Take A Break?

At times we all need to take a break, from one thing or another.

Sometimes it’s work. Sometimes it’s locations. And sometimes it’s people.

There is a fairly common perception that artists cannot afford to take a break from their projects, and I mean that both literally and figuratively. However, that is not actually the case.

We have all been trained to be disciplined, hard-working, and to achieve - all the time. And too often this gets equated to a laziness or some sort of failing whenever an artist decides to take some time off or time away.

But I’m here to tell you that breaks are not only necessary, they are integral to the creation process. Allow me to explain.

Kickin’ back, takin’ a break.

Overexposure

We hear in the media all the time about people “plateauing.”

This term is often associated with things like:

• Weight loss

• Muscle-building

• Attention span

• Workplace productivity

But what about creation? Can we also fall victim to “plateauing” creatively?

Absolutely!

There is this crazy notion that creative inspiration comes from one of two places, either: 1) The mysterious Muses, or 2) Emotional turmoil.

But in fact, creative inspiration generally comes from a mixture of hard work, preparation, and a desire to achieve (read: create).

And isn’t this the same formula that we use for everything? Anything we do in life where we want to achieve something requires these same criteria. And it’s a combination that can be utterly exhausting.

If we go too hard in a pursuit for too long we become overexposed and we end up needing a break. And there’s lots of advice about how to handle this in common cases:

• Trying to lose weight or build muscle? Make sure to have a rest day in your week.

• Trying to finish a big project at work? Make sure you leave your work in the office and not bring it home with you.

• Trying to pound the pavement with auditions? Make sure to leave some time for yourself in your day, time that’s in your control.

When trying to create something it’s no different. It’s great to go hard and create whenever you can, but sometimes the best thing you can do is walk away from the project for a while.

Totally Mental

It’s difficult to control what your brain is doing.

Often, we will end up dwelling on thoughts or ideas that have been pervasive in our lives as of late, or affected us in particular. And even when we attempt to not think about things that may be on our minds, they still find a way to creep in subconsciously through phenomena like dreams.

This, ultimately, is a good thing.

“Wait, what??”

Yup.

“But Michael - why, when you’re trying to take a break from something, would your subconscious dwelling on that thing be good?”

When our brains dwell on a thought, idea, problem, or routine we fall into something called Mental Practice or Motor Imagery, which can be described as:

“Mental practice (which is sometimes referred to as motor imagery) is the act of visualizing certain actions in your head, in order to help you prepare for when you have to perform them in reality. For example, in order to learn how to perform certain moves in your favorite sport, you can rehearse these moves mentally, by visualizing yourself performing them.

Other common examples of mental practice include the following:

• Imagining the steps that you will go through when giving a public speech.

• Going over the moves for a dance routine in your head.

• Visualizing how you’re going to act during an important future meeting.”

(learn more and link to studies at: https://effectiviology.com/the-power-of-mental-practice/)

So in terms of the creative arts process, we can essentially end up rehearsing, writing, and solving problems subconsciously even as we are purposefully taking a break. And even more so, it’s effective.

It is entirely possible that the best thing you can do to, not only refresh yourself, but also to work on a creative endeavor, is to purposefully not work on it at all.

Who knew?

Variation

Does this mean that I’m recommending to, when you’re feeling tired, drop your current project and just do nothing?

Nope.

You know what’s even better than not doing anything?

Doing something else.

Find variation and pick up another creative project. It could be short-term, long-term, intermittent, unrelated to everything else, outside your normal sphere…it can be whatever you’d like it to be!

Taking a complete break can be great if needed, but finding some variation - even if temporary - can be even better.

But no matter what, make sure you find a way to assuage your guilt when you decide to take a break. There’s nothing to feel bad about - in fact it could be the best decision you could make!

Just a little food for thought!