The desire to have a continuous downpour of creative passion at all times is one of the expectations we put on ourselves as “creatives”. There are days when ALL WE CAN EAT BREATHE SLEEP REPEAT is CREATE CREATE CREATE. And then there are the other days; The days when our routine seems monotonous because something like The Coronavirus has pushed us into a soul-crushing corner of blandness.
Sometimes life is more difficult than usual and we need a little extra push to get out of our creative rut. Here are four simple things you can do to refuel your inspiration and motivation when most of the outdoor world is hardly an option. #ThanksCorona
MAKE A SCHEDULE AND ACTUALLY STICK TO IT
There’s something about sitting down and mapping out a schedule on a piece of paper that causes you to be 50% more ready to get out of bed the next morning. It’s important to be extremely specific with your times where you can be. For example, if you usually wake up at 10 A.M., write down, “Wake up at 10, Get out of bed at 10:30”. Being specific with your times will come with practice, trial, and error. I only know it takes me an hour between prepping to roller skate, actually roller skating, and winding down from roller skating because I’ve tracked it a few times. Now my schedule is as realistic as possible. Map out your first attempt at a written schedule the night before then change the times around until it becomes something you can actually stick to. Your schedule may change based on the day or your mood. Make sure to place it in a place you will see it first thing in the morning.
Mine looks something like this:
-Wake up: 8 AM
-Out of bed: 8:30 AM
-Roller skate until 9:30 AM
-Shower
-Make Breakfast
-Tackle Project VMP: 10:30 AM
-First Break + Snack: 12:30 PM
-Begin Project AWSC: 1 PM
-Break + Meal: 2:30 PM
-Wrap Up Graphic PF1: 3 PM
-Step Outside / Walk: 5 PM
Pro-tip: Don’t forget to actually look at it in the morning. Pick it up with your bare hands and feel it. Don’t pretend like you forgot about it and accidentally watch a new Netflix episode before your first meal of the day.
Force Yourself to Schedule Something Virtually with Another Human and then Don’t Bail
Fun fact: 100% of the time, action creates action. Sitting around and waiting for the motivation to slap you in the face only happens on a phenomenal day. Setting up a call for a brainstorm session or a virtual coffee date to get inspired is one of the better ways I’ve stayed motivated during the Coronavirus lockdown times. This call can be with a friend or any of the fellow PieFaces in this exact community! Give each other tasks, push each other to do more, and tell each other what you are working on that day/week. Check in with each other and hold each other accountable. Try something like, “Hey! I’ve been trying to stay motivated and inspired lately and was wondering if you’d want to set up a phone call to get back into the creative flow. We can create tasks for ourselves and hold each other accountable! What days are good for you?”
Open the Damn Windows
Seriously, why are all your curtains and blinds closed? There’s an entire Earth out there and sometimes we can even see the sun! Better yet, start your day with a walk around the block or even just a sit & breathe outside for 5 minutes. I’m telling you; it does wonders. How you start your day is far more important than you think.
Give a New Creative Outlet a Shot
Oddly enough, when we challenge our brains to try something new, we inadvertently think differently while performing that activity. By shaking things up, we trick ourselves into being excited when we aren’t feeling particularly good. The idea is not to be an expert at the new creative outlet - not at all. The idea is to step outside your comfort zone and be vulnerable with this new art form. Are you a writer? throw some paint on a canvas. Are you a painter? Take a class in photoshop. Are you a photographer? Try journaling. Spend some time redecorating your room. Invest in some macrame supplies. Try a new recipe. Scroll through Youtube, Pinterest, Skillshare, Tik Tok, or Instagram hashtags until you find that new thing you’re going to be bad at that day. Maybe you need to spend $15 on a temporary new hobby. The entire process is what gets our subconscious excited. Select the paint colors, supplies, or class you need, place the order, enjoy the process of experiencing something completely foreign, and then give it your best shot. The final result is supposed to be bad, it’s your first time. Maybe it’s something you wound up enjoying and you want to spend more time being bad at it - Maybe you’ll make one you’re proud of one day.
I challenge you, my fellow creatives and award-winning futures to try all four of these things over the next month. You can do them all one day or one on four separate occasions, once a week. Rotate, switch it up, have fun with it. And don’t forget to put a good playlist on.
Xx Kendra P!
Read more about Kendra here
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