As creative people ideas come naturally to us, at least most of the time. However, when it is demanded of us so often sometimes the well runs dry. How do you deal with designers block?
Obviously not everyone is the same. Some people need
pressure to get the big idea, personally I need to be as relaxed as possible
and most of the time my ideas come right before I go to sleep. There are also
different kinds of creative blocks caused by different issues. 99u.com
describes a few creative blocks and some helpful solutions. I chose my top
five.
1.
Mental Block
Being stuck in the same way of thinking or
losing perspective.
Try finding a way to challenge your brain’s
thought habits by either changing your surroundings or talking to someone who
can give you a new outlook.
2.
Emotional Barrier
Maybe your working on something that is
personal and is bringing up unwanted feelings. The only solution is to face
your fears and use it as fuel for your creativity.
3.
Poor Work Habits
As I mentioned earlier, everyone has a
different way of being productive creatively. You have to look at yourself and
discover what makes you most efficient. Maybe you’re working at night when you
should be working in the morning.
4.
Overwhelm
I suffer heavily from blocks when I have
too much on my plate, or when there’s too many ideas it’s hard to organize my
thoughts. When you’re dealing with too much the only thing to do is start
making cuts. Either cutting down your to do list or start exploring a few ideas
and leaving the rest behind.
5.
Poverty
99u describes more than one type of poverty.
Not having enough time, not having enough knowledge on the topic, not having
all the tools you need to complete a project. For this you have two paths. You
can either make it possible to get wealthier or you can be inspired by the
challenge of not having what you need but still trying your best to complete
the task.
Hopefully some of these can get you out of a creative jam. For more detail on creative block visit 99u site:
http://99u.com/articles/7088/7-types-of-creative-block-and-what-to-do-about-them
Marissa –
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic for designers – I appreciate that you were able to consolidate your writing into a list format to make it more accessible. In your list, I would try to focus just as much on the solutions as you do on the problems. For example, instead of listing “Mental Block” for #1, list it as “1. Fight mental blocks by taking a break”.
Some writing notes:
-Be sure to use commas to break up phrases correctly. For example, this is how you can rewrite the first couple sentences:
“As creative people(,) ideas come naturally to us, at least most of the time. However, when (great ideas are) demanded of us so often(,) sometimes the well runs dry Obviously(,) not everyone is the same.”
- Make sure to use the possessive: “designer’s block”.
- For #5, make it clear that you are talking about poverty in the context of design ideas, and not economic poverty. Perhaps grabbing the relevant quote from 99u will make this clearer to your readers.
Finally, be sure to make your link active so your readers can click on it for instant access. Good work!