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7 Days, 7 Ways

4 May 2022 by Holly Blondin Tags: creative challenges, creative practice, creative prompts, creative space, creative tools

7 Days, 7 Ways

Maximize Your Creativity In Only One Week

Each week is a fresh start for you to create something new and learn about yourself in the process. Keep your creative practice simple and focus only on the next seven days in front of you. Take small steps each day and see just how far you can travel in a single week.

How to approach your weekly process using ‘Creative Bites’

Seven days can be seven different ways to approach your creative process using the creative prompt delivered to you at the beginning of the week. Or, seven days can be seven ways to build your creative momentum over the course of the entire week toward one final creative “ending” with your prompt. The decision is yours to make and can be different each week. The more practice you get with your creative process, the easier it becomes to make decisions on how to approach your weekly creative prompts.

Common Challenges & Tips
Here are a few of the most common challenges that creative practitioners face:
  • Feelings of overwhelm or lack of confidence. All beginners feel this way. Of course! If you already knew how to do it, you wouldn’t need the practice. It is normal to feel like you don’t know where to begin. 
  • No time, no space. There is always time and space for creativity so you must first ask yourself if you are using ‘no time, no space’ as an excuse for not starting, or if you just need a little nudge to help you see things from a different point of view.
  • “I start things, but I can never seem to finish them. So why start at all?” Creatives who have trouble crossing the finish line often suffer from the distractions that appear in their path along the journey. Some of these common distractions include boredom, frustration, or the stress of daily tasks and responsibilities. There will be many distractions in your creative path, but you can learn to move past them with practice.
Tips on how to overcome these challenges:
  • Forget about the creative outcomes and leave your expectations at the door. The most important thing you can do when you feel overwhelmed or vulnerable is to simply begin…no matter what. Even if you don’t feel confident, you can be sure that once you begin, the creative process will show you the way. When you leave the pressure of expectations out of the process magic happens and inspiration arrives.
  • Keep calm and do a little prep work. Take a moment at the beginning of the week to decide how much time you can feasibly dedicate to your creativity each day. The amount of time doesn’t matter. Showing up does. Also, think about the space(s) where your creative actions can happen. Setting an actual time and space for your creativity is like having a supportive creative companion with you all week long. When you consciously prepare for your creative practice you are sending signals to your inner creative to show up and ‘do the work’.
  • Use supportive tools to help you stay on track. Invite a friend, use an app, or use this worksheet to help push you through to the finish. Make a goal with yourself or plan a reward. Gamify it! Consider tools that will keep you motivated. Don’t worry about what others think is best for you.

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About the Author

Holly Blondin is a creative artist and educator.
Barcelona based, she teaches creativity & innovation methods to global audiences. She writes about the creative process in strategic design, entrepreneurship, and the arts.

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Recent Blog Posts

  • Reenergize your creative practice
  • 7 Days, 7 Ways
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And the inspiration lives on...! I recently had And the inspiration lives on...! 
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This Thursday, 25 May throughout Europe you can pi This Thursday, 25 May throughout Europe you can pick up your copy of CREATIVE STRUGGLE IS REAL in your favorite neighborhood bookstores. 
Also available in Australia from @booktopiabooks 
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USA pre-orders at @barnesandnoble @bookshop_org @chroniclebooks … among others. 
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