As for a creative person, the first months of the pandemic were quite challenging. During the hard lockdown, I would spend my days in a routine. I would sleep in one room, watch TV from another, and have coffee breaks on the balcony. There, I would observe the happy dog owners walking the pets around the block at least eight times a day. They would usually stop by the fountain to refresh themselves and continue towards the little hill by my house.
Though I found myself without a job, I feel like I was one of the lucky ones. I had the balcony that kept me connected to reality, as well as nature, when it was forbidden to go out. But what if I hadn’t had one? Where else would I find inspiration to write?
Get inspired
It is a well-known fact that creativity is enhanced with new experiences. But one does not necessarily have to search for those on a trip abroad or a week-long summer music festival. How about having a virtual beer with your best friends or watching a foreign TV show? Read a fantasy book, a biography, or a comic. There is plenty of inspiration even at home.
Spend some time in nature
If you are allowed, try to reconnect with nature, as I did so from the balcony. If you can, leave your phone at home and go for a nice walk in the park. Is there a beach nearby? Go for a swim when the weather allows. Collect some shells and decorate your house with them. Bring the outdoors home. You can also get some new plants. Believe me; it can help.
Learn something new
Escape the mundane by acquiring some new skills, whether baking, knitting, coding, or learning a new language. Try something you have never done before. You can also subscribe to various courses online for free.
Network
Reach to other creatives or establish an online group. Meet up weekly via Zoom to brainstorm new ideas and encounter the much-needed motivation. There are more people like you out there. Numerous apps and community pages will help you find them.
Shake up your routine
Even if you like your daily habits, it’s good to break them from time to time. Start your day differently. Have tea instead of coffee, for example, or change the scenery. Move your desk, reorganize the library, put some music on, which you have never listened to before. See if those could bring any positive change in your life.
We all know that these peculiar times can be quite stressful. Expressing in art can help combat worry and anxiety. Stress can certainly limit our creativity. But I found out that those limits can be the perfect base for new ideas too.
Take the work environment, for instance, which was in the doldrums before the pandemic. Nine to five jobs were a standard. Many people even worked hard to get into this routine. They wanted to have such a timetable, and they didn’t mind commuting. Who wants to go back to the offices now? Spend the mornings in crowded trains or in buses and cars in a traffic jam?
The process of shifting to remote work and learning, which would under normal circumstances take a couple of years, happened basically overnight. Companies are making up new strategies, and the health industry has also gone through significant changes and innovations. Humanity found benefits in the constraints.
So get inspired by these. Find the positive outcomes of the pandemic. Profit from the hostile situation and develop your ideas in a way you have never dreamed of before.