How To Avoid Creative Block: Be Your Own Designer

Drawing It Out

When starting a new project, I ask myself how I can replicate the moments when I was producing my best work. This process is the name of the game. It reminds me of my prior experience of being a collegiate athlete: you learn what works best for you, then reuse those best lessons in your future efforts, it’s pretty cool. 

Create a small plan with a few steps on how you want to tackle this project. Keep in mind that creativity differs for everyone, but here is a list of steps that help me get through when I am having a tough time with new ideas:

• Sketch anything that comes to mind on a piece of paper
• Work at the time when your mind feels most awake (for me it is at night, but for someone else, it could be first thing in the morning)
• Change up your work environment (go get some fresh air)
• Caffeine is an amazing tool
• Set deadlines for yourself 

This should all help your brain feel more relaxed, and almost always never fail to produce a high quality (and quantity) of work. 

Let’s Not Burn Out

It is totally normal to feel creative burnout, it is practically the same thing as writer’s block or anything else in life that becomes too routine. Life gets in the way sometimes, and one task turns into too, and then you want to create your next big project and you can’t seem to get “into” it. Here are some tips and things to remember that may alleviate this creative slump.

• Another thing I learned in my sports journey is that the person who is the winner is not the one who is the “best” at what they do, but the person who can stay motivated the longest. This ties into the world of design with how consistent motivation means that you are consistently creating which is the key to creating work that can “wow” others. 
• Sometimes taking a step back and learning a new creative skill can help create new ideas in the process of relaxing and taking in new information. Learn new software design or editing, play with new fonts for fun, take some photos and learn how to edit them professionally, edit a fun video, and send it to your friends. These suggestions can take your mind off the pressure of wanting to complete a new project and learn something new in the process that could even enhance the project in mind. With this, you are now opening your mind to new skills, and learning them, and your mind will more naturally flow to what should come next for the next project all at the same time and you should feel eager to incorporate your newly learned techniques with previously honed skills. This avoids slowing you down and will more than likely excite you for the next steps all at the same time.  

Change Your Mindset!

Don’t be too hard on yourself! It is important to reflect on your successes and accomplishments over the years, rather than focusing too much on the negatives that could arise in the present. Be proud of yourself, being a creative individual is a talent and ability that many wish they could have! Focusing on minor details and minor tasks constantly is the perfect recipe for burnout, so to take a step back and appreciate the hard work you’ve done, regardless if it is design-centered or not, is always necessary! 

The goal here is to realize and track small achievements over the past month or year. When you do this, your motivation will be even greater and the minor tasks in the way now will appear to be even more minor. This comes hand in hand with journaling gratitude and other small but significant mental health practices that could indefinitely help you in your creative journey.