"The Flawed Logic Behind Common Creativity Hacks" (Creator's Block, Ep. 56)

Here's the thing about being a marketing creative -- whether you're a designer, developer, or content creator.

There is this constant pressure to perform. To be creative. To stay creative. To be able to spontaneously produce compelling, engaging, inspiring products for clients out of thin air and on-demand. 

It's great that our work has given us a reputation of being creative wizards, but sometimes the idea of having to live up to those expectations can be stressful.

In an act of genuine good faith, our own industry of creative professionals has attempted to solve this problem. While there is some really good stuff out there, most of the content that's supposed to help you be more creative is useless -- either because it's totally unrealistic or utter nonsense.

"You have to freelance on the side. You need to write 1,000 words before dawn. You must doodle. Here are 751 writing prompts you didn't ask for. Take a walk. Go on a vacation you probably don't have time for. Take a class you can't afford. Dance like nobody's watching. If you're a writer, try painting your story. If you're a painter, take a stab at writing. Write a novel in 100 words. Record every single idea you have and review them on a weekly basis. Consider how a bee would solve your problem."

It's gotten to the point where it's more exhausting to sift through all of the bad creativity hacks out there than to just suffer with our momentary feelings of being uninspired.

That's what we wanted to talk about this week. It's a new year, so we're all focused on how we can be our best creative selves in 2018. But what should that look like, and how do we get there?

Enjoy!

Listen to the Episode

What We Talked About

• How do we know if we're not being creative enough, or we're just going through the normal creative process?
• How can we spot the difference between the good creativity hacks and the bad ones?
• Do you need to freelance on the side?
• How have we inspired ourselves?
• Plus, a small rant on why all of your blog posts need introductions.

Resources We Discussed

• The Rothko Room at the Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.)
• 6.5 Tips to Staying Creative
• 9 Ways to Become More Creative in the Next 10 Minutes
• 101 Tips on How to Become More Creative
• The Pocket Guide to Creativity

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First, subscribe to Creator's Block on Apple Podcasts. Second, have a question or an idea for a future episode of the podcast? Let us know! 

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• Jessie-Lee: Twitter, Instagram
• Marcella: Twitter, Instagram
• Liz: Twitter, Instagram 

Or, you can leave us a comment below! Until next week...