Refueling Your Creative Void

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When you're a creator, entrepreneur, marketer, or even a CEO, it can be hard to know when to take a break. You might feel like your creative juices are flowing and that taking time away will cause them to dry up. But the opposite is true – creativity needs time for new ideas to form and grow. It's essential to refuel your creative void now and not lose yourself in the hamster work mode.?

Here are practical ways you can refuel your creative void without expensive vacations:

I don’t know about you, but in my 20’s I had a TERRIBLE habit of waiting to eat, holding a bathroom break, or even working until my eyes hurt because I was afraid to lose my creative flow.

We often think that if we step away, the creative mojo leaves us. But that is FAR from the truth. We need to give our brains time to reset and rest — especially when we struggle to create.

This statement may shock you, but it’s often true: the worse thing we can do is seek inspiration from those we admire when doubting our abilities or feeling drained.

The moment we start to compare ourselves to others, we dig ourselves deeper into a creative void. Instead, make a list of what you are good at and all you have accomplished. You’ll be surprised how that reflection can help you refuel your confidence.

Just doing things without purpose is like traveling to a new country without GPS or knowing the language.

Write a list of your goals, verify if these help you reach your business goals, and then break it down into actionable tasks. Do this away from the computer in a quiet and peaceful place that allows you to reflect.

Creatives come from a vast sea of experiences. When we feel stuck, we tend to stick to our comfort level of what we know and like. But sometimes, when we break our brains away from the norm and seek inspiration in new places, we may find a new way to refuel our creative void.

Try going for a hike and looking at the vast colors in nature. Go doodle in the sand. Write your favorite quote using rocks. Simply put, try something out of your ordinary. Your best ideas may come when you aren’t forcing yourself to be creative.

We’ve become increasingly dependent on convenient digital tools and technology. Studies show that our extreme dependence on technology causes stress, anxiety, affects our social interaction, and can even create behavioral problems. Social media alone has a deep impact on vanity metrics and how people can obsess over them. Try having one technology-free day — you’ll be surprised how refreshing that will be.

To fuel your creative void, you need to step away from the daily grind. You have to remove doubt and clarify what it is that inspires you. Seek inspiration in new places and disconnect from technology so you can reconnect with yourself. If this sounds like a lot of work or if these are all areas where you could use some help, take my LinkedIn Learning course on Brand Strategy: Define Your Creative Edge! I will show you how to define your creative edge and get back into alignment with who YOU are — so that when people think about YOUR business they also think about YOU too!