A squirrely girl’s guide to creative focus

Maybe if I can hide my blank page with my mug, it will go away...

Any creative writer will tell you that imagination does not abide by the traditional 9-to-5. It’s a golden retriever puppy—playful, dopamine-inducing, and damned if it ever comes when called.

But you’ve got stuff to do, and if you only worked in creative peaks, it would take an eternity to accomplish anything at all. So, what do you do when you’re faced with a deadline, a blank page, and a creative drought?

Audit your senses

No one warns you about the brain drain that comes from a too-tight ponytail or a wet sock. Overstimulation in your body or environment pulls brain power away from your project and inhibits your ability to focus on generating new ideas.  If the stain you noticed on your shirt before you sat down is distracting you, change it. If the dishwasher humming in the background is drowning out your inner monologue, pause it. These are small adjustments within the circle of your control that can offer you greater focus.

A sensory audit can be a slippery slope to productive procrastination, especially if you are feeling avoidant and not just creatively stagnant. If the compulsion overcomes you to clean out your fridge or organise your desktop, you know you’ve gone too far. That brings us to tip two.

Take out the trash (the junk in your head)

It’s not that the creativity isn’t in that beautiful brain of yours; it might just be bogged down by clutter. How are you meant to focus when you know you have a text you haven’t responded to in two days sitting in your messages and a dentist appointment to make and a 30-day streaming service trial to cancel?

The running to-do list needs to be dropped off at the sitter's. And that sitter is a piece of paper and  a pen. Resist the urge to open up another app on your computer—trust me. Set a timer and take five minutes to write down all of the things rattling through your head. Don’t feel as if you have to limit yourself to to-do items. Feelings or thoughts can be jotted down too. It seems small, but having a place to put those thoughts for safekeeping can free up capacity to stay in the present rather than leaping ahead to other tasks and worries.

Work with, not against, the midday slump

If you conform to a typical workday, sometime around 1 to 3 pm you can expect the brain fog to strike again! It’s a natural response to the body’s circadian rhythm and can be exacerbated by a drop in blood sugar, hormone fluctuations (check out this article on how menstrual cycles and the 9-to-5 clash), or a poor night’s sleep. Take a creative break.

This is prime time to address some of those things on your to-do list and reap the reward of crossing them off by hand. The act of striking through an item on your to-do list can release dopamine, which is linked to pleasure and motivation. Start with the easiest one first.

If that spark doesn’t ignite your fire and focus, take yourself for a walk. 10 to 15 minutes should do the trick. A bit of light movement can give you an added boost of energy and release stress, leaving you feeling a fraction more refreshed when you sit back down at your desk.

Sprint, baby, sprint!

You might be thinking, but I just went for a walk! A sprint is a fixed amount of time you commit to doing a single task. Close your web browser, shut down your apps, and put your phone in a drawer or another room. For writers, I recommend starting with 20-30 minutes. The goal is to write as much as possible during that timeframe, allowing your prose to be messy and avoiding the urge to self-edit. Even jotting down bullet points can be enough to get the creative train chugging.

When the time is up (highly recommend using a timer – take advantage of the brain’s reward centres!), give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve done the hardest part—beating the blank page. Now, you have something to work with, even if it is ugly, which is always better than nothing at all. Before you get up to grab that cup of coffee, or use the washroom, see if you can challenge yourself to one more sprint of 15 minutes or less. You might find that the next burst is enough to help you hit your creative stride.

Seek awe

It’s okay to have an off day. You are human. Read that again.

Sometimes we have to dig a little deeper to find that one thing that drives our curiosity, and that means setting down the pen or pushing away the keyboard. An infusion of awe can reduce stress, foster connection, amplify critical thinking, and even quiet the inner critic that might be hindering your work.

Awe comes in all forms, from music and moral beauty to nature and epiphanies. For some it might mean looking at the stars, or admiring a piece of art. For others, participating in an act of community that serves others. The John Templeton Foundation offers insight and research into awe and how to find it. I also recommend checking out this video on the transformative power of awe.