Today, TODAY, Gentlefolk and Rakes of the Crowd, We Have A Show For You! The Splendiferous Zoe Sugg Graces Us With Words On The Care And Feeding Of Creativity
Stimulating Creativity – Why Our Best Thoughts Happen in the Shower
I’ve been starting at this comic script all day. I’ve got a great opening scene, the rising action… Now I just have to connect this with the climactic battle scene. And… nothing I’m trying is going right. I finally stand up, bones creaking as I do so from 6 hours of being hunched over the computer, admit defeat, and go take a shower.
I’m mid-shampoo when my inspiration hits. Of course! If I just move this dialogue and have Character A come in later, I’ve set the scene up for Character B to come in and reveal themselves! My solution was right there and I didn’t even notice!
Sound familiar?
It should. Scientists have been studying why our brains turn out amazing ideas in the shower for a while now and there’s a zillion articles on it. Basically, there’s 3 ingredients: when you’re relaxed, if your brain is producing dopamine, and if you have a menial task as a distraction, then your brain can “disengage” from normal thought processes. It can begin thinking non-linearly and start churning out some real innovative ideas. If you want to go really in-depth and read about how our medial prefrontal cortex becomes more active when this happens, Buffer has a great article on it here. It also explains that when this section of the brain becomes more active, other executive functions tend to “deactivate,” or become less active. So, I guess now I know why I have a tendency to walk into walls and door frames when I’m deep in thought?
Okay, so back to how this affects my comic work. See, that first thing on the list there, that relaxing? It’s uh… It’s real hard to be mid-creative-block and not be frustrated about it. Like most creators these days, comics are my second job, and my time to work on them isn’t as plentiful as I’d like. Add to that the days my blood sugar is giving me hell (I’m type 1 diabetic), and the pressure to create good work every time I sit down is just awful.
The trouble for me is realizing that I’m stuck, that it’s okay, and that I need to let go. According to Wired’s article, “Research has shown that your brain builds bigger creative webs when you’re in a positive mood. This makes sense, because when you’re anxious you’re less likely to take a chance on creativity.” This struck a chord with me. There’s definitely an anxiety loop that kicks up where I get stuck and then get angry that I’m wasting my own time. Once that spiral starts it’s really hard to bring everything back down again. It’s something that everyone has to learn to manage in their own way, and as I’m in the thick of it I don’t really have pointers for that yet.
But what I can tell you is that there’s scientific backing that says beating yourself up over creativity blocks is counter-productive to actually being creative.
So, how do we solve for this? What I’ve been doing recently is learning to stimulate my brain before I sit down for a major creative sprint. There are only 3 magic ingredients that help this sort of creativity happen: relaxation, dopamine, and minor distraction. You can create a little ritual for yourself to relax and get into this headspace. I’m going to share what works for me, but definitely comment below or @zuzu_cartoons on social media and tell me what works for you!
Recently, I discovered Four Sigmatic’s Think coffee mix while wandering around Sprouts groceries. This stuff “support[s] productivity, focus, and creativity” and it’s turned into a little ritual for my Saturday mornings. I switch on some Lo-fi music, drop a bath bomb in the tub, and sip on a mug of this stuff. Is it a placebo effect? Maybe. But hey, it seems to work for me. It’s become my go-to if I’m feeling good and want to tap into that creative energy. One small disclaimer: I’ve noticed that, while it boosts creativity, it also will take a train of thought I’m having and just… go. Which means that there have been a few times I’ve sat down to work on a comic pitch, or this podcast, and ended up… writing a ton of D&D smut. Oops. This seems avoidable if I start working on something and then go take my bath/coffee combo, that way my brain is already started on whatever train of thought I need to be on. Making this a sort of routine seems to stimy the frustration aspect also, by reducing it to something that I can fool myself into thinking I can control. I guess I could say that the way my brain processes it is, “Okay, here’s that block I was expecting. It’s okay, I knew this was coming and now it’s time for my Saturday morning bath, where I will hang out, relax, and maybe solve this problem.” I’m basically tricking myself into not hitting that anxiety-loop, but heck, it seems to work!
What Works for You?
I recommend experimenting. The one thing I’ve found while reading up on this subject is that, because your brain does -actually- have to be relaxed, it’s hard to go into these relaxation exercises with any expectation of creativity. For myself, I have to get started on a train of thought with my work and then let that train of thought simmer in the back of my brain until something comes up. This might be because of another phenomenon in that buffer article above known as the incubation period, which is where your subconscious thoughts are allowed to drift to the surface during a period of relaxation. This is due to the fact that your subconscious has been thinking about this in the background while you’ve been trying to solve a problem.
The other way I supplant having any expectations about what I’m supposed to create is by NOT taking any writing utensils with me. This way, my brain has no subconscious expectations of “needing to have a great idea.” As someone whose phone is basically attached to me, my phone is such an everyday object that I can always grab my note app if I need to write something down, and my brain isn’t eyeing it suspiciously. For the people who have successfully “trained” their brains to ignore their creative materials, most say to simply start keeping your notebook with you everywhere you go. Tuck it in your bag, glovebox, keep it on the bathroom counter… if you make it an everyday object, your brain essentially learns to “ignore” it, and doesn’t feel that pressure any longer. Then you can grab your pen and paper whenever an idea strikes!
So get out there and get relaxing! Let me know what your experiments get you, or if you find any coping methods for when that creativity-block is causing you distress. Comment below or hit me up @zuzu_cartoons on all social media.
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