Creativity, Burnout, and Focus (Part 1)

What is creativity? How do you find it, and how do you get it back if you lose it?

I like to think of creativity as the concept of solving problems in a new, unique way. That’s the moment when you need to be creative right? When there is a problem to solve? Maybe it’s what to draw or paint next, a clever logo idea for a client, getting your boss on board for a new project, or even what to cook for dinner with an unfortunate combination of groceries, how to plan an event, or get a cat off of the roof.

“Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value.” – Sir Ken Robinson (please look up any of his talks on YouTube)

The value of creativity can be measured by how well the answer we come up with solves the problem (is a client reaching their marketing goals, is everybody happy with the product, is the demographic being reached, etc.), but what happens if you aren’t feeling creative? No inspiration comes? The problem seems unsolvable, and you find yourself in a rut you just can’t get out of.

Creative Block has been a burdensome obstacle for me, and when it happens I feel so hopeless that sometimes I’m tempted to just throw in the towel and forget this entire career path. It feels like I was never meant to follow dreams centered around artwork and design, or that I’m just not a creative enough person to be successful at it. The thing is though, it seems like every creative person I know has experienced feeling burnt out. They not only struggled through it, but actually overcame it with the type accomplished success I dream about. How? Why do we fall into ruts and feel stuck in slumps, and how do we prevent or heal from it?

“Get out of your head. If you’re in your head, you’re behind enemy lines, that is not God talking. If we put a speaker on it and broadcasted everything you say to yourself, we would institutionalize you. You would not hang out with people who talked to you the way you talk to yourself, so get out of your head.” – Mel Robbins

Humans are creatures of habit. The brain likes to make things easier for itself, so adopting patterns is how we are programed to survive most efficiently. However, established, repetitive patterns of thinking are the enemy of creativity. We have two modes: autopilot and emergency break. Autopilot is easy, it’s worked well enough so far, and it’s the routine. It feels safe, and anything outside of that comfort zone? The emergency break gets pulled instinctively. Our brains are designed to protect us from doing the uncomfortable, difficult, and scary. The mind is hardwired to safeguard us from literal death.

However, just being alive isn’t always living. When you feel stuck or dissatisfied in life, it’s a signal that one of your most basic needs isn’t being met. If you’re not getting enough nutrients in your diet, your body won’t feel quite right. If you’re not getting good quality time in with your loved ones, your relationships might suffer. If you aren’t fulfilling a need to explore creatively, you’re gonna feel stuck in a rut. You’re going to need to do things that feel uncertain to get you what you want out of life (or your career, marriage, whatever your goal is).

You know who is always the most creative person in the room? The child. Kids aren’t afraid of being wrong. As adults, we’ve spent our whole lives being trained not to be wrong. We do everything we can to prevent failure, but really “success” is just failing over and over again, and that time spent failing was also spent progressing. To be creative, we must lose our fear of being wrong and be brave enough to fail fabulously.

I wish I could site where these thoughts started brewing from, but they’ve bubbled up from literally hundreds of hours worth of watching TEDx Talks on YouTube.