A creative rut is basically a period of time when you feel uninspired and unable to pursue a certain project or feel like your life has little to no meaning.
My personal experience
At some point in 2014 I realized that I had lost my mojo to blog. I felt so uninspired. I couldn't come up with content that I liked and would enjoy putting up. It was just after I had had my baby and I felt like my life had changed and the content I was putting up before the baby just didn't fit in with my new lifestyle.
Another thing that I noticed was that I was not in a good place mentally to share good quality, interesting content. A lot of my personal life was interfering with my creative juices.
It has taken me a while to figure out how to get psyched for the blog again. These are the things I did that helped me feel inspired again (in no particular order).
1. Change your environment
I talked about the importance of hitting the recharge button in this post and I can't stress enough how much of a change I feel after leaving the city for a few days. Just breathing in fresh, country air, seeing new faces, taking life easy, playing with the baby, sleeping early and spending as little time as possible on my phone, made all the difference in the world. Taking a break is so essential if you want to get rid of a creative rut.
2. Find a muse
I was chatting with a friend of mine and we were talking about how to feel inspired again and he said to me, "Find a muse." It seemed like the simplest solution to my creative rut and yet I wondered why I hadn't thought about it earlier. I actually stumbled upon my muse by accident. Reading her blog, watching her YouTube channel and following her social media sites gives me new, fresh ideas for my blog, business and life.
I have also found that speaking to my readers and clients helps to give me purpose to keep on producing more content.
4. Try something new
One of the downsides of turning your hobby into a business is that you end up stressing about that one thing that used to relax you. And so you need to find something new to do as a hobby. I love cooking and at the end of a long day, I feel so relaxed when I put a good meal on the table. And it doesn't have to be a gourmet meal, even the simplest meal, made well, gives me so much joy.
I have also taken a key interest in interior decoration and have taken to listening to different genres of music, some of which I never imagined I would ever like. Something else that I do is paying more attention to how I dress, doing my make-up with more care, trying out new trends in a bid to feel more excited each and every day.
5. Ask yourself why you embarked on that journey
Reading my about page and even updating it always helps me to remember why I started my blog and shop. I came to realize that sometimes I feel uninspired when I lose focus on what my main goals are. But going back in time, reading my older posts, always helps me feel more inspired.
6. Get rid of anything that is stressing you
When your mind is preoccupied, you will not feel inspired to work towards achieving your goals. Taking the time to get rid of anything that may be taking away your peace. This can take time but don't rush the process. However, there are some stresses that you can't get rid of and these you have to learn to let go of in order to move on with your life.
What do you do to feel inspired again? Do share in the comments below so we can add to the post.
Thank you for stopping by. xo