When I was in high school, I had a strong passion for the arts. I was able to juggle my AP/IB classes with my art classes (which demanded a lot) without going crazy. When college started it seemed as if I had lost the ability to take on many things at once; I was used to taking eight classes a day in high school, but four classes now seemed like a challenge. This led me to almost lose complete interest in the arts. However, now that I'm about to start my third year, I can say that I've accustomed myself to the college rhythm, and my creative spirits are slowly but surely coming back to me. I'm going to share some tips that I believe helped me, so if you ever find yourself in this situation, these are for you.
Procrastination is your worst enemy
The main thing that hindered my creativity was procrastination. If you are not familiar with the term, it basically describes the habit of intentionally putting off something that should be done. As an architecture student, my workload has probably tripled since high school, and if I was able to get away with procrastinating then, my first semester definitely showed me that things would not be the same. By putting off assignments and projects, I was rushing to finish them last-minute, sacrificing sleep and hours of what could have been free time, during which I could have done things I actually enjoyed.
Instead of waiting for when you feel like it, do your assignments as soon as they are given to you. Even if you can't finish them right away, it gives you a head start, consequently giving you more time to do other things.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Although it may seem obvious, many students do not maintain healthy diets once they get to college. Though it may be convenient, eating junk food, in the long run, won't give you the required nutrients you need to stay on your feet. Prioritize water, fruits, vegetables, fish, and even coconut oil. Scientists have proven that these boost your brain. A healthy brain increases your productivity, therefore possibly boosting your creativity.
Organize, organize, organize
The last but not least important tip I want to share is having a solid organizational system. Planning your week ahead of time can reduce your urge to procrastinate and allows you to see your availability throughout the day/week/month. If your goal is to create a drawing per week, you can set up a day during which you are not so busy and utilize that day to create. This might not work every week, depending on the workload, if it's finals week, etc. There are plenty of useful online resources that can help you keep track of your tasks as well; personally, the myHomework app is one of my favorites. It serves as a digital planner and therefore sends me daily reminders about what my day is going to look like.
These are the main tips that helped me overcome my artist block this semester. Hopefully, you can take something out of this, and if you don't, keep looking and do not despair. There are many other ways to unlock your creativity.
