30 Creatives From Across the World Share Secrets for Breaking Through Creative Roadblocks
We’ve all been there – caught in the shrieking silence of the idea void. Stuck in a blank page-induced thought paralysis. It’s as if the creative juices have been sucked out, leaving behind a shrivelled up sack of dull where your brain used to be. Inspiration is now just somebody that you used to know.
Melodramatics aside, it’s tough when you get trapped. The roadblocks seem to pile up, feeling insurmountable sometimes. And while we usually find our way out, there are certainly ways of expediting the process.
That’s why we asked over 30 creative folks to tell us their secrets for getting out of the slump. Here’s what they had to say.
Tim Hyland
Creative director, Whalar EMEA
I’ve been on the edge of creative expression since I was 12 years old — whether in the music industry, commercial film, or now in advertising and marketing. Every single project that I’ve been part of, there’s a fear that my creative energy might vanish, like a finite pool of ideas or a candle that’s always burning down. At some point, you think, it’ll just be a dried-up nothingness — a blob of wax. But, here I am at 34, with over five albums, hundreds of videos, and countless social campaigns behind me. Somewhere along the way, I redefined the idea of ‘creative block’.
To me, creativity is born from an emotional ember — anger, intrigue, love, and happiness. The best ideas make you feel something, and then you want others to feel it too. For me, it’s about validating that everything I feel isn’t unordinary or odd. Maybe that’s why I was such a devoted emo.
So perhaps ‘creative block’ should really be called ‘emotional block’. If you’re not connecting the dots that make up our unique, messy, and brilliant human experiences, what’s holding you back emotionally? Go out and feel something. Dig out that old sad record, watch the funniest film you can find, or put on a documentary about that obscure band your dad used to love. Don’t be afraid of stepping into the unexplored corners or even the irrelevant ones. Some of my favourite ideas have come from the weird, the wonderful, and the most interpretative films, art, and music.
One of my favourite examples of this in action was watching our chairman at Whalar, Sir John Hegarty – the expert and king of creative – analyse a piece of content we created for a car brand. The story was a loose narrative, with numerous performative elements. There was this one frame — a woman dancing. He paused, studied it, and said, “That’s it. That’s the idea.” Just from the shape of her movement, a seemingly small, insignificant frame became the spark for a massive creative opportunity.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that transcendental meditation helps me. Sometimes, realigning and refocusing your mind — then letting yourself feel something without it dictating your entire being — can be the perfect route into creativity.
Andrés Ordóñez
Global chief creative officer at FCB
I often say that “creativity is like a muscle. You have to continually train it.” But just like training your body, you need time to rest and recover to come back stronger — and the same goes for creative ideas. When faced with creative blocks, there are different and equally great ways to overcome them.
For me, one of them is running. Putting one foot in front of the other with music or a podcast lets me switch off and come back with a fresh perspective on how the creative should look, or a new approach to the problem we’re trying to solve. It’s also another way to push my limits. Running takes me to a very different place and allows ideas to flow in a unique way. Listening to a particular playlist or genre — or hearing someone talk about something entirely different — allows me to reset and explore ideas from a fresh angle.
I also love to bring others into the process. Collaboration is an incredible tool. Fresh eyes can provide new perspectives, and simply talking through a challenge with someone else often sparks something unexpected. It’s one of the reasons I love working in such a collaborative environment. Our ability to share, support, and elevate each other always helps push the work forward because ultimately, we’re better together.
Rick Chant
Executive creative director and founder at We Are Pi
One of my favourite quotes from psychologist and Nobel Prize winner, Daniel Kahneman is, “Thinking is to humans as swimming is to cats. They can do it, but they’d prefer not to.” Walking on the other hand is a different kettle of cats altogether.
While thinking might make us howl in protest, walking is the magical cure for all creative blocks. Walking gives your mind legs, so next time you're in a rut, get outside and reap the positive effects of putting one foot in front of the other.
Don't just take my word for it. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that “All great thoughts are conceived by walking." A study from Stanford found that “walking opens up the free flow of ideas" and a Psychology Today report found a 60% increase in creative output when participants walked compared to sitting. This boost in creativity extends after the act of walking itself, with individuals maintaining heightened creativity even after sitting down to watch ‘Cash in the Attic’.
