5 Simple Ways to Overcome Creative Resistance and Stop Procrastinating on Your Art

We all love making art, but why is it so hard to overcome the resistance and actually do it? After talking with artists in The Studio, I’ve identified five specific strategies that help you stay connected to your practice without massive effort. From the 20-minute bloom practice to leveraging community accountability, these simple shifts can keep you in your art every single day instead of letting months slip by.

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We Love Art… So Why Don’t We Do It More?

I was on a call last week with members of the Art2Life Community. And this one challenge kept coming up. Over and over again.

We all love making art. It’s the best. It’s the whole reason for living for many of us.

But why then is it so hard to overcome the resistance? Why do we feel like we never have the time for it? Why don’t we do it more often?

What’s actually going on?

Right now, I’m in Italy, about a week before our Italian Riviera Retreat starts. I’ve been making art while I’m away and I’ve been thinking about this question a lot.

After talking with artists in The Studio the other night, five things really stood out as being incredibly helpful for overcoming this resistance.

 

The Bummer of Dropping Out

Here’s what I know to be true.

I talk to so many people who were into art. And then six months go by. Eight months. And now they’re two years out and they’re trying to get back to it and they can’t. And they’re beating themselves up.

It’s just crazy.

Because this thing we love? It grows with just the slightest bit of energy put towards it. You can make massive progress without massive effort. You just need the right approach.

So let me share these five strategies that have been game-changers for me and for artists in our community.

Strategy #1: The 20-Minute Bloom Practice

This is something I teach all the time, but it’s worth repeating because it’s so powerful.

Twenty minutes in your sketchbook. That’s it. Really, even 15 minutes works.

I have been making some really cool stuff in just 20 minutes while I’m here in Italy. You do this every day, and the momentum you build is incredible. I mean, I just have so many ideas. There are so many ideas that come from working small.

This is one of the primary things we’re doing in The Studio right now. If you’re not working in a journal, this is the number one thing to start with.

I know many of you are in The Studio with us, and we’re making art all the time. But if you’re interested in joining us, just send us an email at in**@******fe.com and we’ll tell you more about it.

Strategy #2: Reframe Your Nos as Yeses

This came up in conversation, and it’s been so helpful for me.

You know the feeling. You have to say no to all these things. You want to do all these things, but you have to say no because of your art. And it’s all this pressure.

But here’s how I want you to think about it.

If you have a goal, if you have something in your life like your art that you’re wanting to make a bigger part of your life, think about the bigger two-year goal, three-year goal. You want to be in galleries. You want to sell your work. Whatever that is for you.

That’s so exciting, that future.

Hold that as the dream. Hold that energetically, what that can do for you.

And then you get to reframe those small nos. You skip the movie maybe because you want to work on your art and you have to tell your friends no.

But your nos are just really yeses to this bigger dream.

When you think about it that way, at least for me, this is powerful. This has made it really easy for me to be even more discerning.

I have actually had to come late to some things on this trip. I mean, I’m here, I’m only here for a little minute out of time. But I’m putting off doing things because I want to stay connected to my art. It means so much to me. So I just give myself 20 minutes and I’ll go on the tour, whatever, a little later.

Strategy #3: Understand That Idling Is Normal

Sometimes when we’re not making art, it is normal to idle along.

And we beat ourselves up.

But it’s just normal, especially if you’ve had a show or you’ve done a big push or you’ve done CVP, to just not do art for a while and just idle.

But I would suggest your idling is you continue with the 20-minute practice. But it’s an idle. You’re not trying to achieve anything. You don’t even have to have a plan. Just experiment and stay in it.

It keeps the momentum going and it’s a super light lift.

Strategy #4: Have Your Setup Ready to Go

This was something an artist in the group shared, which is so true, and I always forget about it. Especially when I’m on a trip.

Having a ready-to-go setup. Having things easy and set up. They’re at your kitchen table or wherever, so you can just walk over and boom, you’re into it.

On this trip, I have all my paints. I have paper towels. I have brushes. I have squeegees. And I keep them all in this big bag. And then I can just pull it out. I can set it up at the little apartment table and I’m good to go.

That’s really, really powerful. Ready to set up.

Strategy #5: Take Advantage of Community

This is something amazing we’re doing in The Studio. We have scheduled times where you meet up with artists, a group, every single week.

So you can say to friends and family, “Oh listen, I can’t. I’ve got this art date with these people.”

You know, now it’s no longer you. It’s all of us. It’s a group. And this has made a big difference for folks. I know it does for me.

I get so excited for my sessions each Thursday. I want to paint. I just know I’m going to be doing it no matter what. I’m going no matter what.

And of course, I only have to be there for an hour. That’s the commitment. But I end up staying much, much longer because it’s just so damn fun.

Once you’ve got some accountability, it just gets easier to stay in it.

Discoveries from Italy

One of the cool things about trips is you can’t plan them. I love it. Find your way as you go. That’s what I love doing. We don’t have a lot of plans.

We were just in Amalfi, which is this amazing town. But the coolest thing that we found there was we hiked up into the mountains. That was a whole surprising thing. Incredible.

We went to see these waterfalls, amazing, through these lemon orchards. And we came across this little restaurant called Agricola Fore Porta. The family that owns it grows all their own food. They don’t even have car transport. You have to carry everything into this little restaurant. Literally, it’s like two hours up in the mountains.

It was the most amazing place. 

This was like the big score of this trip. These people were so friendly, they were so nice. And everything that they make, all the cakes from their own lemons. It was really a powerful afternoon. 

So if you’re going to Amalfi, walk up this hill. And it’s a long one, it’s a couple hours. But it was one of those amazing experiences I’ll never forget.

The other thing I want to share with you is an artist saw here. I was visiting an old castle in Ischia, and in the chapel was this amazing art installation.

The artist is Allegra Hicks. Amazing watercolors. They’re nature-based, really, really cool. And it was just a powerful installation. 

She’s half the time in Italy and half the time in New York. I come across these people, and it’s like, “oh my God, I’ve got to find out more about her. Her work’s amazing.”

The Power of Small Effort

Here’s what I’ve learned.

This thing grows. It just needs the slightest bit of energy put towards it to really make massive progress in it.

So let me know in the comments. How do you overcome this resistance? It’s super helpful for other people to hear it. It normalizes it. And there are some great ideas. Most of these ideas came from folks I was just painting with the other night in The Studio.

Because we can’t let months slip by. This thing we love needs just the slightest bit of attention to really grow.