Being in a field that’s creative, I’m sure every single person has experienced a thing called a “creative block.” Maybe we felt overwhelmed with the number of tasks we had at one point. Maybe we were too scared to think of ideas because where does one start from? Maybe it was a Friday evening and you had literally no motivation left in you to work. There are many situations that lead to a creative block.

Research-proven methods of overcoming a creative block

However, I’m here to help you. Here’s a list of things you can do to get over your block. Trust me, it’s all just in your head. You could take a walk. Or maybe exercise a bit – go to the gym. Maybe reading a book would help? Actually, scratch that. Take a piece of paper and a pencil, write everything down; literally anything and everything that pops into your head. Or even an organised version of that – a mind map. If that doesn’t work, I don’t know what will. Maybe I should get preachy and give you some abstract advice. Be consistent with what you do. Keep at it. Immerse yourself with other mundane tasks. Step out of your comfort zone. Avoid perfectionism, be happy with what you have. 

Just think differently. It’s not that hard.

You find all of these answers if you Google “how to get over a creative block?” And my opinion is that – none of them work. Not one single one of the things I listed above, including the confusing abstract ones that seem like a solution. Here’s the one and only thing you can do: you should give up. Yes, you read that right. Give. Up. Totally and fully embrace the art of giving up (only for a little while though). Allow me to elaborate.

How to actually be creative

A social psychologist by the name of Graham Wallas, penned a theory: The Art of Thought. He categorises the creative process into preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. The preparation stage involves research, planning, and collating all of the ideas that one may have. The next stage, incubation, aligns with my great advice. Incubation is a period of unconscious processing, where there is no direct involvement of effort that comes from you or your brain. I’m not even going to get into the next two stages, because this stage is the crux of my message. If you don’t want to believe in the words of a random psychologist you’ve never heard before, here’s another theory Einstein came up with: Combinatory Play. He believes creativity is combinatory. On the one hand is our wakeful self; the combination of our knowledge and memories and all the resources available to us. And on the other is the work our mind does unconsciously. 

Breaking through the creative block

The brain is a funny thing. It works day in and day out, even when you don’t want it to. And this is exactly what you should do to take a hammer and smash your creative block. This is how I do most of my work – even with the way I wrote this blog. I did my research, opened a bunch of websites, reports and other things, but I just couldn’t come up with a way to execute it. So I gave up. Sipping a cup of hot lemon tea and staring into an abyss with no discernable thoughts, the cogs in my brain buzzed on. Soon after, I had my “Archimedes in his bathtub shouting Eureka!” moment and I thought to myself; ironically enough, this is the method Archimedes used too when he hit upon a way to determine the purity of gold.

So, what are you waiting for? Give up already.