Four Things I Do To Feel Inspired

1. Make a mood board. Whether with paper, magazines, glitter & photos, or even just on Pinterest; I always come out feeling so much more inspired by creating a visual collection of things I like. Don't think too hard about it, just collect and put things together which appeal to you visually. Include quotes, reminders of happy moments or snail mail. If you can display this over your desk or somewhere you'll see it often, it will bring you a pinch of inspiration in a flash.

2. Look back. Sometimes looking back over my archive of work, and reflecting at what I've already achieved can really help to give me current ideas. Look over things you forgot you wrote about, did you fully explore that topic? Could it be extended in any way or possibly redone differently? Has an old project inspired other work you haven't talked about or shown yet? I find looking over the past helps me evaluate where I am and what I'm still yet to conquer.
3. Do what you love. Forget the stress for the time being, and go do something you love. Read, workout, sew, hang out with friends, watch a movie.. whatever. Taking your mind away from the problem and filling your thoughts with happy things is good for it. Think of it like 'cleansing' your brain. It keeps it refreshed and will help when you go back to the drawing board. If like me you blog about what you love, doing these things will probably make you think of an idea related to them anyway!

4. Think ahead. Say for example I'm at a loss for what things I can blog about in the next week or two. I take the pressure off by forgetting about the next two weeks completely. I think about next month, or even the month after. Are there any seasonal projects I would like to do, or upcoming events/issues I want to write about? Plan those instead. It might seem counter-intuitive but I can't even go into how many times this has helped me. By taking the pressure off the now, and instead looking forward, I begin to feel productive again and it actually helps me with ideas for the present anyway! Also, this sort of planning ahead means less chance of it happening again next month..