Wait, there's more. According to Colombia University walking with someone else has the added benefit of 'motor synchrony.' A fancy term that suggests walking together aligns rhythms and gestures which enhances collaborative problem-solving abilities. In other words, when two people move together, their brains synchronise, improving communication and the free flow of ideas.
If it’s good enough for Tchaikovsky, Einstein, and Steve Jobs, it’s certainly good enough for me. So next time you find yourself stuck in the creative mud, do what they did, lace up your shoes, grab a friend, a colleague or countryman and let the pavement do its magic. After all, a good walk may not solve everything, but it sure beats staring at a screen hoping for some form of algorithmic intervention. Or even worse, another Zoom call.
Charlie Hurst
Executive creative director at JvM London
Having a creative block is par for the course. Who can’t complain about the occasional blockage? For me, there was only ever one thing to do. Stop completely. Down tools. Walk away and do something else. And after some time. The blockage would, well, unblock itself.
What I didn’t realise was, that time was a luxury.
I’ve noticed many changes in our industry over the past decade or so; many for the better, but without a doubt, one of the worst ones is how creative time has been slowly, bit by bit, day by day, cut to the bone. Eroded; to the bare minimum needed to complete the task.
Long gone are the days when you had the space to get it wrong. To just think freely, f**k it up, get a rollocking and start from scratch, inspired and reinvigorated and go on to bigger and better ideas.
The expectation more than ever is to get it right, the first time of asking, with little to no space to make mistakes, improve and find new, better answers or go in a completely different direction altogether.
Clients are under increasing pressure to deliver more for less, faster; that pressure naturally filters down and of course, we must adapt or die – but if there’s one thing worth fighting for, it’s that little bit of extra time. Because it’s with that little bit of extra time that the best stuff will end up just naturally sneaking up on you.
Now, go do nothing for a bit.
Shelley Adamson
Freelance creative director
When I’m up against a creative block — whether it’s tricky feedback, a tough UX problem, or pitch ideas that aren’t clicking — I rely on three go-to tactics. First, I set a short timer to tackle the problem head-on; if nothing surfaces, I move on and circle back later. Second, I make a list of deliberately ‘bad’ ideas. Most of them are throwaways, but one often has a spark that reignites momentum. Finally, I take a mental break, whether by stepping outside or doing something mindless like updating a spreadsheet — anything to let my mind wander and reset. In the end, breaking a block is about finding little ways to refresh and return, ready to create.
Wayne Best
Chief creative officer at VML NYC
To get into the work, you need to get out of the work. Sometimes you need to let your subconscious do the job. Take a break, relax and do something mindless. For me it's taking a walk, or running on a treadmill. If you let your mind wander, it will lead you somewhere good. I don’t know the actual science behind this, but I can’t tell you how many times I have been walking around and something good popped into my head. And if it doesn’t? Well, you got some exercise, which is better than sitting around on your heinie.
One other technique I learned from Mark Fenske is to find random things and try to connect them back to the brief. I’ll sometimes take a book, close my eyes and draw a circle. Then I try to connect that back to the task at hand. It forces you to get away from the obvious and try something unexpected. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but it’s always a fun exercise.
Armin Korsos
Director, executive producer and founder at Caymanite
I think creative block is a completely natural thing – it ebbs and flows with the seasons and the amount and type of work we are commissioned to make. I read ‘The Creative Act’ by Rick Rubin last year, and despite it being a bit controversial and not everything in the book is relatable, that is what makes the book important: you take what you like and ignore the rest. If you have read the book you know what I’m talking about.
The most motivational part for me that resonated was the idea of a creative idea being made, and if you don’t make it, it’ll find a way to be made through some other creative being. This really motivates me to put out the work that’s in my head, whether it’s by incorporating it into a client project, or making a passion project that shows off our skillset. The way I get out of a creative rut is by actually putting my concepts in a document, whether physical or digital. Creating even brief treatments so much, and builds your confidence in the long run. Even just a few sentences and a handful of reference images are enough to help you remember that concept years later. I typically use InDesign for my treatments, but for quick creative briefs I use Google Slides as it’s a lot faster and I don’t care about precise formatting and a beautiful layout for my personal archive.
Rick Nelson
Founder and head of post production at Cadence Post
“The first draft of anything is shit.” - Ernest Hemingway
As an editor there is something to be said for just starting to cut.
