Writing When Your Brain Is Cluttered

5 ways to still create something reasonable

What do I do if I’m just not able to write something reasonable? What if I have the so-called writer’s block? When the circumstances just don’t fit? When I’m distracted? Here are the things I try to do in such situations (also when writing this article):

1. World off, music on

CTRL + T is the common shortcut to open a new tab in most browsers. Do this and then enter “open.spotify.com”, log in and search for music. Music that is perhaps a bit calmer, doesn’t put you under additional pressure or distract you too much. If you’re in a bad mood because you just can’t write, how about this playlist?

2. Distraction away

Distraction is distraction, it cuts you off from what you actually want to focus on, for which you just want to use your brain. To get these fucking words on paper or in the computer. To find words for your thoughts. Go to a place where you’ll have your peace and quiet, where you won’t be called every 2 minutes, where the neighbor’s child isn’t screaming or your roommates throw a party. A place where you can live out your creativity undisturbed.

3. Fighting procrastination

Frequently, if I don’t just have the mood I need to be motivated to put on an article, I procrastinate, I think I’m just not in the right mood and I should wait until this has improved. But until this is the case, I am already too tired, have no time or have forgotten my idea for this article and then everything is lost. Just start, start writing. Postponing is of no use at all, but rather has the opposite effect.

4. Filling the stomach

An empty stomach is an absolute poison in my writing process, when I’m hungry and only thinking about delicious food, nothing reasonable comes out of the whole situation. I need something to eat. So I grab this and eat it with a view to the empty draft page. Maybe I’ll come up with some more ideas while eating.

5. Fresh air into the head

If everything else doesn’t help, it might help to breathe properly and give the brain a little bit of oxygen. Maybe open the windows or, if you need to, go for a walk. But don’t use the walk to procrastinate. 😉 Outside it’s so much nicer, I take care of the garden and take out the garbage…

Interactions & Comments