When you’re a creative person, your entire life revolves around creativity. THIS IS AWESOME — but it can also be challenging. Why? Because creativity is elusive. It’s a daily struggle. We want to do our best and be super productive, but that doesn’t always happen. In fact, creatives often have “off” days. Then we start to panic, because WHAT IF WE’VE LOST OUR TOUCH?? WHAT IF WE NEVER MAKE ANYTHING GOOD EVER AGAIN???
Don’t worry — YOU’RE NOT ALONE. And you haven’t lost your touch. You’re just having an “off” day! BUT HOW CAN WE STOP THESE “OFF” DAYS FROM HAPPENING?? I actually don’t know.* But I do know how we can minimize the damage by doing things EVERY DAY that boosts our creativity and keeps us feeling fresh and focused!!
Over the past few months, I’ve changed a few tiny things about the way I spend each day and… LET’S JUST SAY IT HAS HUGELY IMPROVED MY QUALITY OF LIFE. So today I’m sharing with you 5 healthy habits that I believe EVERY creative should adopt if you’re sick of feeling stressed, tired, and unfocused. These are small but effective things I’ve changed about my own life and BRO IT HAS BEEN WORTH IT. 10/10 recommend everything I’m about to tell you. LET’S GO.
*surprise: I DON’T HAVE THE ANSWERS TO ALL THE UNIVERSE’S QUESTIONS. SHOCKING, I KNOW.
1. GET PLENTY OF SLEEP
I know, this seems like a no-brainer. But speaking of your brain, IT’S YOUR POWERHOUSE. Think about all the creative stuff you do every day — could you do ANY of it without your brain???** NOPE. And sleep is a super important thing for your brain health. In fact, studies show that a lack of sleep can lead to cognitive decline, memory loss, and maybe even Alzheimer’s. Not to mention, many creative people have discovered a direct connection between sleep and creativity.
BUT DON’T TAKE THEIR WORD FOR IT: take mine!! For the past month or two, I haven’t set an alarm clock. THIS IS A BIG DEAL FOR ME, because I used to be that obnoxious person who is always out of bed earlier than she has to be, just because she CAN be. But I stopped doing that. I decided to just let myself wake up naturally. And guess what happened? My creativity and energy soared.
I realize that a lot of people need to be at school or work at a certain time SO YES ALARM CLOCKS CAN BE HELPFUL. But are they necessary? When you don’t set an alarm clock, how much sleep do you get? I discovered that my body naturally takes 8 hours. LITERALLY IT’S ALWAYS 8 HOURS. I believe that everyone’s body has a built-in alarm clock when it comes to sleep. When you discover how much time you need, you can figure out how early you should get to bed. PLEASE DON’T DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF SLEEP. It’s so important.
**narrator: welcome to Super Science With Abbiee where we explore stupidly obvious facts like how you can’t think without a brain!! *audience cheers*
2. PUT CREATIVITY FIRST
Recently, I’ve been working a job that I don’t really like. It doesn’t involve much creativity, the going is slow, and I generally find it lowkey boring. BUT THAT’S HOW A LOT OF JOBS ARE, RIGHT?? In my culture, we have this general attitude about work: get the hard stuff over with first, then chill, then go to bed, then wake up the next morning and do it all over again. BUT I’VE TRIED THAT AND I DON’T LIKE IT. How inspiring is it to wake up in the morning and think “ugh, I have to do that thing I hate again…” < NOT INSPIRING AT ALL, RODNEY.
So I asked myself this question: how can I start my day better? Naturally, the answer “do something you love” came to mind. GREAT IDEA, ABBIEE. DO SOMETHING YOU LOVE. But that doesn’t include scrolling through Pinterest. No, I’m talking about doing something CREATIVE. Whether it’s some music practice, video editing, or a writing sprint — I’ve found a HUGE improvement in my mood and energy when I take just 30 minutes before breakfast to do something creative and fun. Sure, I still have to work on That Boring Thing™ later…but it’s not the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning.
