How to Get Unstuck

Practical (surprisingly simple?) ways to find your way back to inspiration.

my weekend vibe :)

Confession: I’ve struggled with pretty bad writer’s block over the past few weeks. My slow summer was going so well, until it just wasn’t slow anymore.

This month has been packed with a lot of travel (three trips), and because of that, I’ve been cramming too many things into the days when I’m home. When that happens, the first thing that goes is creative time. Time to write, time to brainstorm and soak up inspiration. I have a hard time coming up with new ideas when I am constantly rushing from one thing to the next or struggling with to-do’s. Lately it’s been a whole lot of admin and focusing on the parts of my job that make money, vs. the parts that fill my cup (like my usual cozy Friday essays).

Last week, my brain felt empty. Nothing flowed; I stared at the blinking cursor. Rather than forcing something, I made you a list of some of my favorite Substackers. My editor suggested I think about documenting how I get myself “unstuck,” and that’s what I did.

Monday was a bit of a wash. I made it back from Michigan at 11 a.m. I was dehydrated and tired so wasn’t performing at my best. I had physical therapy (yay, old age!) but managed to get quite a lot done in between and after. But it was all either admin stuff or working reactively, on a deadline, not creating new work.

Tuesday was better. I woke up early and got right into work before a hair appointment. That day, I had my video shoot, and I always get my hair done for shoots as a) I am terrible at blowing out my own hair and b) I can sit and work. I felt like I was able to break through the weeds as I sat there with my laptop and a Baba’s iced coffee.

Then, I sat down and made a list.

I love my planner as it has places for priority 1, 2, and 3 (plus a slot for your schedule and notes). So each day, it forces you to think about the must-do’s and the nice-to-have’s. I generally use “priority 3” for life admin tasks.

When I feel stuck, the best thing I can do for myself is to make a very organized list of exactly what I need to do. Following that, here are a few things to try to break free.

Ensure your basic needs are being met

So much of the time when I feel stuck or stressed, it’s because I didn’t get enough sleep or haven’t had anything to eat. I’ll feel myself spiraling and force myself to eat a snack (my go-to right now is a chicken teriyaki snack stick; it’s equal parts tasty and packed with protein) and drink an entire glass of water. I usually feel better (or at least a little more capable) after doing that.

Put “low-stakes creative time” on your calendar

Over the course of a week, I try to siphon off a few hours just to think and write. Maybe it will be productive creative time (I’ll write an entire Substack post, come up with clever Reels/shoot ideas, or come up with future blog post/Substack ideas); maybe it won’t. Spending time on Pinterest and cruising the web for inspiration is just as important as checking off your to-do’s. I find this more “low-stakes” creative time to be really restorative. It also makes me better at my job.

Get out into the world!

I can struggle with this, as I am a homebody, and after a lot of travel, once I get home I just want to be in. the. house. But getting outside of my comfort zone always helps to bring new inspiration. It can be as simple as a sunset walk, but strolling around downtown Charleston or going to a museum is extra helpful for me.

Mix it up

They say that mental ruts can come from over-familiarity. Making tiny changes to your work routine or trying something new can help trick your brain out of auto-pilot. You can do this on a small scale (for example, on Tuesday I sat down at the opposite end of my dining table, wrote with a pen and notebook vs. on my laptop, and listened to classical music when I usually work in silence) or on a larger scale. My primary creative medium is writing, and spending some time painting or sketching after work has helped me unlock my creativity.

Move your body

Did you know that movement is actually directly tied to creativity? There’s this Stanford study that suggests a quick walk can increase your creative output by 60 percent. Other research has found similar links between even light activity and creative thinking. Your environment doesn’t matter; even the treadmill (or walking in circles around your living room, lol) is fine.

Clean something

My toxic trait is that I cannot think if my house is messy. Sometimes it feels insurmountable, but even just taking the time to unpack and run a few loads of laundry eases some of the tension in my brain. If you only have ten minutes, clean up around your work area. Out of sight = out of mind!

Give yourself made-up constraints

I’m a big fan of setting timers. I wrote this blog post but later realized that I was essentially using the Pomodoro Method (25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of rest, repeated in cycles). And while I am a big believer in using this for my day-to-day, sometimes I need to give myself a kick in the pants. I’ll set a timer and tell myself, “Oh my god, this project is late, I have to get it done in 20 minutes.” For whatever reason, this works. I don’t like to do it too often (intentionally stressing myself out isn’t ideal) but when I really need to boost my productivity or get out of a rut, giving myself a fake (often unreasonably short) deadline lights a fire under me.

When all else fails? Sit down and read a chapter of The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin This book never fails to stoke my creativity. I’d love to hear from you—what do you do when you’re stuck? Maybe your trick will help me (and the rest of us), too.

So much goodness in this month’s installment of Pinned & Noted

Carly’s roundup of vintage finds is a really good one. Those chairs! That snail!

What shoes to wear with a mini dress.

Bringing the drama with classic black & white pieces (and one of my favorite dresses)

Pinned & Noted: everything on my radar right now: books, cocktail inspiration, beauty launches, and fall shopping.

If you love gourmand (think vanilla, brown sugar) fragrances, you must try this new Korres scent.

I finished Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum. I ended up loving it, and think it is my favorite of all her books! Yes, some of the characters felt a little too close to home (Nell Diamond, Eva Chen, David Chang, lolz), but it was a) some excellent satire and b) very twisty with a quality mommy takedown. This would make a great beach read! Order on Bookshop.org or Amazon.com.

Next on the list (I’m literally working my way down my Summer Reading List!) was L.A. Women, by Ella Berman. I think I’m having a problem with books that are a little too inspired, as this one felt like Joan Didion/Eve Babitz fan-fiction, especially after having read Didion/Babitz earlier this year. Still, I love Ella Berman, so I kept going. I am not sure I’ll stick with this; I might DNF. (If you have read it, please let me know if it’s worth continuing!)