12 Ways to *Spike* Your Creative Energy Instantly

Trying to control creative energy is like trying to cuddle a cat: you can’t force it. Here are 12 ways to work around that.

I’m not going to beat around the bush here: these tips are exactly what I use on a daily basis to encourage my creative energy. Why do I use the word encourage? That’s the thing about creative energy: it can’t be forced or manipulated, rather it’s a product of overflow and abundance in the feeling of self-expression itself.

Creative energy can show up periodically for anyone. It’s that urge to create, share, edit, write, …whatever-it-is that you do! But how do you get that energy to show up every day, or at least consistently?

That is the plight of the Creator: Being careful to not use our creative energy as merely a means to an end (honoring our inner Kantian), we have to find ways to consistently access our creative energy that is meaningful to our unique purpose and desires.

Here’s the thing: everyone’s creative energy formula is different. Mine will be different than yours, but my ideas have been time-tested, results-proven in my life, so even if your list is different, you can get some ideas from my formula. Or simply just validation that you’re on the right track creatively!

1. Schedule a few hours (1–4) for deep work each week. (From the book Deep Work by Cal Newport) I’m writing this post during this week’s time block! Ideally, a few hours of daily deep work is the goal.
2. Regulate caffeine! I used to drink like 5 cups of coffee a day and now my max is 1–2 because anxiety can kick in after 2 cups. Anxiety is not good for creative energy, because Anxiety always invites it’s good friends Perfectionism and Overthinking over, which complicates everything.
3. Daily meditation: I’m NOT kidding even 1 minute breathing exercises help me regulate my thought life and navigate from a wiser, calmer place. The Calm app is the best app out there for meditation. Try getting on a daily streak and witness your thought life change!
4. Sleep way more: I need like 9 hours…sorry not sorry. This used to mean just going to bed earlier, but now it’s expanded into a full fledged nighttime routine because I embrace sleep now (more on that in point 11).
5. Intermittent fasting: I accidentally discovered that this worked for me and now I practice it daily: eating a late breakfast/lunch every day around noon; waiting until most of my deep work is done.
6. Cooking something: There are 2 benefits here: Preparing something for yourself is self-care, and cooking gets your into your body and out of your head. Cooking, for me, unleashes physical creativity in a way that has actually given me amazing business ideas and downloads while I’m just standing there, sautéing broccoli.
7. LOTS of liquids in the morning. *Treating myself* to a matcha latte, a coffee, or kombucha is one of my favorite ways to get in the mood to create. When I’m fasting, I’m also drinking hella liquids to activate my body and keep myself hydrated.
8. Nature! Sunshine or connecting with the earth (i.e. grounding) is actually connecting us to the Creator of the Universe…and that is simply bound to spike your creative energy *due to rubbing shoulders with the Creator.*
9. Journal for *literally* 5 minutes: I challenged myself to journal daily for a whole year last year (even a few sentences works), and it unleashed more creativity out of me; dovetailing into blog posts, content creation, and in general helped me become more prolific as a creator.
10. Clean your space. It never ceases to amaze me when I hit a creative block just how much tidying up my space helps unblock the creative flow. Not only does cleaning get you back into your body (and and out of your head) but it also resets your energy and gives you a natural hit of dopamine for ticking something off your to-do list.
11. 20 minutes of daily reading: Start with a goal of 20 mins per day, and it will grow! Now, I read about an hour daily because I’m into multiple books, multiple formats for consumption (audiobook, physical book, iPad books), and so the habit has grown naturally from just simply showing up daily. If you don’t know where to get started: Here’s a list of the 22 books all spiritual entrepreneurs should read!
12. Rest. If you’re not feeling creative, it’s maybe because you need to give yourself permission to do something else, like rest. I somehow internalized that rest was not *PrOdUcTiVe* and so therefore didn’t get priority in my life, but it may have been the largest missing piece of the puzzle.
    Here’s what changed that for me: I learned that 95% of your life is created by your subconscious mind. By contrast, your conscious mind only creates 5% of your life. This means when you’re resting, your subconscious mind takes over your “problems” and starts solving them for you, while your conscious mind takes a rest. If you don’t allow your subconscious mind to do this, you simply aren’t pulling from your most vast resource of intuitive, creative knowledge. Your conscious mind cannot solve your problems for you because it only has access to 5% of your brain. Your subconscious on the other hand, takes up to 95% of your brain power. This idea of rest was REVELATORY for me once I truly internalized it.

Now, let’s practice together! I’m going to go…rest. What about you?