How to Stay Creative When Your Day Job Isn’t
Do you ever struggle to fit in your creative hobbies around those long corporate hours? Find yourself struggling with inspiration? Just don't have the time to try out those new ideas?
Being a creative in a non-creative 9-5 is HARD. Whether it be writing, painting, photography or anything else creative, I’ve found that these next 5 tips really help me to fit in those creative bursts.
Start small- the two minute rule
Start Small. The last thing I want to do when I get home from a long and tiring shift is sit down at another screen to write, or bother getting out all my painting equipment- it simply feels like too much. A mindset change that has really helped me is to start small. You do not have to finish a painting if you start it.. you don't even have to get a big chunk of it done! You don't have to write a whole article, chapter or essay, you can write a paragraph or even just a few sentences… or even just brainstorm a few words!
If, like me, you struggle with motivation, and even starting the creative task often feels like too much, then try ‘setting up’ your creative station in the morning ready for the following evening. By doing this, you're halfway there to being able to start your painting/ writing/ drawing the following evening or day, without the ‘faff’ of getting everything else set up first.
Another trick that has really worked for me is the ‘two minute rule’. This rule can be implemented to trick your brain into doing absolutely anything that you've been putting off. If a task feels too daunting or large to start, tell yourself you're going to do it for two minutes and two minutes only (set a timer on your phone!). After those two minutes you’ll find yourself continuing the task for much longer. Trust me- it’s a true demotivation buster!
Schedule creative time as you would a work meeting.
Now, we all know that you cannot ‘force’ creativity, what you can force, however, is creating the time to allow yourself to be creative. Blocking out time in your evenings and weekends, and even mornings before work can really help allow yourself to get creative. Be organised and know yourself, if you know you're going to get distracted by the thought of cooking dinner or preparing for the next day- do that first!
Now, I'm not that good at this next one- but getting up a little earlier and allowing yourself 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to work on your project can really set you up for the day. Have your creative station set up and ready for when you wake up, and paint in your pyjamas if you have to!
Whats most important however, is treating whatever time-slot you book with yourself as non-negotiable. Clearing time for yourself is your most important meeting of the day.
Photo by Kamila Maciejewska on Unsplash
Join a class or group
If you struggle with motivation, then joining a class or group is a great method to hold you to account, especially when overcoming creative blocks. There are plenty of cheap art classes around, free writing groups or even some of Manchester City Girls organised meet-ups! They're a great place to not only be social, but to get your creativity back in a class that holds you to account.
Take breaks from your usual art. Even if that social paint and sip pottery class is not your usual go-to, or remotely related to the project you've been putting-off, go to it! It’ll inspire your other creative projects, or simply help get you back in the mood to create with fresh inspiration.
Turn everyday tasks into creative opportunities
Make use of small pockets of time throughout your day. Doodle, sketch or freewrite while having your morning coffee or breakfast. Utilise your lunch breaks, the commute, and other small pockets of time throughout the day to brainstorm. Carry a notebook or small sketchpad with you all the time, jotting and doodling ideas as they come to you (I find jotting things down in an aesthetic sketchpad helps to ‘romanticise’ my scribbles).
Everyones allowed time off to watch that trash TV show or gossip podcast… but maybe the trash TV show can be more than just that! Learn to find inspiration in everything, even if those ideas don't eventually turn into anything fruitful. Creativity is a constant practice, and can be learned and unlearned.
Photo by Lauren Mancke on Unsplash
Stop being a perfectionist, and BE CONFIDENT.
One of the biggest barriers to finishing, or even starting, your creative project is the pursuit of perfection. You have to let go of the idea that your project has to be perfect to be valid. Creating the perfect moment to create the perfect piece of art rarely happens, nor does being in the perfect mindset. It is especially rare midweek when you're shattered from your job, but in the words of Shia Lebouf ‘just DO it’. Let go of perfectionism and over-planning as a form of procrastination. Once you’ve started creating, don’t get hung up on tiny imperfections- keep going. Consistency is better than perfection and bad art is better than no art.
And finally, once you've finished your project, don't be afraid to share it! What seems imperfect to you, is bound to impress others. You're a creative, even if your job title says otherwise.
Written by Eleanor Crowe, Photography by Kamila Maciejewska and Lauren Mancke