As the world continues to stay bleak and depressing, it can be hard to stay motivated. Something I've spotted in the past year is that it can be hard to stay creatively motivated when the world feels so gloomy. I study creative writing, I create content online and work on a student magazine, my whole life revolves around being creative. Yet, with the latest lockdown the UK finds itself in has drained me of all my creativity. In today's blog post, I thought I would share some thoughts and tips on how I stay motivated to create when I really don't feel inspired.
I just want to preface this post with that there are times when I don't follow my own advice. There are times when I don't feel I can. It's important to acknowledge that there are times when things aren't as easy as we'd like. Only try and follow these tips if you feel able to.
Acknowledge Your Feelings
Something I've been trying to do when I start to feel creatively demotivated, especially of late, is to acknowledge my feelings. We are living through a pandemic, these aren't normal times, it's alright to not feel normal. I am not a mental health professional, but I would say it's okay to feel frustrated, worried, scared, whatever you are feeling. I had a huge motivation boost after Christmas, but as soon as lockdown hit again, I could barely do the work I wanted to do. Instead of trying to make myself do the work when I was in no shape to do so, I took some time to acknowledge my feelings. By taking this step, even though I wouldn't say I'm back at full motivation levels, I've been able to chip away at my workload.
Revisit Inspirations and Favourites
When lacking motivation, a tip I would recommend is to revisit inspirations and favourites. I get inspired and motivated from the creative pieces I love. This could be a book, TV show, film, whatever, but I like to surround myself with it. To me, it's a happy reminder that people can go onto create great things. Often after revisiting something I love it makes me want to go on and create something. I would also recommend looking at some creative/motivational quotes. Again, it's a positive reminder that you can and will go onto work on something you're proud of.
Break It Into Manageable Chunks
Let's face it, but we aren't going to write our masterpieces in a day or a week. It takes a lot of time. It can be overwhelming when you are lacking motivation to start a task that seems insurmountable. So breaking it into smaller chunks can help with motivation. It can be to write a hundred words or a certain amount of pages. I find that breaking bigger tasks into smaller chunks makes me more likely to work on it. If something feels too big, then I won't want to work on it. Take the time to work out how you are going to approach the task. Then let the words/creativity come to you.
You Don't Have to Be Creative Everyday
Something I am trying to learn is that you don't have to be creative everyday. It's okay to give yourself time to feel mentally refreshed before retuning to a project. This is similar to what I was saying in the first point. Creativity takes a lot of mental thinking, so let yourself feel mentally ready to be creative. Just like more "traditional" career paths and interests, it is key to take time away. I try to take one day a week away from doing anything creative. It gives me that time to process and refresh before diving back into whatever I'm working on.
Those are some tips and thoughts on how to stay creatively motivated when times are difficult. Do you have any tips and thoughts on what's been discussed in this blog post?
Carenza :) x
