The article I want to show you is Reigniting Your Creative Spark from A List Apart.
It starts out with
As creatives, we usually have no shortage of good ideas. There are times, however, when inspiration and motivation elude us. Looming deadlines, fussy clients, uninteresting projects, or feelings of fatigue which suggest the onset of burnout: all of these can work to effectively extinguish our creative fire.
and then this stuck out to me
Negative stress has an upbeat doppelganger known as eustress. Triggered by taking on challenges that are internally mandated, eustress causes exhilaration, focus, optimism, curiosity, and a sense of excitement. Eustress transforms uninspired boredom into high motivation.
and love this
How long has that troll inner critic been squatting under your proverbial creativity bridge, snuffing out great ideas before they see the light of day, occupying valuable space in your brain and your life?
The writer goes into great detail about how wrestle anti-creativity killers and get things moving forward again. We can come up with games...self challenges. Some of it is unique, such as for people like me who work alone, imaging others with me working as a team.
Self motivators and other tidbits like this one...
Trying to be a genius or display genius all of the time can be exhausting. Take the pressure off of yourself by believing that genius is outside of you and therefore beyond your control. The Romans thought of a genius as an artist’s attendant spirit. In modern terms, your genius acts as a personal coach and mentor. By its very nature, genius is about helping to shape and guide your ideas and the work you produce. Step aside and give your genius permission to do the hard work of being the manager of your ideas, giving form to and breathing life into that which you produce.
I get cabin fever working alone day after day and sure, I can pack up and head to Panera Bread but I can't focus with people around me while writing or testing sites. All my equipment is here...pets are here. Sometimes I fully wallow in the muck until certain triggers enter my awareness. A big one is someone telling me I can't do something. My immediate reaction is to prove them wrong :emo3:
It's a great article. Any thoughts? How do you unplug the creative yuckies?
