3 Weird Things I Do to Stay Inspired Every Day
One weird habit has kept me consistently writing for the past four years.
Before I was known as Ev Chapman, Prolific Creator. I was Ev Chapman, Wannabe creator.
I spent 10 years starting all sorts of creative projects only to have them fizzle out after a few months. The longest project I ever kept up was my vlog which I did for a whole year (you can still go and watch the old ones on my Youtube channel!).
So what changed? I changed how I thought about creative work.
Rather than trying to work on the things I thought I *should* work on. I decided only to work on things that sparked me.
I don’t try and push through to get something published that I’m not excited about. I switch gears if things feel forced and I completely abandon some ideas that just don’t do it for me anymore.
It’s not about being undisciplined. I’m very disciplined. I sit down and write everyday.
It’s about creating an environment where writing feels easy & fun - the more we do that the more our brains associate it as being easy & fun (& when things are easy and fun our brain wants to do more of it).
One of the things I do to make sure my writing environment always feels easy is have a toolbox of things that I can turn to when I feel uninspired.
So that way rather than just giving up and doing nothing. I have some tricks in the bag to get my creative spirit stoked again.
Here Are Three Tricks I Use To Get Sparked(Even On The Most Uninspired Days)**
1. Walk Away
Like literally walk. I lace up my shoes and just start walking. Walking clears my head, and paves the way for ideas like no other activity.
The more creative people I meet, the more I realise this is an absolute hack to get creativity flowing again.
I have a few different strategies when I walk.
- Walk in silence. No headphones, no music, no podcasts. Just embrace the silence & see what comes up for you (seriously, try this if you haven’t before, it’s magic).
- Put a podcast on. Quite often I’ll put one of my favourite podcasts on & start walking. Innevitebly creative ideas start to flow (I capture them all in my Tana Capture app via voice notes).
- Take my ideas with me. I’ll bring up a couple of my most recent ideas on my phone, read them & then go out for a walk. My mind starts mulling over them & before I know it ideas are flowing.
There really is something about moving our bodies that gets our brains working.
2. Choose Something Else To Write
I had something else planned to write for this newsletter today. But it just wasn’t sparking for me this week. So I went back into my ideas list & found this draft - and something about it sparked me.
Within half an hour it was ready to go. I could have pushed through for hours trying to write that other thing that didn’t spark. But instead I chose to follow my creative spirit.
The point is - keep a few ideas on the go, so you can shift gears if you need. It doesn’t mean I won’t write about my other idea later. Next week it might spark me again & the idea will just flow.
You just have to find the right timing for your ideas.
3. Open My Spark Inbox
My Spark Inbox is where I keep all the notes from things I’m reading & consuming. It’s literally a pandora’s box for me (except good things come out instead of bad!).
It is full of things that have sparked me while reading. So on the days I feel utterly uninspired I reach in and just start to fish around for something to write about.
It’s always guaranteed to spark something.
Having a toolbox of things that bring you creative inspiration is like a cheatcode to getting into creative flow. You’re toolbox might look different to mine. The key is to have other things that help spark you again.
Whenever you’re ready to turn your unique personal knowledge into powerful ideas - here are three ways I can help:
- Want to get Sparked like this each week? Sign up to my weekly newsletter - The Spark Newsletterwhere I deliver one actionable tip every Sunday to help you bring your ideas to life & share them with the world.
- Want a toolbox of ways you can get sparked? You might want to check out my Spark Toolkit. With over 130+ different prompts & ideas it won’t be long before your creative spirit gets turned on.
- If you want to learn how I turn information into ideas you can share with the world then check out my Atomic Ideas Masterclass.
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