50 Things Not To Do When Creatively Blocked or Uninspired

Marley Betts
14 hours ago
2 min read

You've read the lists of things you can try when you’re creatively blocked, now here’s a list of 50 things NOT to do when feeling creatively blocked or uninspired.

Person in a floral dress vacuums wooden floor in a cozy living room with records on the wall. Mood is calm and domestic. — I simply must vacuum!

Clean the fridge
Vacuum the floor
Cleaning of any kind
Check your emails
Go on social media
Cry
Throw away your work
Berate yourself
Worry that your creativity is gone forever
Try to counteract the effects with excessive pride
Eat an entire box of chocolates
Complain
Give up
Stare at the wall for three hours
Smash something (unless you do mosaics)
Google the names of people you used to go to school/uni/work with
Feel like a failure
Vomit
Try to find faults in your work
Force yourself to create while feeling miserable
Compare yourself with other people
Compare your work with other people’s
Read the news
Ruminate
Keep trying to fix the same problem in the same way, over and over
Doomsay
Spend a lot of money on something that promises a quick fix
Stay awake for 48 hours
Have a nervous breakdown
Argue with anyone
Stay around people who are unsupportive or don’t care about you or your work
Try to get people to feel sorry for you
Keep everything the same
Peg your self-worth on your current feelings
Set fire to your work
Hide and isolate yourself
Take drugs
Get jealous of other people
Ignore a problem
Drink 15 cups of coffee
Cup #15 (I actually took this photo to capture the light and shade in the cup)
Refuse to eat
Refuse to get out of bed
Avoid your work forever
Blame someone or something for your current situation
Create problems or disharmony in the hope that the pain and anguish will provide some creative inspiration
Overthink
Procrastinate
Rearrange your pantry
Organise your stationery by colour and size
Put down other people or their work to make yourself feel better