We’ve all been there and we’ll all be there again.
Creative block. You try to think of ideas but nothing comes to your mind. Desperately you keep trying but it just doesn’t work out and you have to give up. You’re out of ideas.
Well, I might have a solution for you.
Here are my tips to getting out of creative block.
Your brain is overwhelmed by the amount of ideas
What you have to understand that sometimes too much is actually too much. Maybe it’s time to take a break from things.
My past months are a prime example of this. I’ve had my final exams, which I have to study for, coming up in highschool and at the same time I’ve been managing my business, developing my website and posting daily on Instagram.
No wonder my brain has not been malfunctioning normally for the past weeks. It’s just too much to think about.
The way to fix this is pretty obvious. Take a break.
Maybe go for a little vacation or a little hike in the forest. If you do commercial photography work for example, it’s maybe not the best idea to bring your camera with you.
The main point with the break is to not do the thing you’re struggling with.
I haven’t touched my camera in a month and now I can’t wait to get back on the field. So I can approve this solution!
Try something different
This is kind of similar to the last tip but with a little different approach. This is also a tip I’ve been using very recently to get out of my creative block.
One day I was just sitting in Lightroom and editing my photos like I’ve always used to. I wasn’t having a good time so I just closed the program after a short while. I started watching a movie instead.
After the movie I had a spark of motivation. I wanted to try and recreate the color palette of the movie and apply it to my own photos. Something I have never done before.
I got to experiement with different settings in Lightroom and try different looks. Editing felt fun again.
And if you’ve been following my Instagram you probably have seen the movie color grades I have already done. You may have also heard that I intend to create a Lightroom preset pack with different movie color grades!
But this is just one way of doing it. You can try whatever comes to your mind as long as it’s something different to what you’re used to.
At least for me, this method works way better than the first one. It’s also much faster and often cheaper.
Just do it
This may sound weird. How can you do it if you don’t have any ideas?
Well, let me tell you.
The way most artists work is that they get inspired, then motivated and then they take action. Then the same cycle just keeps going on forever.
Time to change that.
You could also take action first, then get inspired and the motivated.
This method works for most cases, but not all of them. For example, I have noticed that this method isn’t that useful for photo editing. But it is very useful for photography itself.
You could just go outside and take a lot of photos and you might get inspired by them. This has happened to me many times already.
You can also combine it with the last tip. If you are a nature and a landscape photographer, like I am, you could go and try street photography for example.
You don’t have to have any ideas, the ideas will come as you start shooting. Trust me.
Collab with others
Sometimes it’s too hard to get out of creative block all by yourself. Thankfully there are solutions for that.
I recently got contacted to collab with couple of other photographers. The idea was simple: every photographer edits the same RAW photo in their own style.
I have never done anything like this but the moment I got contacted, I instantly took the opportunity.
Why?
Because it sparked motivation in me.
The photographer send me a photo they had taken, which meant that I had something different to edit. Kind of similar again to the doing something different part, but this time I got the idea from someone else.
Collabing with other artists allows you to brainstorm together and get a lot more ideas formed in a short period of time.
The way I look at it: other artists enhance other artists and together, only the sky is the limit.
So it can help you create better art, but also help you get out of that creative block.
Your lifestyle matters
Creative block could also occur because of your unhealthy lifestyle. Sleep, exercise and rest play a crucial role in your creativity.
Even if you’re an artist, it’s not healthy to sit in front of a computer screen the whole day for multiple days a week.
The thing that matters the most, at least for me, is exercise.
Finding some exercise that you enjoy doing can help you get out of that creative block.
One reason I’ve had creative block this winter is that the winter has been really bad and I haven’t been able to do the things I would have loved to do.
Snowmobiling, ice skating, skiing and many other things I love doing are simply not possible.
One thing I have been able to do though is going to the gym.
It has single handedly saved me from diving deeper to the creative block. Often, my best ideas are born in the gym. During or after exercise.
It gets the endorphins going and keeps the body active. It also helps with your sleep and overall lifestyle.
This, if something keeps your creativity flowing.
Just find some exercise you enjoy doing and do it consistently. It can be anything: walking, boxing, cycling, anything.
You're all set!
That’s it! Now you should be able to get out of your creative block without any problems.
Don’t worry if it doesn’t happen instantly. If you’ve been in the creative block for a while now, it may take a while to get out of it.
But we will always get over it. No matter how long it lasts.
I’ve been in creative block many times and certainly will be there many more times.
But I don’t worry because I trust these tips and I have already proven them to work.
Hope you enjoy, and I'll see you next week!
