How To Find Inspiration When You Need It Most

There are times when we could all use some more inspiration, whether you’re lacking creativity, feel flat over the winter, or feel stuck in a rut. It can be hard to get motivated when you feel like this. If you’re lacking in inspiration and finding it hard to get motivated to do what you need to do, then you could try some of these tips and tricks to help you. 

Don’t Give Up On Yourself

If you’re struggling to get inspired, it can be easy to decide that you’ll never get inspired again and that you’re just not a person who is especially motivated or talented. Try not to think like this. Remind yourself that you have been inspired and creative before, and will be again. It’s natural to experience dips in creativity, especially if there are other factors affecting your moods, like stress or even bad weather. Under the right conditions, you can get out of a rut and get your inspiration back. 

Accept That It’s OK To Look To Others

It can sometimes be helpful to look for inspiration elsewhere. If you have creative friends, you could ask them where they get their inspiration from and try some of their ideas. Some people like quotes, (click here for some ideas) whereas others get inspiration from a long walk, or a hot shower. There’s no harm in testing out other people’s methods for getting inspired. You never know what might work for you and help you get back on track. 

Take A Mental Break

Taking a mental break and easing off the pressure to feel inspired can help you to refocus. Taking some time to dig into your own mental processes can help you to find some unexpected sources of inspiration. Stop worrying about it, and inspiration is bound to make a return. 

Use Spontaneity To Your Advantage

Most good ideas come to us spontaneously. If you’re struggling, there’s probably no point in sitting down and trying to come up with ideas. Instead, use your mental break to give yourself space to tap into your spontaneity again. Spontaneous ideas are often the best ones. Even if your first ideas aren’t great, it can be reassuring to find that you can have ideas still, allowing better ones to happen naturally. 

Read Something

Maybe you’ve just run out of ideas. Perhaps you’re in a rut with writing or find you’re cooking the same meals every night. Refreshing your ideas can be incredibly helpful to spark new ideas. Buy a new recipe book, for example, or look for writing prompts online to find new ideas. By reading, you can kick start inspiration by offering some variation on what you usually interact with. 

Team Up With Others

Do you have friends who are experiencing similar struggles with inspiration? Perhaps you’re an artist who has a friend who is also finding it hard to paint, or maybe you’re a writer who knows someone else with writer’s block. Teaming up offers you a different way to work. Brainstorm together, or partner up on a project. Having someone to talk with and bounce ideas off might spark something new, and help you develop ideas you might otherwise have rejected into something worth pursuing. Having someone else to talk to can help you to develop ideas and your friend might see potential in an idea that you can’t. 

Realize That There Are Times When You Won’t Feel Inspired

Having periods of low inspiration is normal and natural, and not really anything worth worrying about. If you need to spend the day in your comfy clothes, relaxing on the sofa, watching TV, or surfing the internet, that’s fine. Perhaps it’s a grey day that’s making you feel flat, or the weather is so hot that you can’t get your brain in gear. An occasional day off is fine and can help you to feel refreshed and better able to work tomorrow. If you need a break, take one without guilt or worry. 

Break Inspiration Into Manageable Pieces

Maybe you can’t come up with one fantastic idea, but you can probably come up with some smaller ideas. If you can think up several small ideas you can build those together to come up with something much bigger, breaking the rut and finding inspiration again. Taking the pressure off having to have ‘the idea’ will let you think up smaller ones and get you underway again. 

Set One Goal

One of the big causes of getting into a slump is feeling overwhelmed. Trying to tackle too many goals at once will make you feel like you have too many things to take on, and can cause you to lose inspiration and motivation. You can’t maintain energy and focus for too many things at once. 

If your to-do list is over-loaded, stop trying to do everything at once. Instead, choose one goal and focus on that. When you’ve ticked off that one goal, tackle another. You’ll soon get focus back if you’re not scattered across several projects. 

Build On Small Successes

By taking on one goal at a time, and starting small, you will find it easier to be successful. It’s harder to fail if you start with something easier. Set a goal like writing 500 words, or cooking an easy soup. Achieving this small success gives you a sense of achievement. When you’ve got your small success nailed, you have something that you can build on with another baby step. By taking small steps, each step will help you feel more successful. By making each step really small, you won’t fail and end up feeling disheartened. After a while, all those small steps will add up to real progress, until real inspiration comes back to you. 

Stop Negative Thinking

Pay attention to any negative thoughts. Catch negative self-talk and squash them. If you’re telling yourself that you’re a failure, you’re never going to feel inspired. Swap negative thoughts for positive ones, like hope and self-belief. 

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