LOSING CREATIVITY - How to gain your spark back on track!

As a creative person myself, sometimes getting the famous creative block really gets me upset or worse - abandoned. It is a myth that us, designers are made to subsequently provide innovation or creativity on the spot (like a click of a button, to be exact) whenever a brief comes in. However, it is not always the case. Whether something is personally bothering us or we are just drained from overworking our brains, the creative block is real and unfortunate but it CAN be temporary. 

In this article, I will cover up mainly on a designer point of view — but I believe most of the ideas I have pin-pointed CAN be applied for any creative person (whether your work involves being creative and innovative, this is for you!). These are ten inspiring points, I personally found working for me, and hope it can help anyone out there with the same issues!

1. Don’t drown yourself at the bottom.

Yes, I know it can feel like the end of the world when you feel like you cannot come up with a proper idea for whatever you are working on. And sometimes, people who take creative blocks on a serious level, can feel bummed or worse — numb. I have experienced these kinds of feelings when I was working on a major company’s birthday campaign. It was a big campaign they were launching and the worse moment to get a creative block. And to feel trusted enough when you cannot process a perfect idea can be disturbing. 

The major thing that has put me back into my place, was the correct way of thinking — about everything, whether it’s yourself or the actual work that needed to be done. I made sure to carve it up nice and clean in my mind that the people behind that campaign chose me for not only good reasons, but valid ones. The creativity will come up eventually, but there are some other things that needed to be done.

Sometimes, you need to force yourself to understand that a creative block is just a temporary bug in the brain. It is fixable —not easy but IT IS. If your willingness bestows your ability to be creative then, you have the right way of thinking. It is better to feel confident about yourself and if not, remember all the creative past works you have worked on — have a look at your portfolio, your website or whatever that needs to remind yourself that indeed, you are good enough. And things will work out.

2. Communication and Brainstorming sessions.

Since my first job to my current one, I have learned that a good brainstorming session among your teammates (or just you and your superior/boss) is more than just basic essential. I remember in my first job, we would do weekly brainstorming sessions (and made sure to stick to it!) among the team to discuss about our current projects and new ones.

Communication among your team IS important: you do get ideas. Talking and sharing amongst other creative people are sometimes just what you need to get the brain to function again. Because you might not know whether you’re on the right creative track or not.

During a brainstorming session there might be some ideas which are not proper ones BUT they can be altered —and this is when your brain comes in the game. Supposed you were suffering from a creative block at that very moment and were having a discussion with your team —what are their ideas compared to yours? What are the ideas you would get from them? And mostly importantly — what would you do to alter them?

In my current job, I was trained to brainstorm only with my boss — and from the years of experienced he had ahead of me, it is indeed worth it. The things I learn are immense. Sometimes, you get presented an idea already from a teammate or your boss when you’re working on something. But the trick to it is to add your twist to the idea. Your touch. And this is what will make it up to your creativity. 

3. Take a moment for yourself.

This might seem basic, but eventually it works. When I get creative blocks, I tend to shut down. Whether, it’s a digital detox or a creative detox, getting away from everything is an option to give your brain some time to reboot and re-think.

Yes, RE-THINK — rethink yourself, your work, your state of mind. I took some time to understand that a creative block is something that plays mostly upon your psychological state of mind. And the best way to jog up your psychological state of mind is to take a moment for yourself to do what you love and be with people who inspire and empower you. 

Run away! But make sure to come back. Discover new things, step out of this comfort zone that you’ve cozied in. Just breathe and re-think everything.

4. Observe (Part I)

When I say part I, I really do mean outside of your workstation. What I can tell you is that your eyes are definitely the first tool to use when it comes to finding inspiration. In my experience, when I feel uninspired, I like to take some time to really observe, analyze and scrutinize anything. Whether it’s other people’s works, things around you or your own creations — you’ll always have a say at things.

Take a look at your own past works, for example, and ask yourself if you can do anything to improve or alter them in any kind of way. Or even other people’s works. Or anything around you that you may find interesting enough to ponder about. What would you do to live in a perfect world? How can you alter your current state of mind? 

