If you are looking for ways to break from your creative block and practice habits to keep your creative spark flowing, this article is made for you. Keep reading!
It’s common for artists to find themselves in a creative rut. That’s just how it is. It happens once in a while and sometimes, you just have to sit it out and go with the flow to get back to having inspirations and go back to creating again. However, sometimes, you just become restless in your rut and you want to find the motivation and the inspiration to go back and be creative again.
Here are some habits you can try and practice to keep your creative spark flowing. (I’ve been practicing them myself.)
10 Habits To Keep Your Creative Spark Flowing
Develop a Journaling Habit
Journaling is a therapeutic activity you can do to release any thoughts – wanted or otherwise. When you find yourself uninspired, journaling is a great way to get in touch with your inner thoughts and your emotions. By writing down in your journal or by simply curating things in it, you can unleash the creativity within you that you didn’t even know you have.
Getting into the habit of journaling, you can fill your notebooks with creative outbursts that can help you in the future when you need inspiration.
Read: 60+ Bullet Journal Writing Prompts For You To Try
Read A Book, Watch Films, Listen to Music
Think about what and who inspires you as an artist. This can be a book, a person (alive or dead), or a feeling. As an artist, I personally connect to a feeling. I like to paint while listening to music and just go on with how the message of the melody and lyrics makes me feel as I move my paintbrush.
If you look up to someone, an artist, an influencer, a singer, or an actor may be, spend some time watching videos of them. Watch their films or documentaries or television guestings to be inspired by them.
Maybe you are more of a reader and you enjoy a good story. Spend time to read a book or two and you can get insights from them to motivate and inspire you on your next creation.
Do Something Outside Of Your Comfort Zone
This can be an activity as simple as doing something that’s not included in your daily routine, or it can be bigger than that depending on where your comfort zone lies. This is usually easier said than done, but when you make a move towards facing your fears, you’ll realize that you’re stronger than you ever expected yourself to be. The experiences you garner from this give you more inspiration and spark up your creativity.
Here are some things you can do that can be out of your comfort zone:
- Dine-in a restaurant by yourself.
- See a movie in the theaters by yourself.
- Try a new recipe.
- Drive in a different route to work.
- Volunteer for a cause.
- Take a solo trip.
Practicing Mindful Meditation
Meditation is the act of deep thinking and focusing one’s mind for a certain period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting. By practicing meditation, you also practice thoughtful breathing that can help you ease and clear your mind. It can help you calm down by taking your mind off the things that distract you and it lets you process through the emotions you are currently feeling.
Most artists work in isolation to produce their greatest creation, but this may not be the most practical thing to do. So that’s where meditation comes in. You can ground yourself through mindful meditation and this can help you get through any rut you are going through.
Go For a Walk (Without Your Phone) And Let Your Mind Wander
Leave your phone, go outside, and start wandering around just to clear your thoughts. You can think about the things you have on your mind, or you can let your thoughts wander. Taking walks can do wonders. If you feel restless and stuck, taking a short break and having a change of scenery can be what your mind needs.
Grab a Coffee With a Friend and See What Interesting Topics Come Up
When you crave a change of scenery, calling a friend and spending an afternoon with them can do great things for your slump. Inspirations often come when we’re relaxed. Have a coffee date with your favorite people and engage in interesting conversations with them. Everybody has different perspectives and wonderful interactions with a company you enjoy can give you a fresh perspective of seeing things in a new light.
Use a Voice Note and Just Start Chatting With Yourself
When you find yourself in a slump, take a break. Don’t push yourself over your limit and don’t always expect perfection from yourself.
We often compare ourselves to other people but we fail to realize that we only see their finished product and not their process and journey. We assume wrongly how easy it was for them to get to that level, not even considering the pain, sweat, and tears that came with it behind the scenes.
For another item in this Habits To Keep Your Creative Spark Flowing list, make use of your phone recording app and just start talking to yourself as if you’re in conversation with a friend. See what ideas come out of your mind and just mindlessly speak out your thoughts. What have you been up to lately? What’s the current book you’re reading? What things have been bothering you?
This is another way to brainstorm and I find this really cathartic.
Write Just About Anything
Even if you think that you are not good at writing, just start. You don’t have to be good at it, you just have to actually start and you’ll be surprised how your ideas will flow from there. You can write a short story, a poem, prose, a journal entry, a letter to someone you like or despise, or anything really. Write down your to-do list, write down a brain dump, write down certain quotes you’ve just thought up right this minute. Writing things out from your mind will help you declutter your thoughts and organize them on paper. It can help unload your mental debts to make room for new creative ideas.
Take a Social Media Break
This advice can be something that you’ve already heard before, but it’s popular for a reason. Our lives have been swept by technology and if you haven’t noticed yet, we have been consumed by our digital phones already. We shout our thoughts on Twitter, we show off new things and experiences on Instagram, we make friends on chat applications, we look for possible partners on dating apps, we manage our finances online, and even network through LinkedIn and Facebook. We spend half of our day or even more scrolling through our phones, keeping an eye on new updates on our various social media apps.
Sometimes, taking a break from social media or from our phones, in general, can tremendously help us keep our mental health healthy. You can do this for a few hours every day or maybe one to two days a week. You’ll find it very refreshing to just concentrate on reality and not have the pressure to constantly update your life online.
Connect with Other Artists
Another habit you can develop to keep your creative juice flowing is by connecting to other artists. Join a group of artists in your field or area of discipline. Create a group chat, join a Facebook group, or follow fellow artists on Instagram so you can connect and talk to them. You can ask for their thoughts about your art and you can tell them what you think about theirs in return. Receiving and giving critiques can help you because you’ll learn new perspectives from different eyes looking at your creations and this will help you grow as an artist.
And those are the habits to keep your creative spark you can do. We hope these tips can help you find the inspiration and motivation you need to keep your creativity sparking as it did with us.
If you have anything else to add, send us a comment!
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