Again, this depends on your job. I work from home, which means I can move my schedule around a bit more than someone with a day job. But YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE TIME. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier and take a little bit of time in the morning to do something you’ll actually look forward to. This is also super helpful if you feel too burnt out to be creative AFTER work. At the end of the day, you’re drained — I get it. SO BE CREATIVE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. See how it works. Experiment!
3. SCHEDULE DISTRACTIONS
We can all relate to that “I’m supposed to be doing ____, but instead I’m looking at cat gifs” joke. Why? Because OUR MINDS WANDER. People with imagination get distracted — VERY EASILY. This doesn’t mean you have a disorder. But it might mean that you get less done, or you annoy your boss/teachers. There are times when we NEED to focus on the task at hand. But in my experience, it’s mentally taxing to stay glued to one project for a long time — especially when your creative mind is shoved aside.
If I’m working on something boring and logical, I’M GOING TO NEED A BREAK. In fact, I’m going to need frequent breaks. For me and other creative people, a left-brain job can feel a lot like holding your breath. And for people who use their right-brain a lot, this can be mentally and emotionally exhausting. BUT YOU CAN’T JUST QUIT WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE IT, RIGHT?? Yes and no. It depends on your situation, but you can usually take a certain amount of breaks during the day. And that’s exactly what I prescribe: take little breaks and let yourself “get distracted.” No, I don’t mean look at cat gifs.
INSTEAD, BREATHE. Let your mind escape the slog for a few minutes. Eat some nourishing food, drink water, stretch, put on some hand cream, maybe even squeeze in a quick creative project. Edit a photo, sing a song, write down a thought process in your journal. Time yourself so it doesn’t get out of hand. Then, when your timer rings (or when your boss starts yelling) you can get back to work! NO HARM DONE. It helps. I promise.
4. AIRPLANE MODE AFTER 8:00 PM
THAT’S RIGHT, HONEY. Internet is, more often than not, a waste of time. There’s usually nothing going on that can’t wait until tomorrow. “But Abbie,” you say, “this is our chill time!! LET US CHILL.” NO. CHILL BY DOING SOMETHING ELSE. For the past three months, I’ve signed off the internet after dinner (which is usually 8pm in my house lol we’re like Downton Abbey) and IT HAS IMPROVED MY QUALITY OF LIFE X100000. Instead of looking at my Instagram feed, I take a shower, stretch, read a book, and hang out with my family. IT’S SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE INTERNET.
You know those things that you wish you could do if you “had more free time”? DO THEM. AT NIGHT. Shut off your internet. Read every night until you get through your bookshelf. Draw every night until you become a better artist. Stretch every night until you gain flexibility. IT’S SO WORTH IT. In fact, if you do nothing else on this list, DO THIS ONE THING.
5. STICK TO A NIGHTLY ROUTINE
Or a morning routine!! WHATEVER FLOATS UR BOAT. I can’t do morning routines because I suffer from adrenaline spikes first thing in the morning. I get out of bed and I’m like 100% battery explOSIVE BOOM YEAH LET’S CONQUER THE WORLD ASDFGHJKL!!!!! But maybe you like slow mornings in which case a morning routine could be helpful. For me, a nightly routine is ESSENTIAL.
As I said above, I shut off my internet at 8:00 pm. When I sit down to dinner with my family, I’m done with work — even if I’m not done. I take a shower and listen to music, then stretch for about an hour while reading/listening to a book. For the rest of the night I spend time with my family — because that’s the most important thing to me. IT FEELS SO GOOD to have a routine. It’s like a promise you make to take care of yourself. And, in the process, you’ll find that you have more creativity and a clearer mind to focus on the things that matter.
TALK, BRO
What do you think, my friend?? Do you have any habits that boost your creativity and help you stay focused? DO SHARE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW! Do you sign off the internet at a certain time? Morning routine or nightly routine? How much sleep do you like to get? WHAT INSPIRES YOU???
rock on,
abbiee
