Every once in a while, we wake up on a Wednesday morning, right in the middle of the week, to face our least welcomed enemy: lack of inspiration. There is something about the lack of inspiration that makes my bed feel a hundred times more comfortable. It’s tough to get the creative juices flowing because, for some unexplainable reason I’ve lost my fuel. I’m sure I’m not the only one fortunate enough to have this problem, so today I want to share with you 7 random things that I do that almost always work.
The first thing to understand is that inspiration doesn’t always lie at the heart of the horizon with a beautiful sunset above it. If you look too hard, it might get even more disheartening if you don’t find it. I’ve found that the littlest of things can inspire me and they’re all at the core of my smallest guilty pleasures:
This has been one of my secret pleasures ever since school. There’s nothing better than raiding a stationary store and bringing home a new collection of pens, papers, rulers, notebooks and pretty organization tools. The new stuff makes me want to unwrap them and start using them straight away. While you’re at it, you can consider buying yourself a nice new planner, the kind of planner that you’d want to see everyday for the next year of your life (or at least for however long you manage to maintain it). Getting organized has an irreplaceable refreshing feeling to it.
It doesn’t have to be Cherry Clafoutis or Sacher Torte (unless that’s easy-peasy for you). Baking can be fun even if its simple homemade chocolate cake. The important bit is to make sure you pay attention to the details. I like to keep my baking clean, have all my ingredients ready and organized so when I put them together I feel I could be hosting a cooking show. Once you’ve given every step its due attention: whisked the eggs in the chef-recommended direction; added small secret elements of your own to your own taste; you end up with a product that looks perfect in your eyes. It might not guarantee your creativity to surge and for you to suddenly find inspiration for the book you’ve been meaning to write, but it does a great job of occupying your mind and keeping you off your bed. Plus, it’s very easy to motivate yourself to stir a giant bowl of chocolate batter that will ultimately be dessert.
Once again, the piece you choose doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. Find something simple. I enjoy coloring things in more than I enjoy drawing them, so I stick to comic book characters. I give them nice bold outlines and re-live my childhood coloring-book days. It’s the act of opening a new blank page and filling it in that excites me more than what it is I’m drawing.
The state of my room can affect the state of my mind if I’m not careful. It sounds tedious, but cleaning can be therapeutic. If there’s just too much stuff to organize, empty all of it on your bed and slowly begin putting them into place. Clean every corner, mop every inch and the feeling of relief when it’s all over will invite you to sit at your table and reward yourself with some fresh work… after you shower that is. Which brings me to my next trick:
Nothing is better than treating to your self to a nice, long, warm shower at any time of the day. Get your favorite shampoos and fragrances out; line up some fresh clothes; have your post-shower cosmetics ready and prepare yourself for an hour-long of warm water and deep thoughts. Even if you’re out of inspiration at 3pm, a shower can condition your mind into thinking your day has just begun.
Spend a good amount of time picking the perfect outfit. Ready yourself from head to toe so that you feel clean and fresh. Then carry your things and take a confident walk to an entirely different environment that you can sit down and immerse yourself into while you work.
The final and most difficult thing to do: stay away from social media. For one day, it doesn’t matter what the world is up to. Today is about you. Even if you’ve just bought the prettiest stationary, baked the most delicious cake, drawn your newest piece of art, cleaned your room till it shone and wore your best clothes… wait until tomorrow to tell the world. There will be two things to watch out for when you’re feeling under inspired: How comfortable your bed looks, and how inspired everyone else in the world is.
I hope these 7 things have given you motivation to find little pleasures for yourself that you’d want to indulge in. Is there something completely random that inspires you? Tell us on Facebook, or follow our Instagram for regular inspirational quotes.