- Getting stuck in a creative rut can halt your work and leave you feeling discouraged
- The good news is that there are ways that you can break free from your creative rut and get inspired
- We’ve gathered a list of ways that you can get your inspiration back and feel motivated to create again
If you’re a creative that depends on your creative outlet to spark inspiration for your work, chances are that you’ve hit a creative rut once or twice. There comes a point where you find yourself staring dumbly at a blank page, blinking, and wondering why you can’t seem to get anything down. It’s normal to experience ups and downs in your creative flow, and the work won’t always come as naturally as you think. Sometimes you need your creative juices to be flowing and they’re nothing more than a trickle. This can be frustrating, discouraging, and just simply inconvenient. When you find yourself spending more time staring at a white wall than actually working it’s a total waste of time and you think that you’ll never feel motivated again.
But it’s important to remember that just because you’re in a creative rut doesn’t mean that it’s hopeless. There are ways that you can break free from your creative rut and get motivated to work.
If you’re at a loss of how to break free from your creative rut and start designing again, we’re here to help!
Simple Ways To Break Free From Your Creative Rut
Get Some Inspiration
The start to getting out of your creative rut is to spark your creativity and get some inspiration to start working again. When you’re seeing the same thing every day and getting in a pattern, your brain can stop finding inspiration in the everyday surroundings. Finding something new to inspire you is, sometimes, all that’s needed to start feeling motivated again. Switch things up from your day-to-day routine and find inspiration in what you never would’ve expected.
The amazing thing about getting inspired is that inspiration is everywhere. You can get inspiration from anywhere, whether hiking trails outdoors with nature or the grocery store. If you’re not feeling like traveling for your inspiration, you can scroll the internet to find it. Pinterest is a visual social media platform that you can use to search for design inspiration to spark your creative outlet. Whether it’s a walk to clear your brain or some Pinterest scrolling, do what inspires you to tackle your next project.
Do Some Housework
This may be surprising, but sometimes checking off items on your to-do list is exactly what you need to get your momentum going again. It might come as a shock that by doing some chores around the home you’ll get out of your creative rut, but it’s true! There are two main reasons why doing a few dishes and grabbing your broom can help you out of a creative rut. The first is that when you’re doing routine tasks that you’ve done a million times before your brain will go into autopilot.
Since these tasks don’t require much of your attention or focus, it’s easier to let yourself daydream and think about other things. Secondly, you’ll get a feeling of accomplishment for completing your tasks. Similar to the five-minute idea, where you set a timer and get started with a task that you’ve been dreading, you’ll get the motivation to go on. Sometimes a few feelings of accomplishment are all you need to keep going with other jobs.
Learn Something
Sometimes all you need to start feeling creative again is to learn something new and explore a little. Usually, creative ruts are caused by feeling bored or, as the name implies, getting stuck in a rut with your routine. At this time, you need something that changes up the normal routine and gets your brain sparked. Sometimes exploring something new that doesn’t have anything to do with work is what you need.
Google a few new things on a topic you’ve been interested in or watch a few Youtube videos, you never know what could help you out of your rut. Regardless of how you do it, learn something new and stretch yourself while you take on challenging projects will help you think further and learn more.
Take A Break
This may be discouraging, but sometimes taking a break and letting your brain reset is what you need to start feeling motivated again. When we start putting too much on our plate without stopping and working too hard, sometimes we need a break. The start of getting out of your creative rut is realizing that something’s wrong with what you’re currently doing. You have to realize that what you’re currently doing isn’t effective so that you know how to switch it up.
The Solution?
Once you understand that something’s wrong with what you’re doing at the moment, you can know what you have to do to fix it. For some people, taking a break is all that they need. Sometimes you need a week-long vacation while other times you just need to take breaks when your body feels like it. If you’re feeling like you need to relax and take a nap during the afternoon, take one. Let your body refuel when it needs it and you may find that you’re feeling more motivated going forward.
