Cures for creative block. (And all-round procrastination.)

Design site ISO50 asked 25 artists worldwide to share their methods for overcoming creative block. Four samples:

Generally speaking, I seem to get a block quite often (as I’m guessing most creatives do?). I’ve found the only way to get through it, is to just keep working and getting ideas down no matter how insignificant they may seem. Hitting a brick wall and trying to get over it can be the hardest and most frustrating thing in the world! Most of my inspiration comes from lyrics / books etc… so reading and listening to music seems to work quite well for me – the words will spark something for me to build on and give me a small thought to explore and see where it takes me.

–Si Scott is a British graphic designer and illustrator.

When I have a creative block, I do a few different things:

• Take long showers. Somehow I can think little differently while I’m in the shower. It washes away my old thoughts and I feel renewed.
• Clean my surroundings. I cannot think clearly when there’s a mess around me.
• If it still doesn’t work, I go for a bike ride and I try not to think about the project at all.

Somehow things always work out in the end.

- Ji Lee is the creative director of Google Creative Labs.

The first and best thing to do for me is to stop trying to force it and step away for a bit. The importance of taking a break can’t be stressed enough. Then usually I find a lot of inspiration in bookstores. It’s really one of my favorite pastimes and one of the best ways I relax. A stack of books & magazines and some coffee. Sometimes I’ll bring my computer but most of the time its a good chance to get away from a screen and flip through pages and just read, look, and absorb a lot of great stuff. Art books & magazines, music, culture, design, sports, tattoos…the things I enjoy the most. I load up on that stuff and that almost always helps me through. build on and give me a small thought to explore and see where it takes me.

-Chuck Anderson is a designer/artist based in Michigan.

I often find myself in a creative rut of some sort...When I find myself in these situations I notice that the more I push myself to get results the more I tend to come up short. Regardless, I have several weapons in my rut fighting arsenal; walks, conversations, drawing, reading, records, magazines, vintage shopping, window shopping, digging in old sketchbooks, staring off into space, yoga, TV, red wine, scotch, weed, etc, etc, etc. I definitely try to avoid trolling the web in search of inspiration. It seems too easy and it has become too commonplace in my opinion.

At the end of the day, most of what I feel are my strongest ideas just hit me when I least expect it…When I’m bed, the shower, on the subway, or a meeting or something. When I am not focused on the quest for ideas. It’s like all the energy I release looking for them causes a cloud to build around me that has to clear before then can get to me.

–Christopher David Ryan of Atmostheory, a design studio in Maine.

H/T: Andrew Sullivan.