What is a creative block?
Creativity can be simply defined as the ability to make connections between 2 or more ideas.
When you ask your brain to do something creative, it will sort through ideas like flipping
through a file cabinet for a specific piece of information. Sometimes you know what file
you’re looking for and sometimes… you’ll know it when you see it.
Why does it happen?
Creative block happens for a number of different reasons, but there are a few things you
can do to flip that light switch and start creating inspired work.
Self Doubts directly influences our creative productivity leading to creative block issue.
Getting second thoughts and feeling anxious is also not a rare thing, we come across
someone’s execution of our idea that seems better than what we produced.
How to overcome it
Understanding the nature of the problem helps a lot, that’s why I covered it first. But now
let’s get into the solving-the-problem part of this topic.
I have come up with 5 simple ideas that I hope will help you overcome your
creative block
Notebook method
As a UX UI designer, I often have a creative block when creating UI screens. I then take
a notebook, draw the low fidelity wireframes and try to make them as rough as
possible and create a flow that helps me get back on track. You can try your method
for your work as well.
Take a break
The most useful one is to take a break from what you are doing. Just stop and do
something else. Go wash your dishes, read a book, go for a bicycle ride (you may have
noticed I’m a bicycle enthusiast, sing your favorite songs. try talking nearby or maybe
hear their problems. Just do what you find more engaging.
Over Perfection
Constant chase for perfection can lead to creative block, nothing will satisfy you,
What you think is perfect today, tomorrow you might find lacking. So just start the
piece and let your creative ideas flow. Let your brain believe you are making progress
and at a certain point, you’ll start to feel inspired again.
Do some detective work
Looking at the work of others and deciphering the mistakes will get our brains doing
things outside the box. Also, look for the problems outside of work and focus on them
for a while.
Reshuffle
Try to rearrange things around you, If you return to the same workspace every day, see
what a change of scenery can do for your creative flow or Heading out to a new cafe, a
stimulating shared workspace.
I hope my article helps you to overcome creative blocks we all face those blocks
from time to time, so it’s not a reason to panic or get stressed about.