That’s an easy prospect when you’re cutting against a script or boards. It’s something entirely different when you’re cutting something unscripted. The brute force approach for me is sometimes the most effective way to break out of the block. It doesn’t matter if it’s “good…” It’s something. If it’s garbage, version it out and start over. Do that enough, and you’re going to find the groove.
With that said, perspective is imperative. Giving yourself time is one of the most precious of all commodities in our industry… But when you have it, experimentation can bring great things.
Writing this very submission, I’m finding parallels with that of a method actor… only in the sense that I need to feel the emotion of the piece we’re creating. When editing, the majority of the time while I’m reviewing material I’ll listen to music – unless it’s a heavy dialog piece – and that music generally will align with the tone of the piece. It helps get my headspace right… or wrong…
Paul-John Titterton
Associate art director at Seen Presents
As an art director, I’m lucky I don’t run into many creative blocks. My challenge is often the opposite: navigating an overwhelming amount of inspiration, especially in the age of social media. My go-to tool is Instagram’s ‘Saved’ feature, along with reading Substack newsletters like Blackbird Spyplane and Burn After Reading to stay inspired. I rarely start a project from scratch without diving into my saved references — installations, photography, branding, or just ‘sick stuff’. My inspo collections are my bible.
Another trick I use is trying to expose my brain to fresh material. I read that listening to new music daily improves memory and cognition, and I apply the same logic to media — avoiding rewatching films or shows in favour of new experiences. Broad, daily research is key for me.
To prevent creative fatigue, I also believe in switching it up. I once worked with the same fashion retailer for years and found the projects became repetitive, so I found a quick fix was to leave it, do something else, anything else, then go back with a fresh perspective and new ideas.
Matt Pittroff
Comedy director at WorkingStiff Films
Creativity is fickle. When I feel it, it’s liberating. When I’m in search of, it's stifling but if I’m on the hunt, I’m on the move…motion equals thought promotion and results in a good bit of wandering of whatever city I’m in, as well as loads of nonsensical speech to text dictation and even more mediocre ideas.
As a comedy director, I’m a student of people, lurking and listening like Hackman in The Conversation. When I’m not surveying the land, I’m surrounding myself with innately funny people who are relentless in their pursuit of laughs (at my expense). The former helps me dial in on those coveted ‘human truths’, the latter keeps me sharp, smiling and humble.
Side note: have side projects, not just side hustles. It’s crucial to have creative pursuits that are free of timelines, stakeholders and fear-driven decision making. The fewer shits given, the better off. And don’t lock anything in right away, leave room for growth and improvement.
Rod Henriques
Executive creative director at DEPT®
I think we've all been there, and it's always a bit of a panic situation, especially with tight deadlines. What has always helped me is experimenting with reverse thinking. Consider the opposite of what you want to achieve. If you’re aiming for clarity, try visualising chaos instead, this can help uncover fresh perspectives. Talking to someone outside the project can also be useful. Discussing with someone from a different industry can bring up ideas you might not have thought of on your own. Lately I started exploring AI tools, which are incredibly helpful. You’ll be amazed by the inspiration you can gain in minutes that might otherwise take hours or days to find. Fear is a big mind blocker, if I could give you one piece of advice it would be: Be fearless when brainstorming.
Sam Myrdek Pouliot
Art director at Mythic
As an art director and illustrator, I approach creative blocks by immersing myself in inspiration. When ideas aren’t quite coming together, I start by pulling keywords from the brief and exploring connections. Inspiration is everywhere — whether it's from a snippet in a podcast, a funny TikTok, or a mural by a favourite artist. I collect these sparks on Pinterest, in my notes app, or in a Google Slides deck. When we were concepting the “Welcome to the Upside” campaign for Maaco, I came across this New York Times article about The Green Lady of Brooklyn who is so obsessed with the colour green that she made everything in her life that colour. GeeGee in Maaco’s ‘Straight Up G’ TV spot was born from that source of inspiration.
But in instances when a block still forms, I turn to others for fresh insights, often chatting with my copywriter, peers, or even my non-creative husband for a gut check. My biggest advice? Don’t rely solely on yourself. Seek inspiration from the world and people around you; good ideas will come.
