The Secret Of Staying In A Special Creative Flow

Being in that special state of creative bliss comes once in a while to some, but what if you could harness your creative mindset, and encourage that imagination to stick around longer term. The Secret Of Staying In A Special Creative Flow, let me share my thoughts…

Creativity is like a fire: Rather than setting it aflame and bombarding it with wood (ideas and productivity in a creative’s case), you need to stoke it. Give it space to breathe and gradually when it’s ready, fuel that fire.

Burnout is very real, it can happen for various reasons. Not taking care of your health or pushing on with your workload can be big starting points for burnout. In today’s world ideas are sought after. Pressure is put on creatives to keep creating, coming up with new ideas in order to get more followers. This is unacheievable to say the least, but it’s important to acknowledge this current appetitie for knowledge. Only then can we see how unrealistic it is to keep up with the demand.

We need to slow down.

You can read about burnout in my blog post – Do You Have Burnout? How To Improve Your Mindset

Creativity comes at different times

You could be a night owl, or an early bird – you find your creativity to write, design, create is at its most powerful at specific times. This makes sense, but you need to listen to your body if you are tired for being up late, which is affecting your day to day life. Sometimes we can alter how we view things, if you say to yourself you’ll spend 30 minutes writing in the morning then this might encourage that part of your brain to create.

Creativity ebbs and flows, I get it – but we don’t need to be so rigid as to keep to the exact same times because we always have done.

For example, my friend would decide to write in bursts. Instead of writing frequently, she would freak out at the many days or weeks she hadn’t written a word, and then would spend 12 hours overnight to write. Now this sounded quite intriguing and kind of a novelty at first, because she did get a lot of work done. But as the novelty wore off (and it did, not long after), she realised that cramming in work with these bursts of energy, had affected her energy levels. Her day job, and health suffered as a consequence.

I’m not saying this to scare you, just to show that our bodies will tell us if something’s not right. And forcing your body to go through no sleep so you can write more words, just isn’t worth it.

Keep it slow and steady

The secret is to do it small, but do it often. I wrote a book while I was in the hazy stages of early motherhood. After giving birth, the last thing I wanted to do was concentrate on writing, but because I only allowed myself 10/15 minutes of writing time per day, it didn’t seem like a huge stretch.

I wrote slowly, and gradually after several months, a book was written. It does not need to be ‘all or nothing’. Take the stress out of it, and treat it as something you need to express everyday. Show it love, like a wounded animal that needs attention. Be kind to yourself. Slow down and accept – you are not a super human. You are just that..human.

Journal Your Thoughts

Depending on what your creativity is, you may find yourself gravitating towards written word. Many writer-creatives enjoy journaling, in order to get all those words out, to ‘get rid’ of the crap, to allow the ‘good’ words to flow.

I suggest to have quiet time before you intend to give time to your creative project, sit with a notebook and pen. How are you feeling? Do you feel stressed, energised, blocked, stuck..really sit with how you feel. How long have you felt this way? What are you afraid will happen? These are journal prompt suggestions only, but I recommend you let your inner voice guide you. There is no right way to do this, it is personal to you – so don’t stress about what you should or should not be doing. Quiet time to reflect is what’s important here.

Too much pressure

Are you pushing yourself to do all the things – the daily social media posts, responding to clients, creating your products, preparing for shows/boutiques/deadlines. You’re stretching yourself, but that’s what you’re meant to do right? You need to be doing everything to get somewhere?

You can’t be inspired all the time – especially when all the mundane tasks are waiting for you to complete. Being creative is full of seasons, creative energy, motivation and inspiration cannot exist constantly. Just like seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter – your energy levels are the same, not to say that they will reflect the seasons exactly – sometimes your own seasons may last longer! I was in a winter season aka self reflection, hybernation for atleast 6 months. I fought against this, and it resulted in me being frustrated and angry at my lack of productivity or creative flow. But as soon as I accepted it, I was able to go with the flow. It allowed me to be rejuvenated and when my creative season eventually came back…I grasped it with both hands.

The Creative Flow

Your creative flow may not be with you now, but it’s underneath – like the water under a thin layer of ice, waiting for the spring season to come and melt it away. It’s important that you honour this time and make the most of nourishing your soul and body. These quiet times can be just the thing to sustain you for the next season, which could be your busiest yet! You need to rest, listen, be curious, be open to inspiration. From there, the ideas can flow and your creativity will be just around the corner.

It’s a cycle. You are like nature. So like nature, allow the seasons to be. That’s The Secret Of Staying In A Special Creative Flow.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Do you struggle with being productive? Do you find that you put pressure on yourself to over-achieve?

If you enjoyed this, have a look at my previous posts such as How to begin self improvement – when you don’t think it’s for you

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