Just like any creative project, even the ones that bring us the most joy, we often have to deal with lulls in inspiration (and as a result, lack of productivity). Sometimes it actually becomes difficult for me to even do projects I really want to pursue, because the drive dies down a bit over time. We’ve experienced that here on The Blog Market and with our other businesses, so we really wanted to share some ways we’ve reminded ourselves of why we love these projects, and how we’ve gotten back on track when we’re down:
Get business cards
Even though we don’t give our cards out daily, and we certainly don’t attend a ton of networking events, this was a major source of inspiration for us recently. Not only do we know the value of them just in branding and promoting our biz, but once we received the pretty designs Jenn made, we actually felt compelled to hand them out. This in turn started more conversations in real life with people about what we do, which got us inspired to dream up new content.
Plan a meet up
Whether it’s your business partner, co-workers, or just a supportive friend, it’s important to have in-person meet ups. As much of an introvert as I am, I find that after I’ve had a good, long, in person conversation with someone without an agenda, I walk away with a fresh perspective. Just make sure these inspirational meet ups are with someone you connect with creatively. When your business is in something as niche as blogging, it’s easy to run into people who don’t quite get your vision or struggles.
Add a new feature
How many times have we talked about opening a shop in conjunction with The Blog Market now? Since we launched, probably! But it was such a big task, we held off for quite some time. However, committing to our stock photo shop was a major source of inspiration at a time when we couldn’t seem to get all that inspired about new content. It gave us something new to work on, and setting aside a time to take photos for the shop helped me reimagine my vision for TBM, blogging, and photography. It doesn’t have to be big–we’ve still only launched a few products–but getting the ball rolling is sure to freshen things up.
Dedicate a day to “the big picture”
Some of us are detail-oriented, thriving on small steps and short-term goals. Others prefer to focus on the overall scope of an idea or vision. I’d consider myself in both camps. I need detailed daily to-do lists, for example, yet my dreams of the future are what ultimately keep me going. So I think that anytime you start to get caught up in the day-to-day, it’s easy to let your “why” fade away. Instead of reminding yourself why you’re in this or why you started or where you want to be, you are too overwhelmed with the task at hand. But the big picture usually much more accurately reflects our dreams and goals, so I think it’s super important to remind ourselves of them! Dedicating a day to getting out of that to-do list mindset and into the vision always inspires me.
Go back to basics
Sometimes when we need to come up with a big idea for our business–content, a logo, a product–we over think it. It just happens when you’re too close to a project. If you’ve reached a wall, here’s a trick I find helpful: Force yourself to list out ideas that seem so basic, so simple, that you’ve overlooked them. Keep pointing out the obvious. Maybe even set a timer and force yourself to list these unoriginal or bad ideas until then. I think it’s a great way to stumble upon perspectives you may have missed and I do this all the time with content. You’ll likely end up with “how have I not covered this yet? It’s so important!” or “how did I not think of that before?” and if not new ideas, you’ll at least have a jumping off point for more unique ones.
What do you do when you’ve hit that wall?
Stephanie says
I actually just did the “Big Picture” thought with my blog. I’m coming back from hitting a wall. I just wasn’t as motivated in doing it and it’s not because I don’t enjoy it, but other things were getting in the way and I was in a weird life place, so it’s been a little bit of an uphill battle. But kind of forcing myself to remember why I wanted to do it has gotten my creativity flowing a little again and it’s becoming fun again!
Charmaine Ng says
I’ve only joined meet ups but have never planned one, reason being there aren’t many English bloggers where I live in Hong Kong. But maybe I should take the initiative seeing how important it is.
– Charmaine
http://charmainenyw.com