Why Having A Good Tidy & Declutter Is So Good For Creativity And My Other Favourite Ways To Think Of New Ideas
Something that we can all probably agree on is that once you hit a roadblock with your creativity and ideas process then it can be really difficult to break out of as well as incredibly frustrating. No matter what you do that block just doesn't shift and then the panic starts to set in, I have a mini-meltdown at least once a week that I might have used up all my good ideas and that I'm a complete failure. Dramatic, obviously but the fear is real. But there is one thing that really helps me get my mojo back is and that is tidying and decluttering, which also happens to be my favourite way to procrastinate so let me tell you a little more about why that is.
TIDY DESK, TIDY MIND
You know that age-old saying that is probably very irritating if you have no interest in tidying is something that I wholeheartedly believe in. I'm not one of those people who can be creative in chaos. For me, there is something so calming and soothing about having a clean desk space and environment to work in. Not being surrounded by mess and clutter helps my mind feel less cluttered and then I'm not so distracted by a thousand other things that are going on around me meaning I get a whole lot more done in the long run. And it's not about having the most Pinterest worthy desk in the world, it's about having a space that boosts your mood and makes you want to sit down and get stuff done.
it can be cathartic
Organising and decluttering is one of those things that I've always done whenever I feel super stressed or upset about something. It's something that makes me weirdly feel much better about just about anything. It clears my head and makes me feel at peace with a multitude of things. But one of the biggest things it can do is seriously boost my creativity and take me away from thinking about needing to create something. It's so easy to fall into the trap of panicking when you can't think of something so taking your mind away from the situation can help so much. I know that my best ideas are usually born from when I'm doing the most meaningless task that is far from inspiring, somehow it just works. Something else it can help me do is look at things in a different light too, if I'm stuck on a project then I know taking a step back, doing something as dull as the dishes can give me that push I need.
exercise, podcasts and living life
A question that I often get asked is how I think of my ideas for my blog posts. And part of me wishes there was this really interesting reason behind them but there really isn't. But the one thing that never helps me is sitting down in front of my screen waiting for inspiration or a really good idea to arrive in front of me. In a lot of ways, I believe that we earn our ideas from getting things done. So for me, those things, alongside having a really good tidy are doing a little bit of exercise whether that be rolling out my yoga mat or going for a long walk with my dog in the forest. Listening to a podcast I love [check out my favourites here] and living life. Getting out and getting things done is something that never fails me when it comes to thinking of new ideas. But sitting down at my desk panicking that I can't think of anything is something that fails every single time.
don't rely on your inspiration to give you ideas
I think the line of what inspires you and the thing that gives you your ideas can often be very blurred and more often than not, whether it's on purpose you can end up creating the exact same thing as someone else. It's something that happens time and time and obviously, there is rarely such thing as an original idea anymore because we take inspiration from pretty much everything we see on a daily basis. And I could be totally wrong with this one but I like to turn to the things that inspire me for when I need a creative boost and I feel a little bit lost with what I'm doing but not when my ideas are running low.
How do you prefer to work? Are you a tidy desk, tidy mind kind of person?
