Photo by Svetlana Pochatun from Unsplash

One of the most discouraging feelings for a blogger, or any artist in general, is a loss of inspiration. While you’re in the process of creating content and strategizing promotional tools to release them, there comes that strange feeling of suddenly losing interest in what you’re doing. You don’t only feel tired but lost in the moment, so to give yourself time to process the thoughts in your panicked mind, you stop. There’s no absolute reason why this happens; it’s just human nature to lose interest in something, even if that something is what you love, what you’re passionate about.

When you feel uninspired, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you had lost love for your art. However, it can imply that you need to take certain measures to gather much knowledge and insight from places you haven’t been before or from people you haven’t met to ignite inspiration in your heart. You need to do something about your creative strains by taking a break and do something besides writing.

In the blogging industry, everything works fast and briefly. There are many rules you need to follow in blogging to stand out among the rest, so losing inspiration is not an option. The blog topics that may be rich and relevant now won’t be as trendy in the next few days. Google is constantly examining and improving the metrics in every piece of information being put out on the web. As a blogger, you need to constantly upgrade your content and brand to stay connected to your audience.

It can be stressful when you see other content creators do a great job in their niche, and it makes us wonder if they’re constantly inspired to get up and do their job. But the truth is, we’re no different from the famous and successful bloggers out there. They get lazy and unmotivated too, but unlike us, they master the art of controlling their feelings to separate them from work. They look creatively for diverse ideas to spice up their working habit and add personality to their passion. 

 

HOW TO WORK WITH OR WITHOUT INSPIRATION: 

 

When the creative juices in your brain stop flowing, you’re suddenly out of ideas, it’s normal to get frustrated when you can’t get anything out onto the blank page. It’s your brain trying to ease itself and finding ways to snap back from your mental block. That’s a sign you might need to take a break and free your mind from stress and internal pressure. The ironic thing is, that feeling of guilt consumes you when you take a break because you constantly hold yourself in a position where you have to keep doing something.

This causes you to become frantic and unproductive because you’re either unable to do the work or you won’t be able to do it effectively. If you’re a freelance writer or a small business owner, you need to work even when you feel uninspired. You need to go beyond what’s convenient and deliver what’s needed of you. One way to make this easier is to look at the faces of the people who support you, who feed on your content.

You owe it to them. It’s easier to be consistent in your work when you’re driven by purpose, not linked with inspiration. A true artist does not rely on the inspiration for inspiration is fickle; it comes and leaves anytime. A true artist recognizes her talent and knows that she can manage without that zing that says good things about her. Be that artist.

 

13 CREATIVE WAYS TO GET INSPIRATION BACK WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF ARTISTIC DRIVE: 

 

GO FOR A WALK 

 

Going for a walk can help you refresh your mind from the mental block you’re facing. You get to see different things and people which will open your eyes to more realities besides yours. It reminds you of the fast-paced world you live in and how important it is to take a deep breath and to be mindful of what’s in the present. Varied pieces of data information enter your mind at any second because you’re constantly exposed to it.

Going for a walk and maybe doing some stretches will help you realize that slowing down and being calm is something you can control, something you should make a habit of. You can also enjoy the fresh air and pull over for a cup of coffee. It will help you clear your mind from stress, and if you’re lucky, you get to meet a new friend in the same boat as you.

 

LISTEN TO MUSIC 

 

Music, regardless of the genre, is sensational and unique to every listener. It can instantly ignite inspiration in your mind even just by the tune, melody, lyric, the singer— everything about a song and the fact that it stems from literature—it’s like the magical source of inspiration for any artist. Listening to music can transport your mind to a different place from which you can absorb new insights from.

The next time you feel uninspired, whip yourself a new playlist or ask for new song recommendations from your friends or even strangers. When you feel like you’ve written or drawn about the same things over and over again, try to step out of your comfort zone. Try listening to another genre of music that’s far from your taste. You’d never know the many amazing ideas you can come up with  by indulging in unique melodies.

 

SEARCH FOR AN IDEA 

 

Given the easy access to information by a swipe of a finger, make use of the digital resources online. Take advantage of the availability of websites and topic generators that will give you many diverse angles in approaching a certain topic. As a blogger or a content creator, it’s important to be as specific in your niche but also to have as many high-quality posts as you can.

This is to ensure that your blog can be a platform where readers find answers to their questions. When you access these topic-generating sites, you won’t run out of fresh ideas to blog about which will help you become more inspired to jot down your insights. 

 

TALK WITH OTHER CREATIVES 

 

Talking with other creatives can relieve your stress during times when you feel burned out. Sometimes, it’s exactly what you need to keep going so don’t deprive yourself of a little bit of fun. A simple conversation with someone you work with (especially in the same industry and niche) can give you many possibilities to improve your line of work and your attitude.

You can talk about your struggles, your goals, your opinion on blogging taboos, etc. You can look into their work and grab inspiration from them while you give proper credit. You can learn the techniques on how they manage their time and maybe apply them to your own daily routine. This will inspire you to do better and to engage with other creatives in the community.

