Pockets: Find Meaning in Moments

003 Overcoming Creative Blocks and Finding Your Flow

• Richmond Camero • Episode 3

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Discover techniques to overcome creative blocks and cultivate a flow state in your artistic journey. The episode emphasizes actionable strategies for enhancing creativity and the importance of celebrating small wins to maintain momentum.

• Addressing creative blocks and their sources 
• Recognizing emotional and motivational barriers 
• Strategies for overcoming blocks with small tasks 
• Three key techniques for finding flow: sprints, minimizing distractions, and using music 
• The no-editing rule for first drafts and trusting the process 
• Emphasizing the joy and purpose in creative work

Richmond:

Hi, you're listening to Pockets, a podcast about finding joy, meaning and purpose in life's simplest moments. I'm Richmond Camero. Let's dive into today's journey.

Richmond:

There's this quote that I've read before and it goes like you can't wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club. It's a funny image if you picture it in your head, and it shows how much effort we need as artists to have that inspiration. It's always fleeting that we have to have this strength and bravery to run after it right. Today I'm going to talk about finding flow in the creative work and how that can be captured in a pocket.

Richmond:

I'm a writer, but the principles that I'll talk about also applies to other creative disciplines. Of course, you can't discuss the flow state without touching the artist's block, and I'll touch on it for just a bit. The creative block may come in different forms. It might be a lack of motivation or energy, the tired and lazy feeling when I'm staring at the blank page. It can come in the form of fear that what I'm putting out is not worth it and I am not good enough. Sometimes it's feeling stuck and not knowing what to do next. I have not mastered conquering the writer's block, but I do have several tools on how to deal with it. I think we would need to address the creative block first before we can get into the flow state. If we fight the block without understanding where it stems from, it will be difficult to get into a creative flow.

Richmond:

So it starts with understanding, stepping away from the body of work we're creating and thinking about what blocks us from continuing. Is there something that we don't know? Is there some technique that we need to learn For writing stories, I often stumble when it's not clear for me what would happen next, or if there's something about the world that I'm not sure about. Like what would the town that I create look like? So usually in these cases I step away, I do some sketches and just think about the problem that I'm encountering. So yeah, it's stepping away from the actual work. Stepping away from the actual writing, and asking several questions will help me understand what I'm missing. The other cause of creative block is the motivation or the mood. It's a common feeling. We sit in front of our desk, we stare at the screen, then we get distracted with other shiny things. Deep inside we want to create something, but at that point we want to do anything else that doesn't involve our art.

Richmond:

There are two ways that I address this. The first one is I ask myself what's the minimum amount that I'm capable of doing. It might be just writing a single sentence, or even just a few words. It might be spending five minutes, or it might be planning on what I can do next when I'm in a better mindset, but it's something I have to do something, no matter how small it is. It's a tiny progress that I would consider as a win. Second option that I do is to actually step away from it and not do anything. There will be days like this, really, and I really have to listen to my body and my mind if it requires rest, but I try not to overdo this and treat this as a last resort. So now that I have an idea of what my block is and have potentially addressed that, I can now go to building my flow.

Richmond:

I have three techniques to enable me to work in a flow state. First is sprints. I like to work in sprints. Even if I intended to write for a one-hour session, for example, I like to break them into smaller chunks. Pomodoro is a famous technique for this. It's a 25-minute focused work then 5-minute break. For me, what works is shorter sprints. I like a 15-minute sprint followed by a 2-minute break. Why it works for me is because tackling a 1-hour work is daunting. 1 hour feels like a big commitment, whereas 15 minutes is less than your typical comedy TV show right? It's doable and it offers less resistance than committing to a 1-hour work.

Richmond:

My second tool for flow is no distractions and disturbance. When I commit to a sprint, I try my best not to be distracted, whether physical or digital distractions. It's the same principle for multitasking, really, that when I allow my attention to be divided into other things, getting back on track will be much more difficult. Digital distractions are much more harder to avoid. To help me set boundaries, I use apps like Freedom to block access to social media across different devices. The third one I use to achieve flow is music. This also helps in minimizing the physical distractions around me, because my focus tends to break when I hear something out of the blue. I have a playlist for writing. It consists of instrumental songs, mostly with an adventure or RPG kind of vibe. I find the soundtracks for games or movies are helpful to me, but there was a time before when I can write to music with lyrics, but I can't do that now, so I mostly stick with the instrumental ones.

Richmond:

These are my three main tools for achieving flow. There's a bonus fourth technique, actually, but this might be most applicable to writing, and it's no editing. Writing the first draft of a story or an An article means putting my thoughts out, so the first draft is not for well. , My my goal is to put my thoughts on the screen. The first draft is for myself, not for my audience objects. When I stop to edit and think the flow of writing is disrupted, it takes a bit of practice to silence the inner critic, and it also means trusting my system too, that I can improve and edit in the succeeding revisions.

Richmond:

As a writer and as a creative, I want to leave my body of work as a legacy. I also want to enjoy the process and continually create. Flow helps me do it. Yes, there's discipline involved and consistency too, but discipline means showing up for yourself. May you find flow in whatever you do and may it help you build the work you want to do.

Richmond:

You've been with Pockets. Thank you so much for sharing this space with me. Now go, embrace the moments, build your pockets of meaning and keep curiosity as your guide.