Aude Moreno
Associate creative director at Mythic
While the creative process is pretty similar in most fields, I find it helpful to have a routine for coming up with ideas, regardless of whether I'm feeling inspired or not. I call this the ‘push phase’ because it's very disciplined and structured to get the ideas flowing. For me, this usually starts with reading the brief a few times, doing some research and jotting down notes to find connections and ideas. I’ve found that this is when inspiration tends to show up. During this phase, I like to check out references that push me to make my ideas more sophisticated, beautiful or clever.
When I hit a wall and can’t come up with anything else, I move into the ‘relax phase’. This is where I stop focusing on the project and let my mind reset, trusting that fresh ideas will come naturally. It’s important to enjoy this part of the process and not get frustrated. I often step away from my desk and play the piano, which feels like a meditative, cathartic release — creativity fueling more creativity. What I love about playing piano is that it's my space; it's not for anybody to judge, so it's a pure creative outlet. I try to play every day because I feel like it’s really a way to open up and let ideas flow and come back on their own.
Katy Hopkins
Executive creative director at Iris
Here are a few ways to tackle creative blocks.
Run: Being in different environments resets our brains - that’s why you forget things when you leave rooms. Go for a run or a walk, and let it clear your head.
Stop thinking about it: Go to a book shop and browse the books or go for a swim. I learnt to high dive a few years ago, and it’s the perfect meditation for a busy brain.
Try asking some questions: Try “what if I made it a character?”, “What if I made it funny?”, “What if this were happening in the future or the past?”, “What would Dave Dye do?”
Randomise: Flick through a dictionary or a thesaurus and pick a random word. Does it help? Probably not, but maybe you learned a new word.
Have a nap: Lack of sleep really affects the way your brain works.
Eat something: Make yourself something nice to eat, or snaffle a bar of chocolate. The dopamine will do the rest.
Move around: I have a playlist which is a mash-up of songs that get me on the dancefloor at a party. It might not help me think up ideas, but it certainly makes me feel better about it.
Just put it down on paper: An old ECD once told me this: don’t over think it, just write it down. It might be rubbish, but it’s a start.
Don’t worry about it: Yes, we have deadlines in advertising, but no one’s actually going to die if we miss them. We have a fun, crazy and inventive job where we play, think and make. I think we do this best when we’re having fun.
Dan Trimarchi
Creative director at VML
Shake up your stasis. We’ve all been there. You get the brief and you can't seem to connect with it. Or it's round whatever and you feel like you’ve exhausted every single brain cell in your head.
Don't sweat. First, remind yourself that your creativity is endless. Then, give yourself a quick break. And THEN, do something a little different. Sitting? Try a brainstorm walk. Typing on a computer? Write in a notebook. Stuck in your head? Talk it through with your partner. It’s all about changing the way you interact with your creativity to help create different neural pathways so you can generate fresh ideas. And that’s real science, so you know it's good.
Hammad Sheikh
Design director at Brand Lounge
Creative blocks often feel like a brick wall: stubborn, unyielding, and daunting. When faced with one, my first move is to change my environment. As a words guy, I'll head out for a walk armed with the New York Times Games app, letting my brain reset through Crosswords, Strands, Connections, or Spelling Bee. It's amazing how these word puzzles can unlock fresh perspectives.
I'll also dive into completely unrelated activities, often finding myself down a rabbit hole of ‘Dribble Shots’,’ drawing inspiration from other creatives. Random detours frequently spark the exact idea I was struggling to find.
When all else fails, I reach out. Sometimes, sharing your thoughts with someone not involved in the project offers the fresh angle you need. I've learned creativity isn't about forcing breakthroughs; it's about creating the right conditions and letting inspiration surprise you when you least expect it.
Mark Vastel
ECD and managing partner at UNIT9
Creativity thrives on making new meaningful connections, and our brain is very good at that. To ignite fresh ideas, feed your brain with new, meaningful input. Don’t pick up your standard tools, the brain will go into autopilot, and you will create old solutions. Think of what external input will be unorthodox but still relevant enough to create those new connections that will become your next idea.
My input is often a giant collection of irreverent images and videos, which are usually interesting enough to spark something. A useful habit is to always keep looking for your own new inputs and sources.
Megan Cross
Senior vice president and executive creative director, US at Momentum Worldwide
As marketers it’s easy to become jaded. Cynicism paired with what seem like ever denser briefs and business strategies can really paralyse creativity.
But when I close my laptop for two hours each night, get on the floor with my daughter and play; I’m reminded that creativity doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s simple and fun and silly and dumb.
