Why You Should Stop When You’re In The Groove

Boost creativity and prevent writer’s block.

I used to work up until a roadblock, and when I got frustrated, I took a break. It makes sense: work while your productive, and stop when you no longer get results. I thought my drawing professor was crazy when he told my class that the best time to stop drawing is right when you are still in the groove.

That is until I tried it. I found that this workflow method reduced my frustration. I was motivated to return to my work because I wanted to continue working on it, not just because it needed to be done before my next class. I felt that I was becoming more productive. But why?

You’ll Be Motivated to Complete More Work

It sounds ridiculous, why would you stop when you’re putting out quality content that is flowing freely? When you step away, you’ll be motivated to return because you’re in a positive mindset. When you wait until you reach a mental block, the frustration creates negative thoughts that are associated with your work. These negative emotions will deter you from returning to your pieces to finish them.

That’s a problem that I would typically face with my pieces. I would end up with a lot of half-finished drawings that were never reaching their full potential. Once I started to try this strategy, I found that I was completing a lot more pieces because I wanted to complete them. Every time I walked away, I still had the motivation to come back to it.

Intrinsic motivation is associated with increased vitality, positive affect, self‐esteem, absorption, concentration, effort, and persistence. Instead, extrinsic motivation is related to reduced engagement, performance, focus, stability, and increased fatigue. -Brummelhuis, Hoeven, Bakker, Peper

The difference is intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation “is an energizing of behavior that comes from within an individual, out of will and interest for the activity at hand.” When you stop your work while you are productive, you are eager to return to it and have intrinsic motivation.

Alternatively, when you leave off frustrated, you might not want to continue working on the piece other than to just get it done. This is an extrinsic motivation or an external incentive to engage in a specific activity, especially motivation arising from the expectation of punishment or reward.

Intrinsic motivation is stronger than extrinsic motivation. If you are intrinsically motivated, you have more persistence, concentration, and effort in performing a task. Maintaining motivation from within will help you not only finish your work but make it better, too.

You’ll Avoid Creative Blocks

Stopping work while you’re in a productive rhythm can also help prevent a slowdown. You subconsciously think about your work while you step away, so you don’t need to warm up or work through any ruts. You avoid a writer’s block by preventing it from taking place initially.

Creativity comes and goes. If you get stuck and try to push through by continuing to work, you’ll continue to think on a similar path. Walking away and taking breaks will help you return with a fresh perspective.

I mentioned in “Creating an inspiration bank to fuel your creativity” the concept of lateral thinking, a way of solving a problem by thinking about it differently and originally and not using traditional or expected methods. The key to creativity is to explore different thought processes rather than following one linear path.

Creative thinking takes place in the preconscious system, which means creativity doesn’t require conscious thought. Preconscious thoughts are similar to subconscious ones, with one big difference. We are never fully aware of our subconscious thoughts, while preconscious thoughts can become conscious. Since creativity occurs in the preconscious, it occurs before we are fully aware of its existence.

Additionally, the creative process is broken into four steps: preparation, incubation, illumination, and revision. If the ideas stop appearing, you might need to walk away to allow for your preconscious to organize your thoughts before you have a lightbulb moment.

A key component to creativity is cognitive flexibility or the readiness with which one can selectively switch between mental processes to generate appropriate behavioral responses. According to Teresa Amabile, “because cognitive flexibility and complexity are highest under strong intrinsic motivation, creativity depends, in part, on an individual’s level of intrinsic motivation for the work.” Stopping while you’re still motivated will help boost your creativity.

You’ll Avoid Burnout

Stepping away while you are productive helps you avoid burnout. Moments of frustration when you run out of productivity is when you’re no longer motivated to follow through.

Because you’re maintaining motivation and preventing your creativity from hitting a decline, it helps you continue continuously create and pick up right where you left off and want to come back for more.

Burnout should be conceptualized as a primarily work-related syndrome of (at least) exhaustion and depersonalization/cynicism. — Schaufeli, Taris

Burnout stems from mental fatigue. Ending an activity before you feel like it will help prevent you from getting tired of it, and thus avoid getting burned out.

Maintaining intrinsic motivation is especially important for avoiding burnout. Extrinsic motivation and accompanying factors might be why some people are more susceptible to ending up in a downward cycle of burnout.

Additionally, intrinsically motivated people can break out of burnout. Maintaining a positive attitude towards your work won’t just help you finish your piece in the short term, but maintain an interest in writing in the long term.

Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can appear in both a temporary state form (affected by the environment) and a more stable personality trait form (relatively consistent across time and across situations). — Amabile

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are typically thought of as being relatively consistent, however, your work environment can affect your motivation. Maintaining a positive work environment can help prevent lowering your intrinsic motivation, and protect yourself from burnout.

Final Thoughts

Lapses in creativity, loss of motivation, and burnout are inevitable and a part of the creative process. However, forcing yourself to walk away, especially when your creative juices are flowing and the words are flying out from under your fingertips, is key to minimizing low points.