What do you do when the well runs dry?<\/p>\n
I mean the creativity spring, the idea river, the fountain of wit\u2026<\/p>\n
Maybe you are one of the few lucky ones and this never happens to you (liar!).<\/p>\n
Fortunately, this doesn\u2019t happen too often to me\u2026but it does happen.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s often when I am physically tired or mentally pre-occupied (usually with kids, home, etc.).<\/p>\n
I know it will pass, after all, it always does.<\/p>\n
But even though I know it\u2019s temporary, when it does happen, I seem to lose sight of this right away and I go right to\u2026I WILL NEVER HAVE ANOTHER CREATIVE IDEA AS LONG AS I LIVE.<\/p>\n
And naturally this makes me panic, and of course this panic blocks my creativity even more and so on, and so on\u2026<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s a girl (of guy) to do?<\/p>\n
Well once you climb down from the ledge, you might want to try one of these tips\u2026none of them are ground-breaking, but maybe they are worth remembering. And of course, what I really loved to hear is your ideas.<\/p>\n
\nTop 5 Creativity \u201cRut-Busters\u201d<\/p>\n
1. Give up and Walk Away<\/p>\n
2. Watch a Mindless Movie<\/p>\n
3. Go to Sleep (or at least take a nap)<\/p>\n
4. Shop Til You Drop<\/p>\n
5. Get Down on the Carpet with a Kid<\/p>\n
1. Give Up and Walk Away<\/p>\n
The more I try and force ideas to come. The less they appear. So often I just have to say \u201cenough. I\u2019m done\u201d. I\u2019m stopping for the day, the hour, whatever time I need. I have to really believe this, not just do it to psyche myself out. I have to also say \u201cIt\u2019s okay, the ideas will come when they are ready, and they will come in time to meet my deadline (and be good). They always have in the past and they will this time too.\u201d This mantra. This \u201cgiving up\u201d is often the most productive thing I can do to move forward. I think sometimes our minds just need a break, and they tell us.<\/p>\n
2. Watch a Mindless Movie<\/p>\n
I like deep, meaningful, message movies (I studied them in College in fact) but when I\u2019m creatively clogged the best thing for me is a mindless flick. Often something that will allow me to engage my emotions (laughing, crying) and specifically to turn off the more analytical part of my brain. The emotional release and the relaxation this provides often end up leaving me feeling refreshed, and often full of new ideas. Some of my favorites Parenthood with Steve Martin, Bridget Jones Diary, almost anything with Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada, Princess Diaries\u2026definitely NOT Rachel at the Wedding), or anything guaranteed to make me cry (Brian\u2019s Song, Terms of Endearment, etc.)<\/p>\n
3. Go to Sleep (or at least take a Nap)<\/p>\n
I was never one of those caffeine or “no-doze”\u00a0pills\u00a0studiers in college. I remember once I took some pills to help me stay up and I was so wired and jumpy the next day I couldn\u2019t concentrate on the subject matter and did much worse than if I had just gotten a good night sleep and truly randomly\u00a0 guessed at the multiple choice answers. I\u2019d rather go to bed and wake up really really early to work on something. Funnily enough, often I will dream about the solution (always keep a pen and paper by the bed).\u00a0 A power nap can often have the same effect.<\/p>\n
4. Shop Til You Drop<\/p>\n
On line or in the mall, there is something about shopping that always makes me feel productive, and gets me inspired. Maybe it\u2019s seeing all the different possibilities \u2013 the colors, cuts, and styles. Maybe it\u2019s the people watching in the stores or the random offers that are served up by Google but shopping for me is about promise and possibility. Two things that get the creative juices flowing.<\/p>\n
5. Get Down on the Carpet with a Kid<\/p>\n
The getting down on the ground is an important part of this. It changes your perspective and some of the most relaxed moments I have are shooting the breeze with my son. Surrounded by Pokemon cards, Lego’s, or whatever he is collecting at the moment I literally enter a different world. And when I talk through the challenge I am stuck on with him he often comes up with some really great ideas.<\/p>\n
Those are my top 5 \u201crut-busters\u201d. Chocolate would definitely make it to number 6.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my point of view. What\u2019s your twist?<\/p>\n
How do you bust out of your creative ruts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What do you do when the well runs dry? I mean the creativity spring, the idea river, the fountain of wit\u2026 Maybe you are one of the few lucky ones and this never happens to you (liar!). Fortunately, this doesn\u2019t happen too often to me\u2026but it does happen. And it\u2019s often when I am physically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,38,37,107,96],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2362","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-creativity","7":"category-generating-ideas","8":"category-inspiration","9":"category-overcoming-obstacles","10":"category-problem-solving"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16513,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362\/revisions\/16513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}