Are you suddenly out of steam? Read this!

Many a time we would find ourselves in a situation where by we couldn’t find the solution to our creativity cravings. A writer would be seen by his writing desk with his pen and paper, or his computer system; if he happens to be a digital freak like me. How about a painter, he would stay for hours at his work station brush in hand with a blank drawing fabric in front of him. How about a digital designer, staring at his blank computer screen with is CorelDraw awaiting response from him? The truth is, he who claims to have never found himself in such circumstances lies. So as a creative individual, how do you get around such frustrating phase in one’s prolific life of creativity? I will be putting you through some simple steps that mostly work.

1)      Don’t be held hostage by deadlines:- Deadlines are like wicked commanders, they make you push yourselves to complete missions. However they would shy away from responsibility when you run out of gas. Take the most out of deadline by making sure you stick to a healthy schedule. Don’t ever over work it, nor should you under work it. When you stick to a healthy schedule, you won’t fall victim to a knocking deadline because falling far behind schedule means deadline knocks far ahead of anticipation, the only means to catch up would be to over work yourself. That would only exhaust your gas.

2      Please, take a break:- Don’t be the workaholic that bore himself with below par pieces because of stress. Creativity is never forced, the more your heart and mind is into it, the more beautiful its handwork. When you discover that you are suddenly out of gas. That should be the right time to take a break. What should you do when you take such break? When you take such break, the sole purpose of the action is to clear your head and relief stress. Definitely, fun, recreation and relaxation should top your list of priorities. If you are a proactive individual like me, you would bend such break towards fun activities that could nudge your muse into a state of motivation or confidence. Take for example, if am stuck on a story and decided to relax by reading an amazing novel. Do you know you could be gifted a grand spark of motivation as such. Let your muse dictate how you would spend your break, in as much as you would want a drift away from the cognitively exhaustive work station, you shouldn’t wander too far in other not be at such stance where you totally lose sight of your impeding or half done master pieces.

3      Brainstorm yourself after the break:- Now is the time to now brainstorm yourself so that you maximize the usage of your newly found energy. By taking that break and relaxing amply, your muse would have earned its lost energy. In other to maximize the usage of such energy, all you have to do is equip your muse with nasty weapons so they would turn to needed gangsters for that deadline.  The weapon in question would be the new ideas from your brief brain storming session.

4      Get back to your work station and use that tank full of gas:- Now is the time to test how abundantly you are refuelled for that work of muse waiting patiently in your workstation.

Good luck to you as you get to test out my outlined solution to that moment of block. Remember the muse in you is greater a fire than an ocean of water can quench. Keep doing the creative stuffs you are good at and remember that MuseGuide will always be here for you to see you through your adventure as a musing individual.  Have a blessed week.

Abd-afeez Abd-hamid for Museguide