6 Creativity Killers and How to Get Rid of Them
Self Reflection - My Creativity Killers
Are you in a creative slump that is really difficult to get out of?
We have to accept that there are highs and lows during our art journey. Sometimes, the lows are short and we bounce back, but sometimes they can be an extended period of time, and it’s important to determine why they occur.
I started journaling as part of my art practice. I think it is a fancier term for ‘keeping a diary’'; when I think of diary, I think get flashbacks of my angsty teen years! This time, the entries into the journal are different. Gone are the teenage-styled entries. I still have the doodles, the colours, the washi tape and stickers to make it my own, but today, the entries are more a self-reflection of the day or the week. After six months of journaling, I have had the chance to read the entries, and boy oh boy, did I spot trends that occur during creative funks.
I have grouped them into actions and thoughts.
Actions - Creativity Killers Taking Me to La La Land
These are the things that I noticed that take my mind away to "la di la" land. They might appear on your list too. They make you procrastinate, and "forget" reality and your responsibilities.
1. Surfing the internet aimlessly
“The internet will suck all creative content out of the world” David Byrne
I have a problem with the internet. It’s a huge library of information and inspiration, but sometimes (well, maybe a little more than that!), many of us end up going down a huge rabbit hole that we can’t get out of. And when it comes to social media, how many of us end up doom scrolling and engaging with numerous accounts just to beat the algorithm. This behaviour drains us of our time and energy! So unless, we have a set an objective to what we are doing on our smart devices, or are doing something related to your work, shut down your device and walk away. You really don't want to know what your "friends" are doing on social media, or watch the latest influencer hauls on YouTube.
"Children have got to be taught hands-on, and not to become mobile phone or computer dependent. They should use computers as and when, but there are so many people playing with their computers nowadays that spend all their time sitting there with a stomach. They are dependent on Google searches. A lot of kids will become fairly brain-dead if they become so dependent on the internet, because they will not be able to do things the old-fashioned way."
Trevor Baylis, inventor of wind-up radio
2. Playing computer games
I am so guilty of this when I’m on my mobile phone too. I had downloaded a shopping app during the lockdown in 2020, and I started playing their games just to get credit. I fell for it hook, line and sinker, so you can imagine what this did to my creative time. It’s now uninstalled. So go through your phone and uninstall all those time sucking apps that you really don’t need!
3. Watching too much Netflix
There are so many good shows on platforms such as Netflix, but let’s treat it like we would have before streaming and cable. Don’t binge, and just watch one show at a time. Limit watching programmes to a certain day or period of time, but don’t let it take over your entire life.
4. Unable to say "no"
When I get stressed up, either of two things can happen. Either I get really creative or I just lose it altogether. I found that I get stressed when I just have too much piled up, and so for me, I just have to learn how to say "no". As someone who freelances, you might think that it is a good thing to have lots of enquiries in your email box, but you have to be selective and agree to work that meets your artistic goals and branding. There's no point in getting all tied up inside only to find that you cannot deliver creatively.
Negative Thoughts - Creativity Killers
And here are the negative thoughts that sometimes swirl inside my mind…..
5. Self doubt and fear
This is our kryptonite. Have you ever heard yourself say,
“I’m not good enough”
Have you been staring into space, not knowing how to start a new piece even though you have all the materials and ideas ready? Or are you scared of creating artwork that will not be well received by your audience? It’s self doubt and fear creeping in!
This has been happening to me recently; I start to overthink, delay the making and then hit a slump just waiting for something better to fire my creative juices. It was only recently when I came across the book Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland, that I realised I needed to just show up in my studio and just make. This anecdote from the book stood out, and spoke to me:
The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.
His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an “A”.
Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.
Basically, quantity leads to quality. Regardless of what your art medium is, just start hammering away at the thing you want to be good at and it will lead to something amazing!
6. Continuously saying your work isn’t good enough or comparing with other artists
Have you scrolled through instagram and thought why your art work can’t be like theirs? Or maybe why your artist journey isn’t going as smoothly as someone else?
Remember, other artists put their best on social media. We don’t know what has happened prior to this, or even the art process that went on behind the scenes. If another artist sells a piece of art work or has completed a series of work, don’t compare yourself with them. They are on a different artist path to yours and will experience highs and lows at different times to you. Why not celebrate their wins? Their wins show that because they can do it, you can do so too!
It’s also important to have your own community who support and cheer you on no matter what.
Think your work isn’t good enough? I think this point brought across in Art & Fear is a good one too. We always think of Mozart as being born with the talent to create music, but …
The point here is that whatever his initial gift, Mozart was also an artist who learned to work on his work, and thereby improved. In that respect he shares common ground with the rest of us. Artists get better by sharpening their skills or by acquiring new ones; they get better by learning to work, and by learning from their work. They commit themselves to the work of their heart, and act upon that commitment. So when you ask, "Then why doesn't it come easily for me?", the answer is probably, "Because making art is hard!" What you end up caring about is what you do, not whether the doing came hard or easy.
We will probably never end up liking our work completely, but that’s okay. Take it as an opportunity to learn why, review your work and see where you can do better, and what aspects you can let go of. It’s all part of the artistic process. Isn’t this the way we learnt how to do things when we moved out from our parents’ home and started to adult?
