3 Understandings That Help You Dissolve Creative Blocks Within Minutes

How to free yourself from procrastination

Procrastination is always the product of warring inner parts: One part of you wants to bring meaningful work into the world or embark on some unfamiliar adventure.

Yet another part is content to eat waffles in bed, and never pursue anything creative or adventurous again.

The problem, of course, is that your creative, adventurous parts never go away, no matter how many waffles you eat. They whisper and taunt you until you’re disappointed or tense about what could be.

Unattributed, obnoxious quotes haunt you, like this one:

“Hell is where the person you could have been meets the person you became.”

The following strategies have helped me dissolve creative blocks by satisfying both parts: the ones who want to bring forth creative work, as well as the parts that need proof that what I’m doing is truly worth the strain and sacrifice.

Solve any problem by distilling it into its smallest components

In my experience, I procrastinate when I focus on several different problems at once. In my case, it usually happens when attempting to re-write a rough draft of an article: at first glance, I see an array of different kinds of issues I want to correct.

It becomes paralyzing — when there are so many different issues to resolve, it’s easy to wonder where and how to start.

Yet when I break the issue down into a series of steps that feel overly simple, clarity becomes automatic. When you stop zooming out and instead focus on micro-optimizations, one at a time, solutions present themselves.

For example, when editing a rough draft, I minimize overwhelm by breaking the process into distinct, isolated processes: one round is for conveying information accurately, the second for conveying it logically, and the third for being concise.

Breaking problems into their smallest components is especially relevant in the writing process, but you can take this orientation to anything: cleaning a kitchen counter, changing your guitar strings, or as you’re un-peeling relationship conflicts, layer by layer.

When the process is understood in terms of isolated processes, nothing seems beyond your reach. In this way, creative blocks remove their masks and reveal themselves to be products of the way you were approaching the problem, not the problem itself.

Let your creativity flow through goal-oriented containers

Do constraints stimulate creativity? In my experience, they do. When I feel boundless, like I must create something out of nothing, I get stuck.

For instance, have you ever set a vague intention such as “I’m going to work on my website/book/business this week”? The lack of boundaries can feel heavy and dizzying.

Holistic doctor of the soul and inner work guru Kelly Brogan speaks of how containers can unleash creativity. She speaks about them in terms of archetypal masculine and feminine dynamics.

From an archetypal perspective, the masculine is the home of order and structure while the feminine represents your receptive, creative side.

When you’re doing work (especially if it invites creativity), you can release procrastination by setting up different types of containers.

For example, when I write, I enjoy setting a timer (I use clockify) and using the pomodoro technique, working within 25-minute intervals. Then I usually set a goal related to what I’d like to complete within a given amount of time.

These structural elements serve as (masculine) containers through which the (feminine) receptive, creative processes can flow. Procrastination, along with tension and anxiety about what I’m supposed to be doing, fades.

Create a fresh identity by building momentum

If you’re struggling to move forward with something, one of the best ways to ensure you stay stuck is to create massive, heroic goals for yourself at the outset.

Instead, you can slice through resistance by building an appetite for the process. To get started with anything, make a goal to do less than you have the capacity for. Focus not on heroic efforts but on doing the smallest, most doable amount consistently.

Taking consistent, yet minor steps helps you create identity-level shifts. By taking action, no matter how small, you demonstrate to yourself that you are the kind of person who creates a musical catalog, writes books, builds websites, or whatever you want to do.

That proof then creates a natural motivation to continue. You don’t need to rely on willpower, not only because small actions alter your self-concept, but because you’ve minimized resistance by making the desired action within your capacity.

After you’ve consistently shown up in a small way, you can incrementally increase your commitment. But don’t do this too soon: if you push yourself beyond your initial constraint too early, you can generate resistance.

You’re ready for a deeper commitment when you authentically want to make it, not because a “should” statement is breathing down your neck. :)

For more tools that help you raise the volume of your inner genius without becoming overwhelmed, tense, or self-critical, I invite you to read on…