Overthinking Kills Creativity:

How to Get Out of Your Head and Create From Your Heart

 

"Don't think about making art, just get it done.
Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad,
whether they love it or hate it.
While they are deciding, make even more art."

- Andy Warhol

 

Overthinking kills creativity, because creativity is meant to flow from your heart rather than your head. Creativity thrives on the ability to stay present, open and curious. 

It has more to do with mystery than control. 

Indian spiritual guru Osho believed that creativity is a state of “no-mind.”

These are my top tips on how to get out of your head so you can create from your intuition:

 

1. Just take action

That means stop planning and thinking about making art, and start creating as soon as you can!

Dr. Charles Limb's research found that when we try too hard to come up with ideas, we block the natural flow of creativity within us. Limb discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, “the brain switches and the lateral prefrontal lobes responsible for conscious self monitoring become less engaged.” For this reason, Limb believes we should keep a sense of joy and play in the creative process.

 

2. Use whatever materials you have on hand

Stop researching and shopping for “the best” materials and use whatever you have on hand, even if they’re cheap materials made for kids. Some artists even paint with tea, coffee, blackberries, etc. Needing the best materials can be a clever excuse to avoid working.

 

3. Take things one step at a time

Anything we learn, we learn one step at a time.
Anything we create, we create one step at a time. 

Overthinking about the whole process overwhelms us and puts us into a freeze state.

We might be intimidated to write an entire book, but if we just write a few paragraphs a day, soon we will have finished it. We might be intimidated to learn a new instrument, but if we just practice thirty minutes each day, soon we will have learned to play. We might be intimidated to create a large-scale painting, but if we just focus on one brushstroke at a time, soon we will have completed it.

If you spend time with any medium, you will get to know it better. How much time you spend with it will always be an indicator of how well you know it. The better you know it, the more naturally it will come, and the more you can use it as a form of expression. 

At some point, the thing that once made you awkwardly stumble will become second nature.

But it always starts with one step at a time.

Anne Lamott said, “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”

 

4. Embrace the unknown

You don’t need to have things all figured out and in control. In fact, the opposite is true.

E.L. Doctorow said, “Writing a novel is like driving at night in the fog. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

The beauty of the creative process is in the unknown. 
The discovery and mystery will keep you excited about working. 

Georgia O’Keefe said, “Making your unknown known is the important thing—
and keeping the unknown always beyond you."

 

5. Allow yourself to play and experiment

Children are experts at creativity, because they allow themselves to play and experiment without judgement. Don't take yourself or your work too seriously.

Art should feel like freedom.

 

6. Don’t clean up your studio

Some artists use cleaning their studios as a form of procrastination. Let yourself be messy and unorganized. Being messy can even be helpful, because it can help you keep your materials within reach. Remind yourself things do not have to be perfect in order to create! 

According to the Skillshare Article "Messy vs. Minimal Art Studios—Artists and Research Weigh In," the research of Kathleen Vohs has shown that a messy space “could lead to enhanced creativity."

"According to Vohs’s research, neat spaces encouraged safe and conventional thinking, while unkempt rooms spurred novel ideas. Ultimately, those in the messy rooms thought up five times as many highly creative responses as those in the neat rooms.” 

"At the time of figurative painter Francis Bacon’s death, his London studio was filled to the brim with more than 7,000 objects, ranging from canvases and books to paints and paper scraps. Bacon’s studio has been a subject of fascination for decades. “When we first looked at the studio, everything seemed to be thrown in a heap,” conservator Mary McGrath told Christie’s. “And then once we looked at it for a period of time, we realized that, in fact, there was a certain amount of order behind the chaos.” 

 

7.  Get in touch with your intuition

Take 5-10 minutes before your creative practice to go inward, get out of your thoughts and become grounded in the present moment. 

You could meditate, practice breathing exercises, chant, do yoga or draw an Enso circle.

The ancient ensō circle is a sacred Buddhist symbol, also known as the “Circle of Enlightenment.” One of the concepts it symbolizes is an artist’s ability to create free of her mind, in absolute presence and from her innermost spirit, through her physical body. 

There is no “correct” way to paint the ensō circle, but it is intended that you first go inward in reflection and meditation. The actual painting is to be done quickly and spontaneously in the present moment—in a single stroke—without fixing or correcting it. Whatever you created in that moment is perfect in its imperfection—a reflection of that particular unique moment in time that will never be the same again. The ensō encourages us to stop striving for perfection and to embrace things as they are.

 

8. Warm up with loose sketches

A common practice in life figure drawing is to warm up by setting a timer for some quick gesture studies before working up to longer poses. The timer is usually set for 30 seconds to 2 minutes to start. This practice can help you loosen up, because it doesn't allow time to think about what you're doing. You can make an intention to throw these sketches in the garbage if you don’t like the results, so that you feel free to make mistakes.

 

9. Put on your favorite music

Listening to music can improve focus and concentration, reduce overthinking and promote mental calmness.

 

10.  Don’t pay attention to your inner critic

Tell your inner critic to take a back seat as you're creating. You can evaluate and analyze the work when you’re done. If you hear that voice being judgmental or critical, you can gently tell it, “Sorry I’m busy playing right now. I’ll talk to you later.”

Be bold, confident and daring in your creative practice.

Sylvia Plath said, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

 

11. Trust the Process

Creativity takes faith. You won't always know what you're doing, but you must trust that you'll figure it out. Think of each artwork as a journey or adventure to new territory. There will be times of uncertainty and mistakes along the way. You'll make “wrong turns" here and there. 

Art is more about the process (or experience) than the product (or destination).

 

12. Don’t think about technique and everything you’ve learned

Trust that you already have everything you need to know inside of you to create what you're meant to in this moment. 

In The Curse of the Self, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Mark R. Leary describes how “someone who has mastered a complex skill” compromises their abilities when they self-monitor and try to control their behaviors rather than allowing themselves to act automatically. He says that once we learn a complex skill, our conscious minds cannot help us perform; in fact, they can interfere and hinder our performance.

 

13. Don’t think about what you “should” create or what you assume other people would want you to create. Think about what you want to create.

Art is a very personal and therapeutic experience. Lean into whatever makes you feel most inspired, alive, curious and free!