The most influential habit I started to increase creativity skills.

For an entire year I had a focus of increasing my sketching abilities. With that goal I wanted to give myself as little room for distraction as possible, so I opted to carry a small notebook in my front pocket with an ink pen daily. Any time I had to kill where I would normally doom scroll social media, I chose to sketch my environment. There are several things I feel like were influential to expanding my artistic toolkit.

In today’s fast paced influencer saturated world, there seems to be an emphasis on becoming a pro as fast as possible. What I have noticed is that a lot of those tips are simply teaching how to follow a recipe and fit a mold that is short lived. This can be applied to any sort of skill-based outlet, but I am speaking on the vein of creativity. With all the technology available and resources someone can find online, there is a great opportunity to expand creative capabilities but there is also a lot of room to get burnt out with all the avenues available. The biggest catalyst I found was carrying a physical notebook and pen with me.

The first thing I thrived on was eliminating decision fatigue. Instead of using a pencil I opted to use a pen so I couldn’t erase a mistake. I had to stick with it or adapt the drawing in a way that became part of my sketching style. The permanence factor forced my brain to slow down and really look at things at a granular level to determine what made some thing something. Physically writing on paper vs. doing sketches on a tablet or computer felt like I was more connected to the world around me. Because of this year long exercise, I now carry several different notebooks with me in my backpack I take nearly everywhere I go.

As a bonus tip for any writer or artist looking for more creativity insight, I am typically a organized chaotic type person but with the notebooks I use there is a method I tend to stick with to keep the flow process moving. I have two notebooks of the same brand with different colored covers. Black is for sketching and Grey is for writing. I also carry a personal journal specifically for mental health purposes and always keep a pocket sized notepad I can take with me when I can’t bring my backpack. The more downtime I’ve allowed access to these different outlets, the stronger my creative drive has become.

The only way you can learn to create is by creating. Write that down.

‘Til next time,

-AF