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Hey there, Reader!
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Thank you so much for being here for our first block party. Are we officially party people? Do you ever just type something and cringe at yourself? Please don't tell my kids. They already have me on block for asking if someone had rizz.

As an introvert, this is a pretty vulnerable step for me, but I know I'm not the only one who faces these creative quagmires once in a while. After all, I've seen a lot of emails and social posts lately that look a lot like this one from freelance content writer Kat Boogaard's most recent newsletter:

You and I? We're not the only ones. Now — as doctors are prescribing community as part of care plans — there's no reason for us to go this alone, yeah?

Kat Boogaard vs Creative Block

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If you're unfamiliar with Kat, she writes online content related to careers, productivity, entrepreneurship, and self-development for companies and publications like Trello, Zapier, Quickbooks, and Atlassian. She was kind enough to answer three questions about how she tells creative block to take a hike (or a walk):

Why/how are you busy?

I’m a freelance writer focused on blog content for software clients in the “world of work” space, and I stay busy with client work Monday through Wednesday. I also provide advice and encouragement for fellow freelancers through my weekly newsletter, blog posts, downloadable resources, and freelance-branded merchandise.

Beyond those two business activities, I’m also a mom to two young boys — my oldest is 3.5 and my youngest is quickly closing in on 2! So all of those things together keep my schedule and my brain pretty full.

What’s a favorite quick tip/activity for a creative burst?

Go for a walk! If I’m ever feeling stuck, I love to head out for some fresh air and a little movement. Even a quick five minutes around the cul-de-sac with my dogs works wonders. It never fails.

Would you please tell the folks about a time you were creatively stuck and how you pushed through to get your creativity pumping again?

Oh gosh, there are so many instances. One that immediately comes to mind happened a few years ago when I took on a large landing page project for a client. Each landing page was a description of a personality trait along with at least three examples of famous people who demonstrated that specific trait. The first few were easy to crank through. But there were dozens of these to do, and keeping them fresh (and thinking of different examples!) became harder and harder.

One night, at dinner with my husband and my parents, I brought a list of a bunch of the traits I was working on and used them as conversation starters. My loved ones ended up having a great time recalling different people and scenarios throughout history. I got a bunch of material to work with for the future pages I was working on, and it renewed my enthusiasm for the project. A win-win-win, as Michael Scott would say. It’s not a strategy that will work for everything (it depends on your timeline!), but for me, simply talking to other people about what I’m stuck on always helps me get past it.

Want to hear more from Kat? You can follow her on Twitter or sign up for her newsletter.

A few bits from me:

Creative quick tip: Tired of wasting your time doomscrolling while mulling over how you want to spend what little free time you have? ​ As thoughts of fun activities pop into your head, write them down on little slips of paper and drop them in a jar for future you to draw when you have a few minutes to spare. Watercolors? Reading? That novel idea you've been sitting on? ​ Boom! Creative/fun decision already made. Thank you, past you.

Fun find: When I get the chance, I browse bookstores. This week, I found My Ideal Bookshelf. Artist Jane Mount illustrates the bookspines of creatives' favorite books (Who knew I had so much in common with Tony Hawk?), and the creative writes a blurb about the meaning of their chosen titles. ​ ​

My creative work: After hearing all the hoopla around The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, I had to give it a try. ​ It's supposed to be a 12-week course to help you reconnect with your creative ideas. ​ I'm only on Week 1, day 2. Here's a link to the book if you want to work through it with me. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. ​ ​

Anyone else feel pressure to come up with something impressive to end these? Maybe like Lavar Burton's "You don't have to take my word for it" from Reading Rainbow? Or Mr. Rogers? Or Forrest Gump? Where are the women? Welcome to my stream of consciousness. ​ via The Good Films on GIPHY​ ​ Anyhow, thank you so much for choosing to spend this few minutes with me. It means a lot. Please hit reply, and I'll write back: ​ ✨ What have been your creative peaks and valleys this week? ✨ What do you hope to get out of this newsletter? ​ See you in a couple of weeks! Don't forget to bring some friends. ​ All the best, ​ Jana That'll be all. Thank you. Was this forwarded to you? Get your own subscription here.

P.S. Want to support creative research and this newsletter? ​ I've crafted blog posts, case studies, and email sequences for LEGO Education, GaggleAMP, Veeqo, Omniscient Digital, Hopin, OpenPhone, and Sprout Social. ​ How can I lighten the load for you and your team? Hit reply or contact me here.

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