Getting Past Creative Block

I have bipolar disorder. One of my symptoms is called avolition—which is an inability to start goal-directed activities. Avolition is not the same as lack of motivation. Someone suffering from avolition may be quite motivated to perform a task, but they can’t figure out how to get started. This article is about my strategies to overcome avolition. Even if all you have is normal writer’s block, this article may help you.

I’m a professional software developer and I have regular goals that I need to meet. As you can imagine, having avolition interferes with my job. My advice comes from over 30 years of living with creative block. I finally feel like I’m dealing with it a bit better than I was 30 years ago. With this article I’m aiming for creative people who are given assignments and deadlines and who are largely self-directed.

Honesty is the Best Policy

First, let’s be honest about a block. If it’s interfering with your deadlines then you need to be honest about it with your client or manager. Speaking from bitter experience, the worst thing you can do when you have a block is to lie about it. You don’t have to say "Oh I have avolition today" (I don’t tell anyone I have bipolar) but don’t pretend that you’re getting work done when you’re not.

The consequences of not getting done will be much less severe than the consequences of being exposed as a liar. The absolute worst thing is on the day of a deadline when people find out you’ve done little to nothing but you’ve been telling them all along that work has been going well. Nobody wins.

Work Isn’t Something You Can Fake

You can’t "fake it till you make it" for too long. If you can’t work, then you have to take time off. If you have sick days, then you have to use them. If you have vacation time or personal time, then use it. Take a leave of absence. The point is, let people know that you’re really not working. Let your managers know so they can assign other people to do the work. Let your client know that the results will be delayed. People will respond to this approach better than if you lie and set them up for a big surprise. Don’t fool yourself that you can escape consequences.

Don’t Despair

This advice so far may sound very unhelpful. No one has the resources to take a lot of time off of work. Next I want to help you minimize the time you take off, but I can’t emphasize enough how important it is not to lie about not working.

Don’t despair because there are ways that you can chip away at even the worst creative block. Even a little bit of progress is good so go for the easy victories first. The trick is to make incremental progress.

Keep Asking "What Can I Get Finished?"

The important thing to ask yourself is "What can I get finished?". If you feel intimidated, or don’t think you can get something finished, break it up into smaller jobs and ask yourself again "What can I get finished?". Keep going until you have something you can realistically finish first—then focus on that.

As someone with bipolar, getting out of bed can be a challenge. I’m going to keep this article focused on work, however. I use the Agile method of working. It’s a pretty complicated philosophy, but you can simplify it.

• Make a list of what you need to do.
  • Making the list can be the first task on the list.
  • Break your work up into small tasks.
    • 30 minutes to a few hours each.
    • Each task needs a "definition of done". How will you know it’s complete?
    • If you can’t define when a task is done, then keep breaking it down.
    • If you can never define when a task is done, then how can it have a deadline?
• Focus on what you can do—not what you can’t.
• Focus on what you know—not what you don’t.
  • Learning the things you don’t know will become a task or two itself.
• If the goal intimidates you, focus on the first step instead.

Actually Getting It Done

Obviously you want to work, so there’s no sense saying "just work". Once again, the trick is to make incremental progress.

• Put yourself in your workspace.
• Remove distractions if you can.
  • When I have to work in an office I come in early or stay late to be there alone.
• Time box yourself. Don’t sit there spinning your wheels.
• Don’t get too caught up in "pseudo-work" to the point that you get no real work done.
  • Pseudo work is filing, web surfing, installing software, etc.
  • Learn to say to yourself "I’m solving the wrong problem".
• Reward yourself for getting something done.

Conclusions

There is no magic formula to overcoming a creative block. For me, the solution is to keep trying and to make incremental progress however small. I recognize that I have a problem and so I can say "Look at how much I did today" even it’s only a little bit. Unfortunately, the solution for working slowly is to work longer.