What to do when you feel uninspired

Uninspired. That’s how I feel today. Wracking my brains for an uplifting, inspiring, and engaging topic to write about came up with nada. Then, rather helpfully, my hubby suggested that I write about being uninspired. How inspired! I’m feeling tired today which probably attributes to my lacking in the ideas department. My writing feels sluggish because my brain is, but I must persevere to complete the task. And hopefully, along the way, I’ll educate myself, and you the reader, in ways to combat the seductive pull of inactivity through feeling uninspired. What to do when you feel uninspired? Let’s find out!

Acknowledge how you feel

Like I said above, I’m not feeling inspired today. I’m tired, a little grumpy, and just not feeling the flow. But as soon as I acknowledged how I felt, inspiration presented itself in an unexpected way. I’m not suggesting that you will always be inspired so immediately after acknowledging your lack of inspiration, but it opens a mental door. Feeling uninspired or unmotivated can be lonely and isolating. You feel a bit useless like you should be plugged in 24/7, that you’re better than this. But if we think honestly, we know that we all feel it at some point.

We then need to ask why we feel that way. Are you tired like me? Are you bored with your job? Do you feel unchallenged? Whether it’s temporary or you’ve been feeling uninspired for a while, you need to figure out why the feeling is there. Otherwise, you’ll not know how to fix it. When you feel uninspired there is always a root cause and the longer we ignore the feeling, the more embroiled we become in it. Don’t let your feelings become a burden to you or those around you. Acknowledge how you feel, accept those feelings as your temporary reality, and seek a solution.

Clear the cobwebs in you mind

Sometimes when we feel uninspired, the best thing to do is to get out and breathe some fresh air. Go for a walk and just enjoy the nature around you. Put that phone away and just be present in the moment. You often find that simply changing your environment can spark ideas that were elusive to you before, Let’s be honest, how many times have you sat looking at a blank screen or page, straining for the right idea to come but nothing happens? I know I’ve been there and only ended the process feeling dejected and probably rubbing an ache in my temple. Removing yourself from the scene and into the fresh air allows you a chance to clear those cobwebs out of your thoughts and for new ideas to sprout.

When you really don’t know what to do when you feel uninspired, simply taking a walk is the easiest, most enjoyable, and often the most effective way of getting your brain in gear and ready to work.

Shake things up

Let’s face it, we get stuck in a routine, and eventually, we can get bored of it and feel uninspired. Whether in our work, relationships, creative outlets, or other hobbies, always doing things the same way day after day can lead to feelings of being uninspired. If that’s you, then break the habit. Shake it up! Introduce new recipes into your weekly meal plan, go for a daily walk, try a new sport, meet with a friend for coffee more regularly, read more, and watch less TV. There are endless ways that you can shake up your routine that create new, positive experiences in your day-to-day life.

Recently I began walking more. We live by a beautiful pond that changes with the seasons and it has been a joy to observe them. Sometimes I would listen to an uplifting podcast or book as I walked, other times I would just enjoy the beauty around me. But getting out of the house and stretching my legs each day gave me head-space and changed up my routine. It is important to have some structure in your life, but it’s also important to be spontaneous at times and to try new things. It keeps life interesting, creates new opportunities, and prevents those pesky cobwebs of unregulated routine from settling in.

Get moving!

So much of our lives are spent on our bums. We work at desks, drive to and fro, watch TV, relax, etc. If we don’t take the time to be active we can do ourselves a disservice physically and mentally. I’m not the most enthusiastic when exercise is mentioned, but I know that it’s important. So I do what I like, a little at a time, and get my heart rate up. Exercise releases endorphins throughout our bloodstream, and endorphins are basically happy hormones. This release of endorphins lights up our brains, pumping blood and energy through our whole body, and can be the very thing to get your creative juices flowing. Unsure what to do when you feel uninspired? Get a sweat on and you might just be surprised what ideas start to flow.

As an extra incentive, I always find that motivational music gets me going and keeps me going when exercising. Something with a really strong beat and catchy rhythm that you can get moving to. I know I need to keep myself motivated when exercising, to keep my momentum up. I always feel better for persevering through and my mind is more alert for the effort.

Just get it done!

A bit like today, sometimes you just need to give yourself a shake and get something done. We have deadlines in life and sometimes the very act of beginning starts the process of thoughts that produce a result we weren’t expecting initially. I hadn’t a clue what I’d blog about this morning, but grabbing hold of an idea and running with it has, hopefully, produced a decent result that has kept me in the process and taught me a little along the way too. Creativity is like a muscle; you get into a groove with it that you often don’t really need to think about. So when those difficult times where you don’t know what to do when you feel uninspired come along, you can rely on muscle memory to guide you to get started.

Sometimes you will produce results that are less than inspiring, other times you will surprise yourself with better results than you’d hoped for. The important thing though is just to start. Even the best and most creative minds have days where they feel uninspired. If they had just rolled over and thrown in the towel we wouldn’t have such wonderful beauty in our lives. Keep yourself moving forward, even if it’s just a baby step, and you’ll remain on the track you’ve chosen to pursue.

Feeling uninspired?

I hope that these ideas will be of inspiration to you if, like me, you are struggling to get going. Even if only one idea sparks inspiration to return to you then that’s great! What do you do to get feel inspired each day? Is it something you battle with? Let me know in the comments. You never know, it might just be the very thing to help someone else today!