Mental Health 7 years ago How To Get Out Of A Creative Rut
January is all about creating new goals, making lists to help us refocus on accomplishing amazing things and starting the year with a fresh perspective.
But what happens when you kick off the year feeling not so inspired? I don’t know if it’s just a case of the undertow, but over the past several weeks I’ve been feeling quite drained in the creativity department. I did a post on Instagram asking for tips, and the #1 piece of feedback was to “take a break.”
Upon stepping back from my social media and blog, I came across a few things that helped restart my creative engines.
I found myself using the same camera, with the same exposure, same angle and shooting in the same locations every time I went to take a photo. So, I switched up my camera and starting shooting with a less technical one and downloaded a few new apps on my iPhone to play with.
My Dad called me after the day he saw my Instagram post. He seemed quite a bit concerned by my lack of drive and motivation. We chatted for quite some time about the blogging industry and different projects I had coming up. I huffed and puffed about how I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I felt like a brat, to which my Dad replied.
If I were there we would drive up to the highest mountain that overlooks all of Los Angeles. We would look down on Los Angeles and surely come up with an incredible idea!'
Turns out my Dad was on to something. Just getting out of your head can really free up space for new ideas to come in. I immediately made time in my schedule to go for a hike and connect with nature. After all, I was sitting on a beach in Bali when I came up with the idea to start my blog to begin with.
Read, Read, Read! I didn’t feel like diving into a lengthy book, so I opted for the magazine stand instead. Picking up fashion magazines from other countries always offers up some sort of fresh take on the industry. When you feel like you have already tapped out of reading up on US trends, try another country that interests you.
But sometimes a hike, a good read and even taking a break won’t give you that extra dose of creative juice that you’re seeking. When in doubt, music has always done the trick for me. I open up all of the windows in the house and put on one of my playlists, click here to listen.
Classical or jazz is a great genre. I prefer listening to my record player because it forces you to execute the process of putting a record on, wiping down the player. This will help focus your attention on something simple and get you out of your head.
At the end of last week I found myself sitting in the office with Haleigh until 7pm on Friday brainstorming creative concepts for my Insta-Stories highlights. We got lost on Pinterest and went down the rabbit hole of other people’s Instagram accounts. Before I knew it, my creative energy was flowing once again.
Sometimes it really does take cutting yourself some slack to get you out of a funk. My therapist always encourages me to, rather fighting something, accept things for what they are. A rut is a rut, so sit in it and look at it and face it rather than fighting. It will eventually pass.
What helps you get out of a creative funk? Leave a comment below!
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