Bowl+spoon=jam band. The dog is now a duck and mom is now the dog. Kids are resourceful. They ignore rules. And above all they view even the simplest things as NEW! MAGICAL! AMAZING!
Creativity really is so easy that even a toddler can do it…it’s the adults in the room that get in the way.
So the next time you find yourself at a creative impasse, close your laptop and allow yourself to be that kid.
After all, it’s just advertising. And we’re all just big, goofy kids at heart.
Yann Caloghiris
Executive creative director at Left Field Labs
Creative blocks, though maddening, are often just the brain’s way of demanding a fresh vantage point.
Rather than trying to brute-force your way through, it can be liberating to approach the problem from an entirely different angle, even if it feels absurd at first.
Sometimes, the trick is to break your own rules or take a playful detour, exploring solutions that seem irrelevant or ‘wrong’ at first glance. These seemingly offbeat ideas have had a knack for opening new and exciting doors we’d never have stumbled upon otherwise.
Molly Maheras
Creative director at Kettle
Take a stab. Take a break. Take a walk. Take a shower. Take an eight-hour nap. One of the first things I do, and also coach my creative team to do, is just put something, anything down. It can be bad. It can be incomplete. It can be a reiteration of the assignment. But sometimes, the biggest hurdle is the barrier to entry.
Occasionally, that does it—just giving an idea life opens the floodgates. Most of the time it doesn’t. But it does give you something to go back to.
Because after getting something down, the best thing you can do is walk away. Depending on your deadline, you may only have a few minutes to stretch or get a glass of water. The best case scenario is that you can sleep on it. Something magical happens in our brains when we push an idea to the back of our minds: little synapses spark and simmer and give it shape.
When you go back to it, you’ll almost always have a new perspective. By taking a little extra time upfront, you’ll get there more quickly in the long run.
Jon Williamson
Creative director at THE MAYOR
Leave the office to help build it. I’ve found that I think and concept the best far beyond the walls of a traditional agency set up. Move to a coffee shop, restaurant, bar, gym, whatever gets you outside of the room that you have been sitting in for the past however many hours beating your head against the wall.
You’ll never be able to break through to a great idea if you sit in the same cubicle or conference room that hasn’t produced one all day. Get out. Even if you work from home. Move. Take a walk. Sit on a barstool. Go eat something that you have never had before. Listen to people sitting around you. Find an agency that embraces that freedom. Here at THE MAYOR we have a hybrid model of working. We don’t all live in the same city which lets us work wherever we want to, but we all come together when we need to talk about our clients, eat tacos, discuss that new romcom series on Netflix with the guy you know from that movie, whatever. The more you distance yourself from a traditional advertising setting, the more you open yourself up to new ways to think about what you are trying to creatively solve and in turn delivering for your clients and agency.
Elizabeth Thompson
Director of strategy at THE MAYOR
Sometimes (often) the most paralysing word a strategist can hear is ‘insight’. When that word strikes fear I have three main coping strategies:
Go to the people. Remove the pressure to find a killer insight, walk into a store and just talk to your customers. It’s cliché, but true. They usually have the answer.
Tomato timer. Forcing myself to brainstorm for 25 minutes with the promise of a break makes the big, scary thing feel like a small, doable thing.
The copywriter trick. A copywriter once told me they have to write 100 headlines to find a good one. I try the same with insights or one-line briefs. There will be a lot of trash but usually a nugget or two that can turn into something.
Aleksandra Kingo
Director at Tinygiant
As a director, I’m no stranger to creative blocks—in fact, I made an entire film about procrastinating while trying to write a film (very meta, I know). My short, An Ode to Procrastination, is a playful yet honest exploration of those moments when inspiration feels completely out of reach. Through this process, I discovered that the key isn’t to fight creative blocks, but to embrace it as part of the creative journey.
We often view procrastination as the enemy, but I’ve learned to see it as an unexpected ally. Stepping away from the task at hand—whether it’s watching makeup tutorials you'll never repeat, ironing all the clothes in the house, or just letting your mind wander — can create the mental space needed for ideas to quietly form. Sometimes, creativity strikes not at your desk but in those seemingly trivial moments when your mind is elsewhere.
