How I Recharge My Creative Energy

Hey friend,

I hope you've been well!  

Lately I have been pretty busy with work, music projects, and training jiu-jitsu and I’ve been thinking about how I manage my time without getting burned out. Over the years I have burned out countless times and end up having to take breaks to recharge, sometimes even for a month or two.

The world moves so fast these days, and it feels like we are all doing so much more while feeling like we have less time. Our modern world suffers from the Red Queen Problem, named after the line in Alice in Wonderland, “it takes all the running you can do just to stay in the same place”, which means that species must keep evolving, adapting, getting better, faster, more efficient, because if we don’t our competition will and leave us behind, or in the animal world, catch us and eat us.

As we become more efficient with our time, we inevitably stack more on our plate. It is only in our modern world where we are expected to stay consistent 24/7 and have the same routine year round with our work, hobbies, etc. If you went back a few hundred years and talked to some of the most prolific artists of all time, you would find that they had time to relax and experiment. Life moved a lot slower.

Here are a few things that I like doing that help me recenter myself in a busy world.

Time in Nature

Yesterday my wife and I went for a bike ride down by the river for a few hours and watched some Blue Herons and ducks fly around a pond. We looked at all the blooming flowers and trees, feeling the warmth coming back from winter.

Whenever I feel like I am stressed, or need a recharge, nature is always my top priority. There is something about just being present, listening to the sounds of the animals, the wind through the trees, and the flow of the rushing river, that really puts me back in a balanced state of mind. Our modern world lacks the rhythms of nature and it can cause us to feel separated from it in our little concrete jungle. Spending time surrounded by nature reminds us that we are a part of it and that all of our problems are just the foley of man, no different than the bird looking for a worm, or the fish trying not to get fished.

Clean My Workspace

When it’s time to get back in to my studio and create, the first thing I will do is clean up my studio, empty out any dishes, tidy up some cables, etc. Organizing not only my workspace, but also cleaning up my kitchen, bedroom, etc. will also help clean out the clutter in my mind. Your mind is intimately connected to the world around you, and you are affected by things more than we like to realize. Take time to clear out the junk in your room and your mind will benefit from it!

Meditate to Recenter My Mind

Sometimes a quick few minutes of mindful breathing is all I need to recenter myself. Breathing gently and feeling the wind on my skin, hearing the babble of the river and fluttering birds overhead, letting go of any thoughts or attachments to the sounds, but just noticing them as they pass by like a thought we don’t grab onto. Having a few of these moments throughout the day helps keep me centered when things are busy, and the best thing is that this state of equanimity is always just a few breaths away.

Create Space for Creativity

One of the more important ones as far as creativity goes, is making sure you actually create time for yourself to be creative. Give yourself a few hours to really get into a flow, and you will create something you are proud of. If all you have are scattered moments where you feel like you should be doing more but can’t find the time to get any of it done, you beat up on yourself and the self-doubt kicks in. Schedule time on a weekend, before work, in the evening, wherever you can fit it in, but actually give yourself the time you need to be creative. It’s really hard to sit down for 30 minutes and pull something out of your ass, but if you have 3 hours you are much more likely to come up with something great.

Use References for Inspiration

If I know I want to write in a certain genre for the day, it will help if I listen to a handful of songs in that genre before I get to work to put my head in the right creative space. Whether you are writing music, painting, writing a book, or creating any other kind of art, using a few reference pieces when you are getting going will help speed up your ideation process and get something going quicker. Even better, try to combine 3-5 pieces together, or create what could be the sequel to your favourite song, etc.

Anyway, I hope some of this is helpful! This is something I deal with often, as I have too many hobbies and am very ambitious with all of them. The main thing is realizing that you don’t have to do everything now, all at once.

Here is a shot of some Blue Herons from yesterday’s adventure!

 Take care my friend,

- Niko