How To Start A Creative Flow State Routine
I don't know about you but I struggle massively with procrastination and shiny object syndrome.
I'm THAT person who wants to do everything and gets hit with creative bursts of inspiration and a spontaneous nature that is both exciting, yet irritably distracting at the same time.
There's this incessant urge to pursue all these new and exciting ideas of mine. I love variety, I love novelty, I love the rush of energy I get when I'm chasing to capture this idea in its entirety.
Such a typical ENFP + Enneagram 7 personality 🙈
While it's a lot of fun to be in this energetic rush... I have to keep myself in check and make sure I direct my energy in a productive way that actually moves the needle for my business. And that it doesn't detract me from my main priorities and goals.
It is a forever learning process that I'm slowly getting better at—
and if you can relate to some of these struggles, then keep reading because I'll be sharing some tips that have helped me decrease procrastination and trigger a deeper creative flow state.
But first, did you know? You can actually TRIGGER your creative flow state?
I have a little sequence which I call my Creative Flow Routine, which helps keep me grounded and brings me back to my priorities on a daily basis.
And on the days when I forget to do my Creative Flow Routine, I really notice my work quality suffers and I become much more easily distracted and frustrated with myself for having "wasted" a day.
I try to incorporate 5-7 of the activities below into my morning before I begin my real creative work for the day.
7 Ways to get into a Creative Flow State:
Meditate for 5-10 mins
Meditation helps to slow down and ground me back into my body, especially as someone who has a lot of energy and is mostly in my head away with the creative idea fairies.
While I don't use guided meditation, I did find that helpful when starting out. Nowadays, I prefer Crystal Bowl Tones (which you can find on Spotify), the frequency and vibrations helps me sink into a deeper meditation.
Playing an instrument
I recently bought a digital piano and I've found that playing even just 1-3 pieces in the morning, really helps me to be more present creatively, throughout the day.
Because the music demands of me, my fullest attention in order to play with emotion and feeling. When I'm not 100% focused, the music sounds stale and robotic - being aware of that helps me bring my attention back to the present and to my intentions.
Journaling or Scripting
Writing things down really helps get ideas or thoughts out of my head so that when I sit down to do my creative work, I have more SPACE for my priorities, while still saving those ideas down for review at a later date. This really helps me start the day on a clean mental slate.
Yoga, Dance or Nice Long Cycle
Ok, I admit - I COULD definitely be more active and I'm trying to incorporate a daily mini workout routine at home. But for now, I cycle every day to my co-working space and I will usually get in some yoga a few times a week. And sometimes I will blast my loudspeakers and dance around like a crazy person for 5mins 🤣 - definitely gets your heart rate and happiness levels up!!
Ideas generating at a cute creative café
Almost every day, without fail, I will spend at least half an hour at a cute creative café where I dedicate the time to receiving downloads of creative ideas in their various forms.
This is my favourite time of the day and SO important because I just have so much mental energy that it becomes distracting later in the day if I don't give it someplace to go.
Writing down ideas helps me to create more mental space for the more important work.
Listening to chill beats or lofi playlist
Songs with lyrics can be really distracting, so I tend to prefer chill lofi beats instead. Listening to music helps me tune out the distractions around me and allows me to sink into a deeper flow state. Oceanscapes and Nature sounds are also great playlists to help with deep focus.
Turning phone on airplane mode
My most productive days are when I turn my phone on airplane mode. It's the hardest step to do because I'm always scared I'll miss something important. But honestly, it's probably the BEST thing I can do to prevent myself from seeking distractions later in the day. I'm always reluctant to turn my phone back OFF airplane mode at the end of the day, as I'm just dreading all the notifications that I'll get 🙈
Tell me, do you currently have a routine that helps you get into a deeper creative flow state? Hope you found this somewhat insightful and I'd love to know if you resonated with any of this! You can message me here @arohavisuals