That Ol' Creative Block

Creative block. We’ve all been there. It can take the form of frustration, procrastination, questioning your path, questioning your talent…the list goes on. 

If you’ve listened to the micro pods, you know that one of the questions I ask my guests is, “When you hit that creative lull, what do you do to get past it?” 

Well, here are the answers. And they are good ones. Some may even surprise you!

If any of these are your go-to’s, let me know how they work for you!

And, if you try any of these the methods that you’re discovering for the first time while reading this – and I know at least one of these answers will be new to you – share your results in the comments below!

Here we go! The question is, “What do you do to get past that creative lull?”

I redirect and do something else that inspires me…instead of fighting it, just redirecting my attention and my energy in another direction always brings me back to my art. –Jaden LaRue

I talk to my friends because I need a support system. And, I try to get busy with other things…once I focus on other things, it seems to flow. – April Bowlby

The only thing that helps is just sitting down and starting on something. …As soon as I sit down to actually start, maybe I’ll have a few bumps at first, but once I actually get into it, it breaks away. Just sitting down and starting. – Shelley Couvillion

I go to a new place. I travel. Or I just talk to my friends. Or cuddle with a pet. – Katie Ferrara

I’ll move on to something else…or I’ll go outside…or I’ll try to find something that inspires me. And that could even just be looking online and googling inspirational quotes… – Lauren Cohen

(I) don’t panic… I walk my dogs, exercise, read, do really really silly housework, but eventually you do have to circle back to it, and it’s easier to get back into the stories that really excite you. -Camilla Ochlan

I’m a runner…When I run that’s when I get inspired. – Bonita Gutierrez

…You need a lot of mental capacity to be creative, and when I’m working full time and dealing with all sorts of other things, I don’t have a lot of room in my brain. My creativity gets put on hold a lot, but what I’ve learned is how to be professional about what I do, and when I’m called into the studio I’m very present. That is my moment to turn everything else off and do my job. I’ve learned to be very efficient and present when it comes to writing. – Drea

I’ll do something else. One of the classic things is going outdoors, changing scenery, driving to a café or something, and doing something else, and coming back to it. Or, just spending time with people… - Leila Milki

I stop everything…and I take a complete brain break. I will read, and I will pull myself away into a total other world... it somehow resets my clock. – Kathryn Michelle

I blast really good music. I might have a dance party. I have a day where I do something outside of myself. I either go to a movie or I take a hike. I do something to invest back in life and find inspiration again. – Catrina Del Re

If I just need to unstick a small thing, I’ll do yoga…movement is my thing. When I am in movement it often does unblock things. If it’s something more serious of a block, I go to an art museum, I like to go to LACMA. And if it’s still very serious, then I watch French films back to back. I just lay in bed and watch two, three films, it doesn’t matter what they are, I just watch them. And I like to wear silk in bed and eat toast with jam…and I have this sort of thing, I remember something to do with Paris, then I come back to feeling inspired again. – Mhairi Morrison

 I take a walk, or I try to convince my husband to go on a road trip. I feel like just clearing your head, being more relaxed, helps you be more creative. I think boredom is important to being creative. I’ve done a little bit of reading on other peoples’ perspectives on how to get creative, and boredom seems to be important for a lot of people. It just opens your mind to more things. – Nariné Riley

I usually turn to random dance videos for inspiration. …Also I will sometimes look at other hoopers for inspiration, but that’s a slippery slope because there’s a fine line between being inspired and feeling bad about yourself suddenly. …you have to really stay positive and realize that it’s a hoop journey, not a hoop destination, and everyone’s different. – Morgan Jenkins

I have to keep trying, and then I have to stop trying. …I just have to give myself a break for a little while to be able to start trying again with a fresh perspective and new ideas. – Leah Capelle

I stop. …I’ll take creative trips. I’ll take a trip downtown to the fabric district, and I’ll run my hands along the fabric…that usually gets me going. If I don’t have an answer the something, I’ll go walk around down there, and I have certain vendors I see and I love to talk to…and I look around at what people are doing, I look in the windows and look at the mannequins…There’s a lot of creativity going on down there. – Shurie Southcott

I walk away, and I come back when I’m ready. – Crystal Chappell

I read. I find that reading either non-fiction or fiction really helps because it’s kind of like the same thing that you’re doing but in a different medium. …it’s an author and it’s a voice and it’s someone’s way of expressing and using language to get a point across. And so, when I read an author, I’m shown a new way of doing that, and that always sets something new off in me. – Shelley Segal 

I like to treat my creative projects as a seed. So, instead of being a punitive force where I’m like, “Why aren’t you working for me?” I try to send it loving intentions where it’s more like I’m asking this idea “what do you need from me?” And sometimes the idea needs a lot of rest and time and space. And so it’s honoring the needs of the idea rather than the idea’s fitting my needs. – Yumi Sakugawa

Cry. – Amy Crosby

I meditate. I exercise. Any exercise. And sleep. – Maya

I usually just go and listen to other music. Other artists. …And also, I’m just not that hard on myself at this point. I used to be really hard on myself, and now I’ll just go and write gibberish, and there’ll be something in there. It might just be a line or a word. There’ll be something in there. I feel like there’s no such thing as creative block. – Dree Mon

Honestly, as much as it makes me feel totally restless and unnerved, I just try to walk away. And I also hide everything from myself…because just looking at it is going to make me want to find a solution or an answer or come up with what I think would be the right thing to not frustrate me. So the best thing I could do is just hide and seek it with myself and just go after it when I feel like it’s better.  – Ela Mella

Puzzles. I try to only buy puzzles that I thought would look good on my wall. – Sarah Momo Romero

Drink water. It is a life path. – Kitty Lindsay

So there you have it! Let’s get over that block and get back to making art!