inspiration, you lose your motivation and your stress level starts to rise quickly. Now your day is ruined, and you just end up a little bit sad, frustrated and with none of your tasks done. This is gonna affect your working schedule and your mental health.
Psychology and creative minds go hand in hand, as we had previously discuss here:
Is there a way to avoid this lack of creativity?
Thank God (or, I mean, whoever) human brains are easy to trick, whether we like it or not. The positive side of this weakness is that we can try to use it in those bad days to calm down and get on the desk again, ready to complete our tasks.
Creativity requires action; it’s not just a passive trait that someone has, you have to stimulate it, especially when you don’t feel it at all. You don’t just wake up and Boom! You’re inspired! Yeah, somedays you feel more inspired than others, and that’s very very good, but unfortunately you know it’s not always like that. Another great quality that creativity has is that you can develop it, such as skills, with constance and hard work.
Use these features to your advantage.
Trick our brain into creativity is pretty simple, and anyone can do it whenever they want and almost without effort.
Try these to trick your brain into creativity:
| Walk outside
Walking is the best thing you can do when you are stressed or worried. It helps you to release tension physically and mentally and it gives you some time alone with yourself. Try to go and walk in silence, and listen to your thoughts: take it all out, talk and listen to yourself.
Also, you can take some fresh air and maybe see something that gives you an idea or a hint to make something new!
Science agree on the importance spending some time outdoor. In fact, scientists are finding more and more evidences on how nature has not only psychological benefits, but also physical: it reduces our stress, anxiety and increases our capacity and creativity. Accordingly to all that, your behaviour will be better and it will help you to connect with other people. You’ll be happier and healthier… and more creative! And that is all scientifically proved, so you can trust me. 😌
| Background music
Silence is good for our brains, since is of course more relaxing than noise and music. Also, I understand that working for hours in complete silence, is difficult for some people. A little bit of music can always help to cheer us up! I can advice you to put a background playlist (Youtube is full of them, in every style, genre etc.) that has songs without words. They tend to distract me while I read or write, but not when I draw; so it totally depends on your level of focus and on the work you’re going to do!
There are infinite choices, but there you go some of my recommendations!
| Get up for 10 mins and do something else
When you can’t focus and you start feeling frustrated, that’s the right time to get up and try to (productively) distract yourself. Read for 10 mins, make some cleaning in your house, eat some fruit and drink a glass of water or make a little bit of stretching; then, come back to work. You’ll feel better! Don’t waste these 10 minutes scrolling on Instagram, chatting with friends or wasting time on Facebook. It’s not worthy! Enjoy a healthy break.
| Set your environment
Our environment affects significantly the way we work. Especially if you work from home, you’ll understand how important it can be. As every work-environment, it can sometimes feel stuffy. How to fix it? Tidy it up a little bit to feel better or change it! (You can go and work/draw into a cafe, or in a park, near the sea..). It is very good for our brain and creativity to see a tidy and clean environment, or to change places every now and then.
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| Little rewards
Little rewards always work, with almost everything; think about school grades, job and personal tasks, everyday goals.. It’s a way to say to your brain: “Well, you did good today, there you go something you really wanted!” And what to use as rewards? Anything you’d like! Something to eat, something to wear, a hot bath, some fruit, a film at the end of the day.. It’s not important what you choose as a reward, it’s important that you take your reward only after you’re done with your tasks. Work before pleasure! That’s the only way it can work. For example, you draw something even if you’re demotivated, but you still practiced: good job! Enjoy your reward.
| Get bored
This doesn’t mean “waste time”. Wasting time on social media, or watching TV won’t help you at all.. Boredom drives you to find a way to don’t be bored. And this means that your brain will keep working until it finds some creative solutions. Getting bored, sometime, is helpful to stimulate creativity and willing to learn and find solutions.
Sit there and just.. get bored for a bit: you brain will start wondering and getting more creative than ever.
Did you know that.. BOREDOM IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR KIDS?
Letting your child being bored every now and them is not only a good thing, but it’s highly recommended!
Our brains (specially children’s ones) are full of distractions and informations, so boredom is an excellent way to let give a breath of air to our confused minds.
Children learn a lot in their first years of life, both in life and in school; try to imagine the amount of things going on in their little heads. That’s why boredom is not dangerous at all for, it can just make them relax for a bit.
It also boosts their creativity, that develops every time they have to find solutions to boredom. Obviously, we are not talking about letting them be bored to let them think if it’s better to go to watch TV or play with their phones. When you hear you little boy or girl saying “Mom, I’m bored”, try to answer with: “Well, try to think about something fun to do!” You’ll see that they come up with a lot of amazing ideas, games, will to draw, dance.. Without external distraction, their minds are free to use their imagination as its full potential.
| Meditate
This is not some guru-fake-shit. Meditation can be practiced by anyone of us, for just 10-20 minutes a day and it’s life changing. Whether it’s early in the morning or after the whole day, it helps you to control your emotions in the long term, it helps you release stress and anxiety and it’s something really easy and powerful to do.
The easiest way you can meditate is to sit comfortable with your back straight (or lay down on the floor/bed), close your eyes, take really deep breaths and try to concentrate on them. Try not to think.
Ok but, what has meditation to do with creativity?
First of all, it can help you relax when you feel frustrated about it. Leave your desk and meditate for 10 minutes; deep breaths relieve the body stiffness due to stress. Also, when our mind is stressed and under pressure, our creativity is restricted. Meditation helps to relieve and relax the mind. Remember that a free mind, is powerful and creative!
If you want to know more, I advice you to check this blog post that talks about meditation and creativity. Read more.
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