Whether you’re a freelance writer by trade or have to create the marketing content for your own business, inevitably there comes a time when you may have to overcome writers block. I admit that at this stage in my business it’s a rare occurrence for me, but when it hits, it hits bad.
In fact, I was recently experiencing writers block when trying to come up with any ideas for a column I have with a very large publication. While normally I’m full of ideas, this time, I was frozen. No matter what I did, I couldn’t come up with any good ideas. It seemed as if writers block had taken a hold of me, and I needed to figure out how to get out of it.
Here are some of the tips I have found useful when I’m in a position where I have to overcome writer’s block.
Move your body.
One of the best methods I have found in an effort to overcome writer’s block is to move my body. In my case, it usually means leaving my computer and going for a walk or hitting up my local yoga studio.
If you’re a creative experiencing writer’s block, then you may be familiar with simply feeling like you have some sort of blocked energy. It’s almost as if there’s a block wedged in your brain in the area where ideas usually come flooding out. For others, they may feel stagnant in another area of their body when experiencing writer’s block.
Sometimes, the only way to dislodge that stuck energy is to move. This is why I find yoga particularly helpful in overcoming writers block. The very nature of yoga requires me to open up and use parts of my body I didn’t even know existed. It’s like it gets into tiny crevices other forms of exercise can’t. It’s no wonder, then, that I usually have better ideas when I’m regularly practicing yoga.
Note, that just because yoga is my thing doesn’t mean it’s your thing too. Experiment with different forms of moving your body to see what works best for you.
Take a shower.
Have you ever had an experience where you’re daydreaming in the shower and then – BAM! – suddenly you have a brilliant idea? It’s not just you and it’s not just something that happens every once in a while, it’s science.
Productivity expert Scott Barry Kaufman conducted a study where he found that 72% of people get creative ideas in the shower. In short, we tend to relax in the shower. When we’re relaxed, we’re more open to a stream of consciousness and creativity. Note, this also explains why exercise helps since it helps relax us.
Bottom Line: Relax.
Maybe exercise isn’t your thing and you already took a shower today. That’s cool because you can skip straight to the common denominator in an effort to overcome writer’s block: find ways to relax.
In fact, take it a step further and add relaxation to your daily and weekly calendar. As business owners, we tend to always be on-the-go, but as creatives, we need down time in order to continue having good ideas. This is one of the reasons why I schedule regular massages into my life – because I need to literally put relaxation into the calendar or I just won’t do it.