 

REDO YOUR ENVIRONMENT 

 

It can be draining to work in the same place every day without anything new to see or look forward to. Sometimes, to get the inspiration back, you need to make different your working environment by maybe changing your location. If you prefer not to, you can clean your space and the area around it and store your things in organized boxes and drawers.

Make adjustments in your wall design, maybe buy new furniture or replace your old things with more sustainable ones. You can also add pictures, symbols, or anything that reminds you of your passion. When you reshape your environment, whether at home or in the office, you give yourself a clean slate, or showing an intention that you want to start a new chapter of your life, this time differently. Your newly revamped environment will stir inspiration in your mind right away. 

 

BE VISUAL ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS 

 

What you find hard to express through words can be expressed through gestures or in drawings. Art is universal and interconnected to different forms of human creativity. Don’t be afraid to mix mediums if it’s necessary to convey your story in the best way. If you learn to translate your thoughts in different ways, it will be easier for you to write it down because you get the meaning out of your idea even when you don’t write it.

 

OBSERVE YOUR SURROUNDINGS 

 

Just being mindful about your surroundings, wherever you are, can inspire you to write. Being connected to nature through nature can be life-changing. You look at the greenness of the leaves. You realize how old the mountains are and how blue the sea used to be before human beings exploited them. You notice how people move and behave, and from simple observations like that, you realize how people live different lives. You get inspiration from another person’s choices as you compare them to yours.

 

WATCH A MOVIE 

 

Watching a movie is like reliving your life in a character’s life. It makes you realize how blessed you are for being given your life and how odd it is to compare yours with another, even a fictional character. It’s very different— you meet different people, like different things, go to different places. Not only will it give you happiness, but as watchers of the movie, it can paint us an imaginary life that we can dream of. Watching a movie will help us decipher reality from fantasy because we can see the difference between perfection and human struggle creatively. with this realization, we can draw inspiration from how far a person’s imagination will go to achieve the dream he wants for himself.

 

RECORD MEMORIES 

 

To find inspiration, you can look back to previous photos and videos. This can help you reminisce the times before and start creating memories just like that one. If you want to make new ones, you can document them to have a permanent record of that special moment. By recording and playing back memories, you can gain strength from that person you were and use that strength to do more today.
 

PLAY WITH KIDS 

 

Spending time with kids lets you trace back your life not so long ago when you were once a kid. Simply being around kids erases the troubles in your head because of their laughter. It brings nostalgia to your life because triggers an emotional connection to your hopes and dreams as a kid. It inspires you to dig deeper into your soul and hopefully reconnect to your life’s purpose. Playing with kids also allows you to gather the perspective of a child, someone who’s more innocent than you. Regardless of their young age, you can learn a thing or two about how they view the world. 

 

EAT YOUR FAVORITE FOOD 

 

Aside from the satisfaction of eating delicious food, you can get inspired after enjoying a familiar meal that guarantees a beaming mood afterward. You get inspired to work harder and more consistently when there’s food involved, especially if you use it as a reward system to exchange it for effective results. Moreover, trying new food can also spark interest like never before.

There’s something majestic about trying a new food for the first time. Inspiration strikes with a distinct taste in the tongue. It brings you back to memory before, a certain place at a certain time. It can also help you imagine a scenario that you’ve always wanted to go to in your dreams or somewhere that you no longer yearn for.

 

LISTEN TO SOMEONE WHO NEEDS ADVICE 

 

Helping someone with his problems can help you learn more about his life — his passion, priorities, what matters to him. When you open yourself to him, you see a version of that person that he normally doesn’t show to a lot of people. Not only can you help them by offering a listening ear, but you can also help yourself by learning something valuable from them.

You will find out something that’s unique to them, not to you. That new insight will spark inspiration in your mind because you’re gathering knowledge based on the experiences of other people besides your own. You’re inviting other’s perceptions about life to help you to create content that doesn’t exclusively serve you but other people as well.

 

DO SOMETHING CREATIVE THAT YOU HAVEN’T DONE BEFORE 

 

Creativity can come in different forms. Sometimes, all you need to light up inspiration in your soul is to do something you haven’t tried before. To get inspiration for your work, explore other lines of creative work so you don’t feel so constricted. You don’t have to be a pro at it, your eagerness to learn something different is enough. You can instantly get inspiration from the training, the learning process of something completely new to you. You get to understand the perspective of a beginner who’s constantly pressured into chasing perfection.

 

CONCLUSION: 

 

Inspiration doesn’t always come when we need it to. It comes and goes, but our passion for art shouldn’t have to depend on it. As artists and content creators, we must find ways to connect to our artistic pursuit with or without a source of inspiration. For it is pure talent and passion that drives us to write and do our work. Great things take time, they say. But it would take an even longer time when you sit down and wait for inspiration to kick in, thinking it’s as necessary as forcing yourself to write something down.

Inspiration doesn’t make you the best at what you do, it’s what you make out of it. It’s an underrated but essential skill to cope with instances when you don’t feel like writing, or singing, dancing, painting, or anything that involves pouring your heart out into something indescribable. If you don’t feel inspired, then inspire yourself by opening the doors to the outside, not closing them shut. 

 

 

“The difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone is how high you raise your foot.”

Benny Lewis