• Start small. Tell yourself you’re going to do one thing every day toward starting to create again. This could be opening up Illustrator and playing with some lesser-used tools and features; it could be taking a notebook to the park and writing two or three pages; it could be knitting a washcloth-sized square in a simple stitch. The idea is to get back into the habit of creative productivity. So don’t let another day go by without making something – anything.
  • Get away from the computer. Go outside. Play with your dog. Read a book—on paper. Start working out. Whatever you want to do, get your eyes away from the screen and go do something else that doesn’t involve endless consumption of information that the Internet facilitates.
  • Stop consuming. The Internet is ubiquitous, and a huge part of producing work is tied in to engaging with others who are also producing work. It gets to be a crutch sometimes – you have no idea what to make or write, so you see what everyone else is making and writing. Incessantly. Well, stop it. Go interact with someone face-to-face. Spend some time alone. Declare RSS bankruptcy and delete everything, then go do something else.
  • Look at work outside your field. If you’re a graphic designer, watch a great film. If you’re a textiles person, go look at paintings. If you’re a writer, listen to some jazz music. But don’t fall into the rut of just consuming information . . . think about it. Talk about it. Write about it. Think of ways you can integrate what you experienced in something you make.
  • Work with friends. When you collaborate, you’re responsible to someone else, so your creative inactivity directly affects someone else. So grab a partner and make something cool.
  • Give yourself a consequence for not following through. My very favorite: Write a check to an organization you abhor, and give it to a friend. Have her send it to that organization if you don’t create something within a given amount of time.

Do you ever get discouraged or uninspired? What helps get you back on track to working again?

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