If you take a walk outside of whatever is making you feel like you lost your creative power, take a moment to really observe as deep as you can — in a creative mindset. Look at (on a designer’s point of view, here) any designs around you — it can be posters, billboards or websites (whatever it is) and what are your thoughts about them? I bet you’d have a lot to say. If you can develop your own critical skills through observation, then you are closer to getting rid of that creative block! 

5. Observe (Part II)

Now, we’re talking about everything work-related. But before I jump on that, I’d like to talk about type of learners. If you are anything like me, I am a visual or kinesthetic (hands-on) learner, i.e, I tend to learn creatively through observing other people or right on the spot. 

From March to this June, I have had the chance to really augment my design skills from a lower level to a really skillful one. Well, I’m nowhere near perfect. But the improvement I made when I watch my past works and my present ones are incomparable. And through this transition, I mostly improved through observing my boss working. Just plain observation. How he manages adobe tools quickly, how to get on the spot creativity or how to really fine-tune and artwork. 

I felt like everything fit right into place when I used what I learned from observing my boss or other teammates or even online tutorials. Because then, like I mentioned earlier in the article, you can use knowledge provided by someone more experienced than you, but it is always your choice to alter things and make your skills your own. 

6. Watch tutorials.

Do I even have a say at this? The idea is pretty clear. And online is where you can find endless tutorials to improve your skills —about anything! Now if you don’t know what you want to watch, it’s still fine, the creative block hits. But think for a moment, is there anything that you always wondered? Any skills in particular that you wanted to know more about? I’m sure there should be! And if you watch tutorials to explore your knowledge, I bet you might be getting somewhere!

7. Create anything for yourself. Even if it doesn’t make sense.

Yes, I do mean it. Take a blank canvas, for example. What would you paint on it? What are the colors you would use? And if you know what you’re doing.. how can you make things even bigger and more spectacular? Grab a plain page and write, or draw —whatever that you want to create for yourself. What’s inside your mind?

I like to write in my free time, or paint. Even if sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me, somehow my brain manages to get more and more ideas as I create. There’s this particular kind of work that you deliver when you create something for yourself and when you create something for another person/company. Compare it. Because when you create for yourself it is another kind of feeling that you use to create your work —that’s right, passion right here! 

Train your brain to create. Just create anything, to be honest. You’ll get this satisfying feeling at the end.

8. Research until you cannot take it anymore.

Surf the web. Read a book/magazine. Look at everything that might help you make it to the next creative step. But do it constantly, until you cannot bear to see things. Something will eventually come up when you take a break to reflect onto what’s next.

9. Sleep.

Sleeping is just so essential for a creative person. I know it is legendary to lose sleep over something we are plain worried about or fear. But no! That should not be the case. 

There’s this french saying, “La nuit porte conseil” which translates to “The night knows better”. And it really does happen when you have a good sleep. Whether it is power-napping or a full good night of sleep, it does help. Because you might dream of something creative and inspiring. Or it’s just that your creative brain need a moment to rest and feel better the next day/moment. 

Personally, it did happen a tons of time to me. Take the Art & Design coursework I painted during my high school days —its back story is just something epic to me. Because at that time I had so much in mind that I wanted to create, that I couldn’t find the proper creative balance to really deliver THE masterpiece. But eventually, it did happen, and all in a dream. Yes, I dreamt about my painting —and the rest is history.

10. Listen to some inspiring music.

Yes sometimes music is the only solution. If you’re anything like me, I live for music. And my music is so much important to me when I work. It is like, a necessity. And I find myself more pro-active whenever I’m working and blasting up the beats at the same time. 

Take today for example. I had this huge social media planning’s Facebook posts to create (like two months worth of Facebook posts). For me, I work faster when I listen to music, and I finished everything within less than two hours.

Sometimes it all depends on the music you’re listening to. What is your kind of music that makes you feel at the to of the world? And what music do you listen to when you are working? If you zone out for a moment when you are working and listening to your music, it is a sign of deep concentration. I know, because I do. Sometimes, music can bring out the best in you. And you may find some inspiring words from lyrics or inspiring visuals through beats. Does music take you to another place? What does this place looks like? Can you find something worth looking for in this place?

And here you go, the ten inspiring points that gets me out of my creative block. I know it is not easy to deliver on the spot creativity, but if you can fight against your obstacles, then you can do anything in this life!