That overwhelming feeling of being stuck in your creative process and not being able to create anything that resonates with you is more common than you think. A lot of creatives have been in creative ruts, some longer than others, and have come out triumphantly.
We at Musta recommended 5 general ways on helping with that, but this time around, we ask some creatives the specific things they do to overcome these blocks and get their creative juices to flow again.
Mariam, Influencer
Whenever I have a creative block I simply look at other creators for inspiration and I ask my community what topics they like at the moment.
Thomas, UI/UX Designer
That’s an interesting question! When I have a creative block and it’s getting frustrating, I just get up and do something else to keep my mind off things. You cannot force creativity sadly, so you have just got to take a break. Then I guess I go for a walk, look around and see if something inspires me. On top of stimulating my creativity, it allows me to calm down and recenter myself because I need to focus and pay attention to every detail around me— the wind, leaves, cars— and then I get back home and see if I’m inspired again.
If that doesn’t work, then I will just multi-task. Like if I have a block on my painting then I’m gonna do graphic design on my laptop or play music or write something.
Onyinye ‘Dita Writes’ Odita, Writer
I do a couple of things when I get into a creative rut. I make sure to relax and take my mind off the task. Afterwards, I carry out some research and then write as though no one is reading my first draft. I call this a ‘sketch’, basically writing without the pressure of conforming to conventional grammar rules. I also declutter my creative space and get to work and be creative again.
DetailMadeIt, Producer / Recording Artist / Business Owner
To take away creative blocks whenever I’ve them, I do multiple things: I either watch a movie or a TV series or listen to an album that I really like or even just gist with my friends and then from there I just get inspirations to put down on the record.
Ella, Content Writer
My creative blocks can be as short as 30 minutes and literally as long as 3 months, there’s rarely ever an in between. What I do during those periods is read, read and read! The work I’m to get done lurks at the back of my mind so I never have the luxury of trying to get my mind off it. To find inspiration I read writers that are publishing pieces similar to what I am working on and writers whose work I just love.
Omaki ‘Cross’ Ateiza, Producer / Mix Engineer
I usually just take a long walk, I find a lot of inspiration from things I see around.
Ronald, Game Developer
Well I’m a creative when I get to my IDE (Integrated Development Environment), so to overcome any creative block I’ve at that point, I go for walks, take MDMA, use sandbox and task backlogs.
*Some names were changed for the sake of privacy