What do you do with creative block?

Dummy
Originally uploaded by James_at_Slack

After reading the blog, iso50 I decided to summarise what was thought by some to ‘unblock’ creative block. So here, in no particular order are ideas to get your creativity flowing again.

Playing music, often ambient, instrumental music. Some just want to dance
Play a musical instrument
Read books or magazines for inspiration, preferably in a bookstore or library
Listen to podcasts of inspiring people
Take a break from your work and just watch and listen to the world around you
Housework, gardening, DIY, cooking, tidying up, long showers
Go for walks, cycle or run in nature if possible and think
Watch movies
Go to galleries, museums, etc and see the work of others and aim to be as good
Look back at your scrapbook of ideas, pictures, drawings and add more
Draw, sketch. Do it quickly, spontaneous
Try to hang out with friends with similar interests
Travel
Do things that keep you happy and positive as that can be where creativity comes from
Exercise both sides of the brain, not just the creative side. So do some maths, read a difficult piece of literature

So, many are obvious but clearly they work. The key seems to be get your brain to do nothing or something else. Keep your mind active.

I’m not sure if I’m in a creative rut or I’m just moving on to the next stage of my photography. I feel like I’m trying to catch up with all the years I couldn’t and didn’t do anything with my photography. The upshot of this feeling is that I tend to focus on photography and nothing else, neglecting my guitar, movies, books, museums, galleries, socialising, etc. And there, friends, is my solution to becoming more creative with photography - spend less time on it!