Nannka Designs

You’re tired and your brain’s worn out. It might feel demotivating-ly difficult when you’re at a creative block to break through the walls and move out of that box that everyone keeps telling you to get out of. But you just can’t. It happens to me, too. A LOT.

Here’s the secret: switch the mindset- by lessening the pressure you put on yourself. Yes, we’re creatives but no, we’re not automatically creative. We need human ways to keep the creative juices flowing. From my experience, you’ve got to try doing one or all of the following:

1. Step back and rest. Just giving your brain the time to recharge on its own will make way for it to feel like the project you’ve been working on for so long is something somewhat new. You get to see different ways of approaching your work, the little details you may have missed, or even decide that it’s better (or worse) than how you felt about it whilst working on it with the absurd amount of pressure you’ve put on yourself. Resting smoothly melts those wall rather than forcefully trying to knock them down.

2. If you haven’t started working on your project yet, or are looking for something to work on and are searching for inspiration, yeah, sure you can go on websites for creatives and check other people’s work out to get inspired by their projects.. but everyone does that. Doesn’t make it wrong, but doesn’t make it entirely different. A lot of people will probably be getting inspired by the same work on the same websites. Again, that doesn’t make it wrong as our minds perceive and implement ideas differently. Nevertheless, how about trying something else for a change? Try to get inspired by your own mind, by your own surroundings, by anything and everything you can see, smell, taste or feel. Your favourite perfume, a meal you’re about to have, your socks, the outfit of a person passing by, or if you’re quarantined then maybe the outfit of those on the TV show you’re watching. You don’t have to make binge watching a procrastination. It can be the absolute opposite. Look at backgrounds of your favourite movie scenes. Look at the colours and the details that we take for granted. Yes, take for granted! Look at the patterns and textures. The tiles on your floor, fruits and veggies (if you don’t have any, maybe this is a sign for you to get inspired AND start eating healthy!) You get the point. The options are endless.

3. This bonus tip was given to me by a university instructor and it has opened my eyes to various styles. Once things are back to normal and we can travel again, collect brochures, pamphlets, business cards, magazines, museum guides, anything from wherever you go. Or if you know anyone that’s abroad, ask them to get you a few things here and there. They’re free and will be part of a priceless collection. Keep them all together. Get inspired from all over the world. I’ve collected things from Spain, Germany, Cairo, Jordan and asked my friends to collect things for me from Belgium, Prague and the UK. Sure, some of them might not have been my style and I would’ve closed the tab if they were on my web browser but you can always travel back to those places from (what’s now become, as it’s not as pressuring once you apply the above mentioned) the comfort of your home.