So you’ve hit a creative roadblock. All innovative, interesting, or remotely passable ideas have left your brain and left no note on when they shall return… How rude! But this scenario may be all too familiar if you work in the industry of dreaming up ideas and making them come to life through some sort of digital magic. Whether you’re working on your next marketing campaign for that huge brand, you know the one that will earn you high praise and (fingers crossed!) a promotion, or you’re staring down a senior thesis project in school and don’t think your professor will accept an abstract abstract. Think on that one for a second. We’ve all been in the spot where the pressure is on and the ideas just do. not. flow.
What to do? Here’s my advice, take it or leave it, add to it below, or keep on scrolling.
Step away from the project. Shut the laptop, unclick the pen, and turn off the office lights if you have to, just get away from the pressure of creating something epic. Now, the key to this working is that you need to set some structured time on when you’ll return. You know yourself best. Do you need a 30 minute walk, a 2 hour coffee date with a close friend, or a weekend to go skiing, bake a pie, whatever it is that isn’t going to be super draining to you (so maybe hold off on that home improvement project, kay?)
The point is that you need to free up your mind and experience some joy so that you feel refreshed and renewed. If you have a breakthrough during this rest period, great! Jot it down and continue on your merry way. Work will be there when it’s time again.
When your 30 minutes is up or the weekend has passed, you should set the scene for success. Brew your favorite cup of coffee, put on some smooth jazz or whatever gets you going, heck even grab a blanket or crank the AC — make it so that you’re feeling awesome in the moments leading up to _________ (fill in the blank).
Now I can’t promise that this approach will work every time, and I certainly don’t want you to show your boss this post and say, “See, she told me to peace out early for the weekend!” That could get dicey! But I do hope these steps help you break through that creative roadblock so that you can turn it into something you’re super proud of. And tell ya what — next time you try this, tag me on Instagram if it helped! I’d love to do a happy dance and send you a digital high-five.
And if this post taught you nothing other than that Parks & Rec is a perfectly good way to spend your “not-creating” time, then awesome! At least it was good for something. 🙂 Alright friend, I’ll catch ya later!
