Information in this blog post was obtained from, HubSpot, Sprout Social and The Content Marketing Institute.
What if we would be to tell you, even the most experienced writers and social media marketers, experience writer’s block and brain fog? Writer’s block is a scary thing and can cause you to miss deadlines on your upcoming projects. This is why it’s important to recognize it is coming on and try to stop it before it begins! Writer’s block and brain fog can lead to many issues, such as managing time poorly, missing deadlines and not creating quality content. These are just a few of the reasons it is so important to make sure you have the tools to combat writer’s block before it sets in.
As a busy full-time college student and employee, I understand that some days after getting off work, the last thing you want to do is start homework or work on your next marketing post, when all you really want to do is sleep. I know for me, there have been many times when I come home from work exhausted after a long day, and it’s difficult to get the creative juices flowing again to try to sit down and tackle a big marketing assignment. This is why I felt it was so important to find some of the best tips and tricks the best social media advice blogs have to offer, try them out for myself, and share them, to hopefully help busy social media marketers and social media marketing students, like yourself, clear your mind and get you ready to tackle your next big project! The things discussed here, which will be described in depth, are:
Change up your routine
Record your thoughts
Take your well deserved breaks
Attend professional and educational development courses
Write for fun
Talk to an inanimate object
Change Up Your Routine!
So many people work from home or go to school online nowadays, and it’s difficult to have a healthy work/life balance. Working from your kitchen table to making dinner in that same kitchen, makes for a difficult separation and leads to having no new inspiration. For myself, it is important to me to make sure I change locations often, even if it is just sitting on the porch with my laptop for a while! A good way to change up your routine would be to work from a new location! Some great places to check out would be, a local coffee shop, sit in your own backyard, your local library, or even a park with friends or coworkers just to get together and brainstorm! By changing locations often, it will lead to more chances for finding inspiration in new things! It also helps just to get outside more, being cooped up is not always the best thing for new ideas to come to life.
Start Recording Your Thoughts
We have all had an incredible idea during the day at a time you wouldn’t be able to get to your computer to complete an assignment, and by the time you get home to sit down to write, the thought has gone. From personal experience, this is one of the worst things to happen to a writer. This can cause you to stare at your screen for hours on end to just hope your idea comes back. So, an easy quick solution to this is to record your thoughts throughout the day. This will be a convenient resource for the next time you are tasked with an article to write and writer's block has set in. This is something I do for myself often, although I don’t really use a recording device, and use the notes app on my phone instead, a recording device would work wonders here! But if you’re like me, a busy college student paying off loans, an app you already have will work just as well!
Take Your Well-Deserved Breaks!
This one is so important! You have a busy life, school, work, and kids, and feel like you have no time to yourself. We are in a time where taking off work can sometimes be seen as laziness, but it is absolutely not, and time off is crucial for creative development. Burnout is real, not having the mental capacity due to overworking yourself is a common problem with young adults and it seems to be increasing. When I begin to feel overworked and have a case of writer’s block coming on, I make sure to do something I enjoy. For myself, I make sure to try to plan break times when I have a full day of creating content or studying ahead. I try to plan on having a ten to twenty-minute break every two hours, at the least, this changes depending on the amount of writing or assignments I have to do for the day. Some things I do for myself during these times are, take my dog for a walk, read a few pages of my favorite book, or even just scroll TikTok for a while. Who knows? One of these head-clearing breaks might lead you to an idea you had not thought of yet!
Attend Professional Development Courses
Now, this may not be the most fun solution for writer's block out there but is definitely one that provides great benefits and will give you fun new ideas. Why not look up one of your favorite content writers and see if they have any seminars in the area you could attend? And, if there are none in the area, why not use some of your well-deserved time off and make a trip of it? If this is something you feel you may enjoy, try it out! You will meet great people and be able to ask some of the most popular writers what they do when they get writer's block, because believe it or not, they have the same issues you do!
Write for Fun!
Keeping a journal or diary can be a great way to expand your mind! Use this as an outlet to express your emotions, it may help clear out some of those frustrating thoughts that are clouding your head with doubt and frustration. Maybe, after doing these things, you’ll write something you’d like posted without even trying! This is a great outlet for someone that genuinely enjoys writing and needs an escape from the frustrations of having to write things for work or school, which honestly, sometimes you just can’t get the motivation to tackle. Keeping your interests and things you enjoy doing at an important place in your life can really help the brain fog that so often causes writer’s block.
Talk to an Inanimate Object
I know how this sounds, talk to an inanimate object? How will that help me when struggling to clear my head and get creative juices flowing? Well, According to HubSpot, it has many benefits! Some writers swear by this tip and say it is what really helps them in those times you just can’t shake writer's block. Doing this lets you talk freely, with no feedback, good or bad, to make you anxious about. HubSpot’s article suggests that creating a buyer persona for your target market, and “giving” that persona to your inanimate object, really helps get your thoughts out in a productive way with no fears of feeling nervous or anxious. Remember, even if you mess up, it can’t judge you! Your biggest critic is yourself and getting thoughts ready to be written and marketed in this way really helps give you some more self-confidence.
I hope this has helped you get some helpful tips for the next time you’re experiencing writer's block! Don’t forget, you’re not alone in this! Even the most experienced social media marketers experience writer’s block. Make sure you’re changing up your routine, working in a library, checking out a coffee shop, or going to write in the park! Record your thoughts as they come, instead of hoping they don’t leave you before you can get to your computer. Make sure you’re taking the breaks you work so hard for and deserve, taking time for yourself is so important and clears your mind up to fight writer’s block before it starts. Find a professional development course that will benefit and inspire you. Start writing for fun it is a great outlet and will be a great reference in times when the thoughts just aren’t flowing how you need them to. Talk to an inanimate object!
Remember if you’re worried about being judged for your thoughts, this is a great place to start! I hope the information compiled here helps when you get your next case of writer’s block! These tips really work, and creating amazing content can really give you a sense of accomplishment and confidence that everyone deserves to feel! Don’t let yourself get tapped out, you deserve to feel amazing too.
For information on time management, which can be a cause of writer’s block, read my colleague Faisal’s post here! https://www.thesmmu.com/post/keep-time-management-priorities-straight
Resources
Powell, J. (2022, June 8). How to deal with creative block and get reinspired. Sprout Social. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/creative-block/
Congelosi, N. (2020, June 4). 5 unique ways to Crush Writer's block. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/customers/3-unique-ways-to-crush-writers-block
Vos, L. (n.d.). Stop writer's block, imposter syndrome, and other content fears. Content Marketing Institute. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/content-writers-block
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