Hit a Creative Block? Here’s how to get round it!
Have you ever looked at a blank screen or a white sheet of paper and felt an immediate wave of overwhelm?
Recently, I took a short break from writing to clear my head and for my own wellbeing, and I don't regret it. Trouble is, I now feel like a sculptor staring at a giant pillar of marble, trying to figure out where to start. It's not that I have forgotten how to be creative, it's that my brain doesn't have an ANGLE.
Whenever I've created something, a project, a keynote or a song, I've always worked with the idea of the ANGLE. It's the core, the concept, that sits inside the idea that, even though I don't have the fully formed idea yet, gives me the confidence to begin.
There's an old saying that the way to carve the statue of David is to start with a pillar of marble and just chip away all the bits that don't look like David. Which sounds so easy until you're sitting there with a hammer and chisel, looking like a stunned mullet.
People often ask me where I get my ideas from, and it's literally this. I start with the pillar, the decision or agreement to create 'the thing'. I spend some time in my mind walking around and around it, looking at the smooth face, mulling over the concept, until I notice a teeny tiny little crack. It’s the spark of an idea as my brain connects one thought with another, and boom, that's the ANGLE.
It might be the title, or a melodic hook, it might be a concept or an anchoring story. Whatever it is, with this ANGLE comes the confidence that, given enough time and focus, I know there's a statue of David in there somewhere. My job now is to start chipping.
So how do we get the ANGLE when our brains feel offline? Here are three ways to restart your creativity when the pillar feels like a giant and the deadline is looming.
Ridiculously Small Steps. Break the task down into steps so small they feel almost silly, one sentence, one idea jotted down, one paragraph you'll probably delete. The size of the step isn't the point, the momentum it creates is. Overwhelm shrinks the moment you make the task smaller.
Wonder Walk. Step away from the coalface and allow your brain to make connections without trying. Check the brief, mull it over, then disconnect and let neuroscience do the work for you. Your brain will be busy in the background while you lift your gaze, get some fresh air and appear to be doing nothing. I have a 1000-step loop from my place that I call my Wonder Walk, and it's amazing the number of times I find an ANGLE when I stop trying to think of one.
🧠 SCIENCE SPOT: Why walking unlocks ideas Research from Stanford (Oppezzo & Schwartz, 2014) found that walking generates more creative ideas than sitting still, and the boost lingers even after you sit back down.
Start Rough. On the pillar of David there was loads of marble to be chipped away. Whacking out something rough allows you to get a sense of where you are heading creatively. Rather than getting stuck in the weeds on a detail, keep stepping back and eyeing the whole project to see if the arc is staying strong. Smoothing and polishing happens later, for now you are forming a silhouette.
It's easy to give up when we feel overwhelmed, but with commitments made and deadlines looming, sometimes being kind to our minds is pushing through to get the job done. The great news is that on the other side of the overwhelm is a feeling of achievement at a task accomplished, which in turn gives us a dopamine boost that sets us up for better problem-solving moving forward.
🧠 SCIENCE SPOT: Why small wins matter more than big ones Research analysing nearly 12,000 workplace diaries (Amabile & Kramer, The Progress Principle, 2011) found that forward progress, even tiny progress, is the single biggest driver of motivation and creative energy, bigger than any reward or recognition.
Whether your statue of David is big or small, a massive project or a small task that will start your day, finding that ANGLE can be the start of something great.
And here I am, I've written this article. I broke it down into ridiculously small steps with a list, I went on a wonder walk and cleared my head, I started rough and moved in to polish this thing up. It's not exactly David, but it's a monument to what I love to do, help others to be kind to their minds by taking care of their wellbeing at work, at home and in their creative endeavours.
One Degree of Change Point: What's your one degree of change this week? Find the one ridiculously small step you've been avoiding, and take it. Pick one thing. Make it small. Go first.
Aroha nui. Julia Grace | Be Kind to Your Mind
References: Oppezzo, M., & Schwartz, D. L. (2014). Give your ideas some legs: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(4), 1142-1152. Amabile, T., & Kramer, S. (2011). The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. Harvard Business Review Press.