6 unconventional ways to break out of your creative block
Image credit: Steve Johnson
Have you heard? I’m embracing creative chaos this year. It’s a self-prescribed antidote to my niggling, crippling perfectionism and I’m invoking chaos to break free.
Can you relate? If your go-to creative tricks aren’t helping break that creative block, perhaps you’d like to toy around with one of the 6 chaotic methods I’ve been trying. They’re unconventional, but sometimes unconventional is just what the brief needs!
1.Do a jigsaw puzzle
Think this is a bit of a dull start, eh? I kid you not, pal — this really works. When I hit a slump and can’t noodle the idea out, I take myself away from my desk and spend time sitting in my garden room, pouring over a puzzle. Doesn’t even have to be a traditional jigsaw puzzle, either. A Rubik’s Cube or a Lego set could also unlock that stagnant creative problem-solving area of your brain. Give your brain a different creative puzzle to solve and see what happens!
2. Wreck This Journal
My partner bought me a copy of Wreck This Journal for Christmas and it’s done wonders to kill my perfectionism. Author Keri Smith gives a series of creative prompts that lead to the ultimate distruction of the book through various creative means. You’ll be asked to drop your book from a great height, eat its pages, collect letters, words, or stickers, and smudge, drip, or smear various substances onto the pages, giving you a variety of slow-burn and immediate ways to be creative.
3. Make a creative playlist for your job or project
Struggling to channel the right vibe? Babe, I got you. Spend time curating a playlist to help you slip into character. It’ll give you a new creative way to view the project as you analyse and select tracks for it. Sure, you’re spending time away from the task itself at the moment, but it can help you tap into the vibe faster later on.
4. Get arty
Copywriter Eddie Shleyner has written about this tactic several times in his newsletter and it’s also something I like to do when I get stuck. I engage a different part of my creative brain by making collage art for my Filofax or my junk journal. The act of searching for images, deconstructing them, and reassembling them into something new helps break me out of my stuck mode of thinking and, more often than not, helps me find my flow again.
5. Burn it DOWN!
Frustrated that the words won’t come? It’s time to let that rage out, baby. Get a clean sheet of paper, your favourite pen, and set a timer for five minutes (ten, if you need it!) and freewrite all over that thing. Just get all the rage out onto the page — vent about what’s bothering you. Extract it from your mind and make it real on the page.
When you’re finished, find a fire-safe location and burn that sheet of writing into ashes. Not only is it a super cleansing way to get your rage out, but the act of freewriting might help you smash that block. Also, it’s fun to burn things 😊
6. Chores
I’m sorry to say it, but chores can unlock the creative brain. Something about busywork just seems to be the secret gateway to fab ideas. Pull some weeds, wash the dishes, clean the bathroom — as long as you’re away from your desk and keeping your hands busy, your brain will work its magic!
Need more help getting over your creative block? No problem — book an hour with me and let’s noodle this thing out together. I’m fantastically good at breaking things ✌🏻
