The War of Art
by Steven Pressfield
⏱ 15 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Disconnect From the Internet
You can’t expect to paint the next Mona Lisa, invent the next search engine, or finally finish that novel if you’re too busy looking at other people’s lives.
You can come back to your phone and social media when it’s time to show off your work, but otherwise, you won’t believe how much of a relief it is to disconnect from the Internet. It’s surreal what this does to your concentration.
If you think getting off your phone is going to end with you being bored and still not getting any work done, think again! Because you know what? In this case, we want to feel bored. Boredom, according to research, can actually make you more creative. Your bored mind is likely to look for stimulation, making it resort to daydreaming, i.e., helping you come up with new ideas.
And if all else fails, being away from your phone at least stops you from procrastinating. Every minute that you spend not scrolling through social media is a minute where your brain is allowed to breathe, create, and wander.
Indulge in Some Blue Sky Thinking
Or alternatively, come up with as many ideas as you can. Blue Sky thinking is simple. Allow yourself to brainstorm with no limitations. Forget about time limits, standards, and any boundaries and simply create. The sky’s the limit here.
Chances are a genius, super creative idea is biding its time until you work through all the bad ideas. Creative people are known to generate zillions of ideas, and while admittedly, not all of them will be a home run, a few gems are always hidden in the pile. Instead of aiming for that brilliant, “aha!” moment right away, feel free to come up with as many ideas as you can, even, and especially, if they seem ridiculous. After all, didn’t Thomas Edison say,
“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration” ?
Ideally, the next step after generating as many ideas as you can is to follow through with some of them. Here comes another trick that will ultimately help you become more creative in your life!
Let go of the myth of perfection. If you approach creativity like it’s something to be mastered, perfected, it starts to become flighty. Perfectionism is the enemy of creativity, and it’s a mind-melting barrier that halts your brain from being creative by pressuring it with stress.
What does aiming for perfection do? It makes it hard to push past the starting phase and see the finish line. Have you ever found yourself frustrated, staring at a blank page? Is the fear of failure, of not living up to expectation, of someone else possibly critiquing you, paralyzing you?
Listen to Music
Daniel Levitin, the author of “This Is Your Brain On Music,” explains in detail just how beneficial music is for you. Not only is it inspiring and fun to listen to– and have the occasional dance party to—but also, there is science involved.
See, there are basically two modes for how your brain operates. In one mode, you’re incredibly focused, concentrating on something. In the other mode, your mind wanders– and this is where the creative magic happens. Music helps you reach the mind-wandering mode where different thoughts start to fly.
It’s already accepted that music improves cognition and does wonders in enhancing memory and learning, so it’s not a big leap to link music to creative thinking. Extra points if it’s happy, “feel-good” music.
Make a Creative Portfolio
This next tip is a way to easily practice creativity and will work as something to come back to when you’re not feeling inspired: make a creative portfolio. Look at what inspires you the most, what makes you feel pumped up and excited and inspired? Is it a certain author? A song? A video? Is it a celebrity? A family member? A friend?
Do you find yourself to be at your most innovative when there is a certain activity involved? If you happen to find inspiration from something in real life, take a picture of it. Collect things from moments that motivated you.
Gathering mementos of the things that usually inspire you will help you tap into a wonderful creative energy and focus on it. It could be anything from a Pinterest board, a blog where you share your favorite things, or a mood board in your room where you pin pictures. And then whenever you find yourself feeling uncreative, look through this portfolio and you’ll recall that initial excited, inspiring feeling you first felt when you made it.
Wake Your Right Brain
While it’s not an exact science, this may be just the trick for you!
Do you know where the creativity center of your brain is? According to experts, your right brain hemisphere, which controls the left side of your body, is where the magic happens. You can activate it to increase your creativity.
Your right brain can be activated through mental stimulation, which basically helps your mind stay extra sharp. The benefits of these mental exercises include reducing stress and anxiety, decreasing depression risk, improving cognitive function, and improving your sleep quality.
You can also try an easy way to activate it by doing things like jumping up and down on your left foot or using your left hand to write.
Something as simple as drawing will do the trick. What these visual arts do– painting, drawing, sketching, and manifesting your ideas on paper– is shut off your conscious thoughts and let you freely, and without pressure, explore your creative side.
Get Moving
Around a century ago, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said,
“Sit as little as possible. Do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement– in which the muscles do not also revel.”
You know who else used moving as a way to jumpstart their creative process? Author Ernest Hemingway used to box. Haruki Murakami loved running so much that he devoted a book to it. Kathy Acker loved bodybuild. The list goes on.
The best thing about creativity is that everyone has a, well, creative way of approaching it. But if you want a sure-fire way to be more creative in your life, any form of physical activity is a good place to start.
Yoga is said to be incredibly helpful as it allows your mind to calm down and for your thoughts to wander. If yoga isn’t your cup of tea, any physical exercise will help. At its simplest, exercise increases the blood flow and oxygen to the brain.
Draw, Paint, Sketch, and D to Your Heart’s Content
And lastly, the last piece of advice we can offer you is to unleash your energy and frustration by expressing them. So draw, paint, sketch, doodle, use watercolors, oil colors, even sing—whatever it is that lets you express yourself.
Have a designated notebook where you can just draw with no end goal and no pressure to create something amazing. These sketches don’t have to end up on the fridge or in your portfolio. Do it for the joy of it, the sheer joy of creating.
The best thing about doodling is that it comes with a unique sense of escape– if you were a doodler in school, then you may have used that escapism in class. However, the act of drawing squiggles on paper does more than help you overcome someone droning. Among the greatest doodlers in history are Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, and Bill Gates.
See, what doodling does, in addition to engaging your creativity, is it engages your senses. Your mind is engaged, and so is your hand and your vision. You’re more involved in this seemingly meaningless squiggle than you think. Some studies even relate doodling to being more likely to absorb what’s happening around you.
Plus, you’ll get an amazing happiness boost in the form of reduced stress. Taking your pen and randomly drawing lines can release more tension than you may realize. With the absence or near absence of stress in that moment, clarity fills its place, and you’ll be able to focus on creating.
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