In today’s post we will discuss 5 useful tips for designers to overcome creative block, that every creative designer faces in his/her career. These tips can be helpful for most of the designers, who encounter a difficult phase of creative block in their designing career.
First let’s know what is this thing called ‘ creative block’. Very simple, it is nothing but a feeling of distance btwn you and your creative thinking or imaginative thinking as you can call it. We sometimes seem not to see or visualize an idea that clearly than usual, Most of us feel pulling the idea from thin air seems to be very difficult, since our brain gets exhausted by thinking too much about an idea (oh i am not a neurophysiologist, who can talk about the brain and its functin, its just my own experience), it feels weary and sometimes gets frustrated of not getting too many ideas, or there will a traffic of ideas, which veils the thought to make a right choice of ideas. Either there will be a traffic of ideas or very less ideas, which infact is the cause of creative block.
Here are 5 useful tips for designers to overcome that creative block. I woud call this as the five M’s to overcome creative block.
Morning Walk- Morning walk is one of the best way to enhance your creative skills, one may wonder how can walk enhance creativity, usually during the period of walk, one feels really light, this happnes to everyone, the morning breeze, the sounds of early morning bird chirping, dew drops, wow the very sight and sound fills very cell of your being with creative juices. Don’t forget to carry a piece of paper or a small notebook and pencil, to sketch down your ideas while walking. Note morning walk doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go for a morning walk as a compulsion, you can take a break during your design process and take a walk in a shady garden or a park. This tip of taking a morning walk would surely increase one’s creativity and imagination.
Meditation- Here is the another most important tip, meditation, this very word brings into your mind a picture of an Eastern asetic sitting in the forest cross legged and participating in a dreadful penance, one need not to worry about all those things. here when i mean meditation, is letting go of yourself for a while. How can that really happen, one can just sit with your eyes closed, in the very place, where you had been involved in your design work or your work station. Jus for few mins, let say for ten to fifteen mins, just allow yourself to let go, don’t interrupt the passing thoughts, let it go on, surprisingly you will have the most out of box creative idea during this process.For those who are really interested in a particular way of meditation i would suggest a meditation called Gibberish, the very word gibberish mean talking non sense. Have you seen an infant talking to her mother, thats gibberish .Yes, all you have to do is, lock yourself inside a room, alone, and speak any kind of non sense you want, don’t use words, just a kind of non sense, since we are habituated with using words, its will be a great relief if one talks gibberish. Just another ten mins would suffice you mind.
Music- Music, now tell me who doesn’t listen to music, yup everybody listen to music, and you know how it soothes your mind, relieveing you from all kinds of stress. What more to say, just plug in your ipod, or music system, but don’t listen to music with high volume, just a medium volume would do, preferably i would choose a light or soft music, rather than heavy metals. You can listen to this in your very work station, while working or just put your system in sleep mode, lie in your bed relaxed and listen to the music, that would really help to visualize more of creative ideas.
Mocha- Here is another useful tip, Mocha, one will be wondering, all the above three will match the topic, but why mocha/coffee if you can say. For me a cup of coffee will open the floosgates of ideas, yes this happens for me, but iam not very sure what scientists say about it, you can do your research before taking a sip. But don’t make it a habit of drinking coffee, just only when you encounter a situation of creative block.
Motivation- Coming to the last tip and a very common tip to every aspiring individual who is working on any field, ‘Motivation’, every single minute keep yourself motivated, you can easily get motivated when someone harasses you with declining words, or when one disappoints you personally, but when it comes during this period of creative block, its damn tough to get motivated, you seem to be working every inch of your imagination and nothing seems to sprout out, this is time to get motivated,tell yourself, auto suggestion, or self affirmation, i can do it and i will do it, Read books that keeps you motivated, it is said that an intelligent man cannot keep himself motivated for morethan 21 days, so keep pushing, combine the above four M’s, read motivational book, make friendship with like minded people, keep of negativity and also keep a check with it.
That would conclude this topic of 5 tips to overcome creativity block, i will see you soon with yet another interesting topic.
