I’m blocked.

No, not that way. Plenty of fiber here. But I sit here, hunched over the keyboard with not a valid thing to say.

And it’s sad, really. I stare at my keyboard that I meticulously cleaned over a period of two days with a can of compressed air, a damp washcloth and a sense of great discomfort every time I dug something new out of the vaguely yellowing keyboard. For those of you who have never actually done this, it’s much like attending your senior prom…all proud, humbling and grotesque in one fell swoop. All I could think most of the time was “I understand the lint…I get the bits of Doritos and dust…but my God…did I really eat chili at this computer? And how often?”

But then suddenly, swirls of neurons sputter and fire, sputter and fire, like bits of paper caught in a blaze, and I realize that inspiration, the act of being inspired, is exactly that…a moment…a thought, a switch…the drawing in of a creative breath.

And now, I’m not so worried about being at a loss for words. Or design ideas, or any number of things. Creativity, like happiness, or diamonds, or a really good BLT, is precious because it’s not constant. Constancy is the death of inspiration.

I have two points here. One is obvious: Clean your keyboard more often than once every five years. The other is more vague, but still excellent advice: When you’re at a loss for that ‘eureka’ moment, wait for the wheel to turn your way. Think of it like chasing a ball, only to kick it away as your reach down, hands grasping. It may feel like you’re making forward progress, but the truth is you’re eventually gonna run smack into a real wall.

So, next time you can’t figure out the next logo, or the next business decision, or whether that’s chili or pad thai sauce…take a moment – grab a can of compressed air, and clear your creative space. Trust me. It’ll come back to you.

How about you? What do you do when the creative balls doesn’t bounce back right away?

Thomas (Tom) Stephan | Director of Something Clever
BoDo Author | Dyer Straits | Working Pro-bono

No, I’m not going to wax philosophical, or debate religion. And I am not referring to clients – although it wouldn’t be much of a stretch…

What I do want to talk about, though, is how inspiration can strike anytime…and - pardon the cliché - especially when you least expect it.

One night recently, while in bed reading one of my NY Times Bestsellers, I came across this, “Remembrance was a Buddhist philosopher’s trick. Rather than asking [your] mind to search for a solution to a potentially impossible challenge, [you] ask [your] mind simply to remember it. The presupposition that one once knew the answer created the mindset that the answer must exist…thus eliminating the crippling conception of hopelessness.”

Now, I have no idea if this little “trick” is, in fact, based on a Buddhist philosopher (and yes, I did do a brief search online, to no avail), but my initial thought was that this would be a great technique for solving problems of any type…even creative ones.

Since I first read that quote, I’ve had numerous opportunities to put it to the test. I’ve used the “remembrance” technique to help determine how to bid on a project I hadn’t done before. I also used it to help me come up with concepts for a logo that I was struggling with – I came up with one concept easily, but I needed two more. So rather than sitting there, staring at my blank sketchbook, wondering what the heck I was going to do for those other two concepts, I decided that I had just forgotten what the other two concepts were going to be, and all I needed to do was to remember them!

Now, I’d be lying if I said that the answers came to me immediately, but once I changed how I was approaching the problem, the next time I sat down with my sketchbook, the ideas just flowed. And I was able to come up with two more concepts to present to my client.

I even used the remembrance trick to help me “remember” a layout concept for a website design I was recently working on. I’d come up with three design concepts, but I wasn’t happy with one of them – it was very similar to one of the other versions. Right around that time, I had an appointment to get to, and was forced to step away from the computer, allowing me to focus on the problem with only my head. Again, I changed how I was viewing the problem, and tried to just remember a better design solution. By the time I reached my destination, I was able to sketch out a new website layout on a piece of scrap paper I found in my purse (okay, if you really must know, it was the back of my grocery list…but I digress.)

So on three separate occasions, I was able to put this Buddhist philosopher’s trick to the test, and it worked. In fact, anytime I get stuck on something now, I use this technique before anything else.

Sometimes, all it takes is a little memory jog to clear our heads of those Angels and Demons, and get back to business.

Join me next time, as I continue my journey Out of the Bedroom,
Tamar Wallace | Principal, TAMAR Graphics