Get Your Mojo Back

Em here, so school is in full on panic mode. The semester is already half over and it's going to be crunch time soon. This last one has been one for the books! When I have a lot going on at school I tend to not feel very creative when it comes to writing for blog land and get discouraged when I feel writers block.

 

I suspect that this feeling comes to many of us when we are in the midst of something we usually love but feel less than creative about currently.

This is me right now.

About the blog.

I am sure you have noticed that I haven't been writing as much, and how much of a Super Woman Marquette is. I really don't know how she does it all.

 When I am writing and reading for assignments at school all the time it can be hard to find the motivation to write for fun here on the blog. School can take the pleasure out of it and I usually have someone telling me what to write about which is hard to not have here on the blog. Lately my brain has had NO idea what to write about because I have literally zero requirements given to me by someone! What a novel idea! Writing whatever you want?! It doesn't have to be on APA style?! No literary sources needed?! Shouldn't I be jumping on this opportunity?

I should!

But my brain hurts! And I am tired and want to do literally ANYTHING but write.

 

How do I get back my creative mojo?!

 

I am sure we have all been here. This can happen with anything really, cooking, crafting, doing our hair/makeup, gardening, workouts, or even blog writing.

So how do we get our Mojo back?!

How do we get out of the rut?!

One thing that can be hard is having TOO many resources. It's hard to focus on one thing, one topic, one specific task. Case in point: Pinterest.

 

http://www.alexandrelaunay.com/

 

 

Pinterest is a seemingly endless supply of creative ideas. But for some of us (myself included) it can be a little daunting. When I do a search on Pinterest for something in particular I tend to not find exactly what I am looking for, or I end up finding WAY too much and then I tend to get discouraged, bombarded, and overwhelmed. All of the sudden I feel the need to cook a homegrown, organic, home cooked, eight course meal that is both  pleasing to the eye, the waste line and nutritious in under thirty minutes. Anyone been there with me? It sucks.

How to fix this:

-Make your searches more refined.

Say you are looking for a garden bench. Try searching for garden bench and then try something more specific, like purple garden bench, or DIY garden furniture, or barn wood garden benches. That way you aren't overwhelmed with every garden bench under the sun staring you in the face, you just see the ones that suite your purpose.

-Be realistic.

For this I would just be more picky about how you organize your pins. Are you really going to paint your living room 15 different colors? Probably not. Does it inspire you and make you smile? Yes! Is there anything wrong with pinning things like this? No.

I would pins things like this to a Smiles board, or Creative Inspiration board, that way you have it when you need it. But for your boards with actual projects pin things to this board that you can actually see having in your home. I have the problem that when I look at my unorganized boards I  get sidetracked from what I would actually use and switch to "Man I wish didn't live in an apartment so I could all this cool stuff." This negativity dampens my creative mood and things tend to just go down from there. Perhaps I am the only one who sees things like this but I am hoping this can be helpful to someone.

 

For whatever it is that you are stuck on, go back to the beginning. In my case I should go back to the first few months of Pinstrosity when I would write ALL the time. I couldn't get enough! I was so excited and enthusiastic! I wanted to write about it all! This may help you see how far you have come and help you to appreciate your own work and gain some confidence.

Going back to where it all began often gives me the fresh eyes I once had that enables me to do my work now.

 

Often playing hooky makes me miss it. If I am having a day where I can tell I am just NOT going to get a post in that day, it makes me crave it! You always want what you can't have.

Having a hard time getting into your workouts?

Take a day or two off. You aren't going to get fat I promise. When I skip a workout lately I feel icky and sluggish. It is just that much more of a push to get my butt off the couch the next day. You don't even have to break the routine all together, go for a walk instead of weight training, go swimming instead of running. Break the routine and you may see why it's been such a drag lately.

 

Sometimes all we need to get out of a rut is a small change, change your music, change your color scheme your working with, instead of baking try cooking or go vegetarian for a few days, challenge yourself. I feel that quite often we get bored with things that were once our favorite activities if we aren't being challenged in someway. Find a way to take it up a notch.

 

Take time for yourself.

I think this is the most important. We as people are generally WAY too busy all of the time. Take a chill day, or a chill 15 minutes. Read a book, take a bath, heck take a nap! It's good for your health, it's good for your sanity and it may be just what you need to break a rut.

 

 

I know this post wasn't a Pinstrosity but maybe it can help prevent some Pinstrosities and get your creative juices flowing.

Thinking of ways to get my mojo back was a fun break from the usual for me and should do the trick in getting me back on track.

Happy Wednesday Pinstrosipeeps!