5 tips on how to overcome writers and creative block

Anyone with a creative spark knows full-well that staying motivated all the time is quite a challenging feat. Sometimes your creative juices stop flowing and you may not be up to task, be it writing, coding or designing.

“Creative block” is often considered a non-issue, since it’s all in the head. But staying inspired and clear-header is nigh impossible, especially in the modern age. The best that can be done is getting regular sparks of creative brilliance. Now THAT is definitely possible.

It’s normal for people to face periods of lackluster creativity, when there’s absolutely no desire to write or do anything that requires a creative solution. It’s important to diagnose the main trigger for this. In most cases, it’s either  perfectionism or boredom.

Why perfectionism? You may be unhappy with what you do, which may cause you to call into question every own decision. Naturally, that’s a good way to improve on quality, but also to work yourself up. Perfectionism is a real hindrance.

Whenever boredom gets thrown into the mix, it’ll lead to a steady decline in terms of results and may lead to further procrastination. (Speaking from experience here.) Every person dealing with software development, front-end and marketing will likely know what I’m talking about. If you’ve hit the proverbial wall, there are ways to get back on track.

What Writers Have To Say About Creative Block

One of the most popular writers, the master of horror Stephen King, used to claim that he never had to deal with any kind of creative block during his lengthy and prolific career. (Although, some sources claim he did have it once.) He claims to know how to tap into a permanent state of inspiration and be able to write at least 10 pages per day. King suggests that desire and will are the key for overcoming any creative block.

At the same time, other writers often prefer to spend days, weeks or even years complaining about own procrastination and lack of proper inspiration. (Writer’s block is a thing, but it’s severity is often blown out of proportion.)

If you’re a writer, staying fresh and current is kind of impossible. Current digital landscape is awash with content and information that has already been published and republished twenty times over. It’s genuinely disheartening to learn that what you’re doing has already been done. But you can put a clever spin on what you do, in most cases, it’s the only thing you can do.

Top Tips On How to Overcome Creative Block

Anyway, let’s get rid of creative block. In short there’s not much to it. When dealing with creative block, try out these suggestions. They are deviously simple, yet effective.

1. Come up with a self-imposed deadline. If you’re not under a strict time frame to deliver, make one. Nothing makes people freak like a good old deadline.
2. Take the entirety of the project you’re working on and break it up into smaller, digestible chunks. If you’re writing for a long-term project, try to come up at least few sentences or paragraphs every day. It’ll take longer to finish, but at least you’ll get some work done and won’t feel hollow about not doing anything.
3. Stand up, move a little and get your heart rate going. Sedentary lifestyles can take a lot out of a person, especially psychologically. Sometimes all it takes to break through the proverbial barrier is to move around a bit.
4. Listen to music. Workplace and studying environments tend to be filled with distractions. Music is a proven catalyst for improved concentration. Invest into a pair of great earphones and load up some of your favorite jams. I’m impartial to “Stars of the Lid” myself and I suggest looking into them.
5. Get a notebook and write down your plan for the day and for the day after it. Look, this one’s important. Having a clear plan and adding structure to your daily routine is vital part of being efficient. Adam Bennett from EssayClick puts it succinctly: “Structure is arguably the most important thing you can have. Once you have laid everything out and you begin to work, things begins to fall into place and take shape. Once you get into the flow, staying motivated is easy.”

If That Doesn’t Help…

It is said that success solely depends on personal talents and inspiration. If you’ve hit a snag, it’s probably time to reevaluate and approach things from a different angle. It is a gratifying feeling, to be excited about what you are doing, but obstacles can and will occur.

Overcoming creative block is not as difficult as it may sound at first. There are many ways of dealing with own procrastination and lack of proper inspiration, ones that I haven’t covered here. The bottom line is simple, in order to stay creative you need to enjoy what you’re doing. If that part is covered, you will always be motivated.