For me, the breakthrough was realising that creative blocks don’t mean failure; it’s a natural, even necessary, part of the process. Allow yourself to pause, take that nap and go for that aimless Tuesday afternoon walk. By leaning into it, I’ve been able to overcome it in ways that feel both organic and refreshingly unforced. For me, it's a practice of self-compassion and trust in the process.
Thomas Purbeck
Creative lead and partner at Biborg
A few years ago, I came up with a pitch-winning idea which only presented itself to me because I was hungry. After one stomach rumble, I had a fully-formed idea for a food-centric video game winter sales campaign: recreating game items as desserts with the line “get ‘em while they’re hot”. The takeaway here isn’t that starving yourself means you’ll find ideas but rather to trust your brain and stay aware of all of the little signals around you, because you never know when something will be useful.
Nishat Akhtar
Chief creative officer at Instrument
When I hit a creative block, I remind myself to shift perspective and trust the process. Creativity isn’t about perfect ideas arriving fully formed; it’s about exploring with an open mind. For me, this means taking breaks to rest, take a walk, or spend time with the art, books, and cultural histories. It builds a source of inspiration and energy. And these sources allow me to discover ideas I might not have noticed otherwise.
Carl Jung’s view on the ‘shadow' is relevant here—ideas often lie just below the surface, waiting for the right moment to emerge. By starting anywhere and working without preciousness, I’ve learned that a good idea often appears when I stop forcing it.
Gavin Lester
Chief creative officer at Zambezi
Keep your blood pressure low—as if you’re window shopping. There’s no mission in window shopping, you’re just wandering to see what captures your eye. If you can embrace that mindset in your creative work, you can allow ideas to gravitate to you. A good way to avoid a creative block is to make it less intentional that you’re looking for something specific.
Stepping away is another method. It’s good to have multiple projects going at once because oftentimes you can find the answer to what you’re struggling with through something else creative. I think a lot of us feel that working on other people’s briefs is easier than working on our own because there’s a lot less pressure.
Or, try looking at it from different vantage points: swing the camera around and see the problem through the eyes of someone, or something, else. Sometimes what is really happening is the fear and anxiety of the unknown taking over — the muscle memory of what has worked in the past is actually the block. Take another angle to answer a brief and free yourself to take a leap. You can always walk back, but you might discover a better, successful path forward.
Last, try and avoid it all for a bit. Do something simple with very little mental taxation, or something physical or visceral. Hold a puppy! No matter how bad you think your ideas are, puppies will love you unconditionally.
Michael Sheen
Director of creative strategy at Zeno London
If you see a creative block as a wall, I find that you can’t batter through it. It’s more about tricking the unconscious part of the brain so you can sneak through the back door while the conscious part isn’t looking.
I’ll go for a walk in the park. Movement, a change of scenery, and not having the brief with me helps distil the most memorable parts and look at things in a new way.
I’ll try to explain what I’m doing to someone who isn’t interested, so I’m having to think from another perspective and make someone care.
I’ll read anything. Any random stimulation can be a spark: An unusual adjective in a piece about seaweed has been enough.
And the venerable ‘What’s the worst possible idea?’ is always effective. From a world of no possibilities you suddenly see hundreds. And it’s fun. Which is how it should be.
Milton Correa
U.S head of creative and creative fellow at Deloitte Digital
Nowadays, our complete inability to focus is one of the biggest barriers to creativity. The constant barrage of distractions fragments our attention, leaving us adrift in a sea of half-formed ideas, hindering our natural curiosity and curtailing our sense of awareness — all so crucial to intake inspiration. Lack of focus limits our imagination, our innate talent to identify original ways to breakthrough the trivial.
For me, one of the antidotes to stay ahead of creative blocks is endurance running.
As a long-distance runner, I find that each mile I cover adds up to this alchemy of physical exertion and mental fortitude that flushes out the stress, resulting in a powerful brain catalyst.
The stark discipline in marathon training helps me shield a sacred time on my calendar daily—establishing a constant outlet to find a deep, unwavering focus.
The rhythmic motion combined with the endorphin fueled moments create an insulated mental state that opens new realms of thought that help me stay ahead of creative blocks, as the clarity and insights gained on the run often enough translate into fresh ideas to my work.
So, if you’re hitting that creative wall, don’t wait for ideas to come to you— try running after them.
