Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad

by Austin Kleon

Creativity is about connections, and connections are not made by siloing everything off into its own space.

There’s a balance in a workspace between chaos and order.

Walking is good for physical, spiritual, and mental health. “No matter what time you get out of bed, go for a walk,” said director Ingmar Berman to his daughter, Linn Ullmann. “The demons hate it when you get out of bed. Demons hate fresh air.”

Art requires the full use of our senses. Its job is to awaken us to our senses.

When we’re glued to our screens, the world looks unreal. Terrible. Not worth saving or even spending time with.

So get outside every day. Take long walks by yourself.

Always keep a notebook or camera in your pocket for when you want to stop to capture a thought or an image. Explore the world on foot. See your neighborhood. Meet your neighbors. Talk to strangers.

You have to pay attention to the rhythms and cycles of your creative output and learn to be patient in the off-seasons. You have to give yourself time to change and observe your own patterns.

These are the people I look to for inspiration. The people who found the thing that made them feel alive and who kept themselves alive by doing it. The people who planted their seeds, tended to themselves, and grew into something lasting.

None of us know how many days we’ll have, so it’d be a shame to waste the ones we get.

Go easy on yourself and take your time. Worry less about getting things done. Worry more about things worth doing. Worry less about being a great artist. Worry more about being a good human being who makes art. Worry less about making a mark. Worry more about leaving things better than you found them.

Keep dreaming.

Keep designing.

Keep doing your verbs, whatever they may be. Keep going.