How to overcome severe creative block

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So I have been suffering from a very bad case of creative block. I just seem to have lost my passion for my art, which is serious because it's also my career. I do what I can, but I'm worried that I won't get out of this funk fast enough.

I'm getting quite desperate now. This has been going on for a few months and it has taken a toll on my mental health. I'm doing everything I can to overcome it. I challenge myself to keep working, but some days I barely have the energy to do basic household tasks. I don't know how much of this has to do with a resurgence of depression or if it's simply a lack of inspiration, but I'm getting sick of it. It's gone on long enough.

This isn't just some small slump - I can usually get through one of those. I truly feel as if my passion is dying and i don't know how to reignite those feelings.

So fellow creatives, how have you managed to overcome this? What do you do when you have gone through months and months or even years of this?

Please let me know, thank you.

I have this too at the moment (well, more like the last year or two) but luckily it's not my career or anything important like that.
I hope you find the way out soon. Did it just come out of nowhere? Do you do anything just now?

I;m sorry you are going through the same. Even hobbies should be fulfilling and when you lose joy from it, it can be hard to escape the tedium of everyday life.

I don't think it was completely out of nowhere. I've always been a perfectionist and over the past few years I have been having various bouts of anxiety and depression, which have killed my motivation. I think it could be that because I am anticipating stress (considering that I am about to do my honors year at uni) perhaps I am subconsciously avoiding the stress by associating the creative process with mental pain.

At the moment. I try to chip away at work as best as I can, but with little progress. I'm very goal oriented so when I;m not achieving things or doing stuff it makes me feel very uncomfortable. I try to keep busy with chores and work and things like that but when it comes to my art it is very hard to invest much into it. It's just painful to do it and the very thought of that disturbs me to my core. I feel as if I'm losing an important part of who I am.

For me, usually trying something new helps kick art block's as*. if you usually do traditional, try going digital, or something like that. Or try a new style and experiment. Just let your hands go through the motions.

Anxiety and stress can definitely interfere with the creative process! I think you are probably onto something with associating the creative process with mental pain.

I think sometimes the stall in the creative process can be a signal that one is overwhelmed and exhausted. Have you done anything to take time off from life? A vacation, extra sleep? Do you have friends that you could just go out with for fun? What about getting out into nature - a hike or a day at the beach?

I usually have creative ideas flowing, flowing, flowing. I keep many of my ideas in a book even if they have not started to take actual form. That helps me if I get "stuck" in regards to ideas and can't think of anything new.

However, sometimes the creative process stalls because I am just beyond fried. It is like all the neurons have fired all there is to fire and nothing is left to give. Then, I am in a place where my mind just needs healing and rest.

One time this past spring, I was working so, so hard for about two weeks straight under a deadline. I was getting close to being finished and all of a sudden, my whole body felt like it was starting to break down. I started feeling physically sick (like a cold/mild flu) because I had been *thinking* so hard. I had to take a couple of days to do something completely brainless. It actually hurt to think - giving me a headache! If I had been going like that longer than those two weeks straight, I probably would have needed more time to recover. But, if I had kept on going, I might have had some sort of breakdown or medical problem.

I take a good amount of time "off" during the week. Sometimes, I take naps. Sometimes, I mess around on the computer. I watch an occasional movie. Do a craft, play a card game, etc. These mini breaks help me to be refreshed enough to keep going. It may be that you were going, going, going too long and need a longer break.

My experiences in the arts has been that I go through periods of creative work punctuated by fallow periods where I feel I have lost every creative skill I ever had. When I return to the creative work I find I have learned something during my time off from the work. While I don't like them, I've come to accept the creative blocks as just part of the process. The one consolation is that I am still learning even if I'm not producing work. When I return to creative work I always find my skills have improved.

If you make your living doing work in your primary creative field, you will need to find methods to keep doing work despite the feeling of inadequacy during the blocks. If you are not able to work during the blocks, you might be better off working in a parallell field that doesn't matter as much to you and doesn't fill you with as much self doubt. In my case, my personal work is in still photography, but I make my living in video production. Even if I'm blocked in my personal work, I can still function in my job because I am less bound up with anxiety at possible failure.

Sometimes struggling to overcome the block will only make things worse. During a bad block, you might find that if you focus on non-creative tasks, you might actually get through the block faster. In a real world situation, you might find that working on pursuing new clients or making your work space more efficent might give up a break that actually accomplishes something.

It your block lasts more than a couple of weeks (I've had a few that have lasted years) you will still need to do some kind of work but you may have to accept that it will feel banal and pointless. If it's your living you may not have a choice but to push through with work that doesn't appeal to you. But if you can take a break, even if it seems to take too long, you may find you are a far better artist when you return.

Jagatai is completely right.


I write lyrics for a metalcore band (watch that space!) and I find when I have hit a creative wall the best thing to do is let it run it's course; I often find that when it's finished, I am suddenly very inspired by something, maybe an old song, or a view, or a picture, or something that bothers/angers/upsets me.


So my advice is to follow jagatai's advice. Focus on non-creativity for a while, and then come back to creativity. Fill the days until you feel the proverbial "itch" again.


I hope this helps.

I've been struggling with block this whole summer, unable to write hardly a word. I think a major part of that is, our daughter is home all day - and is up late - as there is no school. I write mostly at night when everyone else is asleep, so there is doubtlessly a change in everyday routine. As much as I love my little girl and having her around, for the sake of my writing I look forward to her going back to school.