Ron Ceballos
Executive vice president and executive creative director at Quigley-Simpson
Creative blocks are inevitable, but they can be catalysts for innovation. When I hit that mental wall, I don’t keep banging my head against it. I step away and immerse myself in something entirely different. In my younger days, it would be ping-pong matches ‘to the death,’ or that stereotypical call ad-creatives typically use, “let’s hit the bar.” Nowadays, though, I use stillness.
For me, it’s less about consuming inspiration but inviting boredom and silence to spark something within. This is because I’d rather stay away from the sea of sameness in our feeds.
Ultimately, it’s about breaking routines and exposing yourself to new experiences that can reignite your creative spark. Stand on your head just to look at something differently. Engage in conversations with people outside the industry and find fresh perspectives outside the echo chambers. It’s like surfing, you can’t force a wave. Let it find you.
Will Benham
Executive vice president and executive creative director at Chemistry
To me, a creative block is usually a perfectionism problem. So, instead of focusing on THE ONE PERFECT IDEA™, I try to create a volume of ideas first and find greatness later.
Write out all your bad ideas so you can stop thinking about them.
Write the boring, the dumb, the stuff they’ll never buy. Now it’s all out of your head, and you can focus on the good stuff.
Sticky Note Sprint
Set a timer for five minutes, write as many ideas as you can onto sticky notes (one per sticky note), and put them on the wall. No filter for good, bad, or possible. Just get as many out as fast as you can. Review with your partner. Then, do it again. Credit to Janet and Nancy at SWIM.
Take a break
Walk, make coffee, do the dishes. When you pause, your brain will take all that hard work you did and make new connections for you.
Storm Sternad
Copywriter at Cactus
Three steps for blasting through creative blocks and unleashing a firehose of brilliant, mind-blowing ideas:
Stop trying to come up with good ideas. Just come up with as many bad ideas as humanly possible. Then think of some more. By focusing on quantity over quality, you’ll turn off your inner critic. Odds are you’ll come up with a few great ideas by accident.
Walk your a** off.
Rousseau. Nietzsche. Kant. Three people with lots of big ideas and one little thing in common—they all took walks to help them think. It relieves stress, eases anxiety, and loosens up those frontal lobes. So get out from behind your desk and onto the nearest sidewalk. You might not land on the meaning of life, but you’re bound to stumble across a good idea or two.
Have fun.
If you’re feeling stuck, there’s a good chance you’re taking things way too seriously. As creatives, we have one of the coolest, weirdest, most ridiculous jobs on the planet. Which means if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. Loosen up and the ideas will flow. And even if they don’t, at least you’re having a good time.
August Heffner
Executive creative director at Instrument
For me, a ‘creative block’ is simply trying too hard to force something to happen. It is similar to staring too deeply at a Magic Eye puzzle, rather than backing up and letting your peripheral vision do its job. I like to remember that Sherlock Holmes headed to the opera when he was on the brink of a discovery. My favourite cure for a creative block is to ‘look away’. Look away from your screen, your sketchbook, your notepad. Go to a movie, take a cold plunge, grab a book. Do anything other than what you are supposed to. Employ the art of random stimulation. Inevitably, the distance between what you are doing and what you should be doing, makes the ideas grow brighter.
Phil Jeffery
Associate creative director at TRO
Have you ever tried turning your brain off and on again? Firstly, creative block is natural and doesn’t mean you’re bad in any sense. It can take literal years for some people to stumble upon an idea, and in advertising, you’ve usually got a week (with a set of guidelines to work within). So, when it strikes, I refresh my environment: I leave my living room/laptop and take a pen/paper to the café down the road; I go for a walk with a coffee, listening to music and imagining I’m in a music video (quite silly for a Home Counties boy who loves rap). In some cases, I just…go home. (I actually find the tube home to be a surprisingly good place to write, knowing that no one’s expecting anything from me during this time.) A change of surroundings presents new perspectives and visual stimuli, which runs a hot comb through the tangled part of my mind that’s in a creative rut.
Galen Bernard
Partner and creative director at 77 Ventures
Creative blocks for me have always come at the convergence of two things: thinking about a project for too long and an impending deadline. Tunnel vision ensues. The one thing that always does the trick for me is listening to music. No specific artist…or genres…or eras, even. The only prerequisite is listening to something awe-inspiring. Often the listening turns into playing and perhaps even recording. Since I am several area codes away from musical competence, the act alone requires complete focus. After that…no more block. And maybe even a half-decent song to boot (key word: half).
