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Are you suffering from a creative block? Do you want to know how to be more creative?
Creativity doesn’t come naturally to some people. But everyone has an inner artist that can be released—it just takes some practice and the right mindset to get the creative juices flowing.
Check out how to be more creative in six steps.
Step 1: Have Process-Based Goals
In Keep Going, Austin Kleon says that to be more creative without feeling overwhelmed or burned out, you have to use your creativity to pursue the right goals. He separates creative goals into two categories:
- Unhealthy results-based goals
- Healthy process-based goals
Results-based goals are unhealthy because they minimize what’s most important: making creative work that you enjoy or are passionate about. By focusing more on the end product, you focus less on the actual creative process and the things you enjoy about it. In addition, results-based goals pressure you to constantly churn out more work to achieve those results—leading to burnout.
On the other hand, process-based goals make creating work an exciting and joyful experience. This is because process-based goals allow you to enjoy the work itself and avoid feeling pressured to complete it. This prevents you from having to go through the cynical disinterest of burnout or the anxiety and dread of feeling overwhelmed.
To pursue healthier, process-based creative goals, Kleon suggests taking time to make art for yourself and a loved one.
- Making art for yourself. Make some creative work that’s just for you—this will help you enjoy the process of creation without having to worry about what anyone else thinks. You can store this work away somewhere, or even destroy it right after you finish making it. What matters is that you practiced creativity and took joy in that practice.
- Making art for a loved one. Make a piece of creative work as a gift for someone you love or care about. The positive feelings you have toward them will serve as motivation for your work. You’ll also share in the joy they feel when they receive your gift—this gives you concrete, positive reasons to continue making creative work.
Step 2: Make a Creative Space
Keep Going also suggests you can help keep yourself in the moment by using a specific place for your creative work. Ideally, this space should allow you to block out external distractions and stimulate your creativity.
In addition to simply having a separate creative workspace, psychological research suggests there are many benefits of having control over the design of this space. Studies found that those who can design their own workspaces aren’t just more creative—they also tend to be happier, healthier, and more productive.
He says the ideal creative space has two main qualities: solitary silence and creative messiness.
- Solitary silence. Your creative space should allow you to be alone in a quiet place. When you no longer have to focus on external stimulation, you can focus on internal stimulation: your creative thoughts.
- Creative messiness. Kleon explains that there’s a level of messiness that’s just right for creativity: If it’s too messy, you won’t be able to find what you need for your work. On the other hand, if it’s too tidy, you can’t find creative inspiration from the various unrelated things in a messy space. When your space gets too messy and you tidy up, pay attention to everything you come across—looking through old forgotten things can inspire new ideas.
Psychological research supports Kleon’s idea that a balance between messiness and tidiness is ideal—one study found that while tidiness is correlated with healthier, more generous decision-making, messiness is correlated with creativity. This suggests that a “just right” approach to balancing messiness and tidiness allows you to better approach a multitude of situations.
Step 3: Change Your Mindset
Creativity is more than just your goals and a workspace. It’s also about the mindset you’re in throughout the creative process. Before you jump into a creative project, there may be some mindset adjustments to make to ensure your process is as smooth and joyous as possible. Let’s look at the adjustments you need to make to be more creative, according to Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.
- Accept your fear. One of the first things you must do as you begin your creative journey, says Gilbert, is find a way to manage your fear. She believes fear is omnipresent when we are trying to be creative. This is because fear’s main purpose is to protect us in situations of uncertainty, and, unfortunately, the creative process is full of uncertainty. To deal with your fear gracefully, Gilbert recommends making space alongside your creativity for your fear, so that they can comfortably coexist. Treat fear as a friend.
- Focus only on the journey. As you approach a project, Gilbert also stresses that your enjoyment of the creative journey should be your only focus. Let go of any goals or desired outcomes and prioritize the process. According to Gilbert, if you create to receive external validation or to achieve something particular, you make your creativity contingent upon forces outside of your control.
- Don’t be creative to earn money. Gilbert also specifically advises against being creative to earn a living. Practically speaking, she says, creative work can rarely pay bills. Relying on your creative pursuits to keep you afloat may leave you in dire financial straits, which may force you to give up your creative work altogether.
- Cooperate with a new idea. Finally, when your first idea visits you, work with it, insists Gilbert. Don’t fret over the idea, fight with it, or put it off (which are all common responses). Think of your idea as a human creative partner, and treat it with dignity and respect.
Step 4: Connect With Your Inner Artist
In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron argues that human beings are creative by nature and that there’s a divine creative force that flows through all of us. This creative force is Cameron’s concept of “God.” She elaborates that you’re not required to call this force “God,” or to associate it or yourself with any religion; however, to maximize your creative potential and attain your artistic destiny, you must believe in and learn how to tap into this force so it can flow through you and into your art. (Cameron refers to “art” as anything you use creativity to produce—art could be poetry, painting, philosophy, coding, developing new chemical compounds, and so on.)
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