"Life is a fight for territory and once you stop fighting for what you want, what you don't want will automatically take over." - Les Brown
Have you ever heard the expression? "If you want a task done, give it to the busiest person you know." That often rings very true, especially in a team environment and project collaboration. Still, occasionally it's not from a lack of motivation or skillset, and it just comes down to a creative block that you need to work through to get things flowing again.
We all have those days when you sit down and are ready to work, and there is nothing there. The ideas you come up with are uninspired, and it feels like it takes hours just to move an inch of progress. Below are three ways to help you get over that creative hump and get back in the zone where things flow, and you're back to kickin' a$$.
1.) READ
I've always been an avid reader, but I turned it up a notch and started reading one book a week about eight months ago. For the most part, I've been able to stick to that schedule, and now when I'm stuck creatively, I've noticed that I'm a lot sharper mentally and able to push past those mental blocks quicker. I know a lot of that is due to exercising my mind regularly by reading. If you're trying to elevate to the next level and change your life, the world's wisdom is sitting in books; how can you not leverage the benefits of reading.
2.) EXERCISE
Everyone knows the health benefits of exercise, but it also dramatically benefits creativity. You can research plenty of scientific studies and dive more in-depth, but if you want to consistently be in an elevated state of flow with your creative projects, make exercise a part of your daily creative routine. When you are stuck, try to get those endorphins going and time your workout routine around your creative work schedule. I do this all the time, and it works.
One example is when I wrote one of my feature screenplays (I use this example because It is very tough to make it to the end once started, esp with revisions), I would always go to the gym during my morning session when I felt tense and stuck. When I would revisit the idea after some physical activity, I was able to make progress with ease. The more you can make it a habit, like an everyday workflow, the better the results.
3.) SYSTEMS - SCHEDULES - DEADLINES
O.K., I'll just keep it 100 with this one. Unless you command a daily premium like Annie Leibovitz or have wealthy parents, you'll have to hustle like the rest of us creatives from project to project (make some money, reinvest, level up, repeat). We don't have the luxury of coasting on a wave with no connection to reality, only putting in work when you feel like it. The starving artist mentality is for lames. You can't ever rush the process and skip steps, but you can create an environment where your creativity can thrive within the structure of a schedule and deadlines.
Elite athletes with goals divide their training time into different cycles. Microcycle, mesocycle, and macrocycle. The microcycle is up to 7 days, and the mesocycle is usually a month. The macrocycle refers to the overall training period, usually the entire year. Within each cycle, specific programs are created that build on each other for progress. Just for context, think about Olympic athletes. They plan multiple programs within a 4-year vision in hopes of peaking at the right time when the Olympics roll around. Talk about discipline and focus, just for a shot of greatness.
Creativity isn't as linear as this, but the takeaways are the structure and daily game plans for what needs to be done. With a system that works for you, you put yourself in a great position to work through ideas and be creative even when it's a struggle. Whether it's trying to meet a deadline on a project or figuring out the next move for your business, set yourself up for success and create a system of processes that bring out the best in you.
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Have a great week, and stay sucka-free ❤️