The creative process starts off solely inside your head. Here are our top tips for the creative overthinker, to ensure a clear and productive headspace.

No matter what type of creator or artist you are, the fear of failing can be crippling. Before you even set out on a creative project, you can be stopped in your tracks by negative thoughts. There’s nothing more frustrating than being unable to hack down the overgrown jungle of negative thoughts when hoping to make room for creative ideas.

Overthinking can plague even the most driven and motivated creator. Instead of tackling creative block in a considered way, your brain ends up busy and hectic. Delving for motivation can seem impossible when you’re busy dreaming up all the ways something could go wrong.

Even if you’re brimming with amazing ideas for videos for your small business, or a brand-new podcast, overthinking can present an unscalable barrier.

Whether you’re a vlogger making their name on YouTube, or a beginner Twitch streamer eager to get started, we’re here to help. Take a look over our tips, designed to help any overthinker get back to doing what they love!

Be Present

Unless you have some incredibly special and fantastical gift, you can’t see into the future. Equally, you can’t change what has already passed. If you find yourself ruminating on time periods that are out of your control, try to bring yourself back to the present.

Some techniques for doing this include focussed breathing, mindfulness, and consciously making note of where you physically are. Once you’ve done this, you’ll hopefully find yourself with your mind back on the task at hand, ready to create.

Solutions, Not Problems

It can be tempting to reel off a list of blocks and barriers before starting a creative journey. In doing this, we give ourselves permission to fail or not try as hard as we perhaps should. Entering into anything with this mindset will cause the experience to be a negative one.

Try to swap every negative problem you think up with a practical and logical solution. You’ll soon find that all the problems that seemed impossible to overcome are actually very manageable.

Reframing

Similar to the previous tip, this one is about taking unhelpful thoughts and perspectives, and flipping them on their head. An overthinker can have a mind racing with unkind words either towards themselves or their creative works.

A good way of looking at it is you wouldn’t be so harsh to a friend or fellow creative, so why do it to yourself?

Write a List

There’s a lot to be said for the simple act of writing something down. When revising for a test at school, we’re told that writing a fact down can help us memorise it. Rather than solidifying information in the brain, writing can also act as a release.

If you find your mind buzzing with different things, writing them down in a list can help clear some space. This helps to organise any chaos, creating a clearer mental space for creativity.

Meditate

There are many types of meditation and mindfulness, and finding the right one for you can take some time. However, it can be a very worthwhile endeavour.

Apps like Calm and Headspace have fantastic courses tailored to different needs. Working through a course of meditation targeted at the creative overthinker could be the remedy you were looking for.

Move On

Easier said than done, of course, but recognising when it’s time to move on is an incredibly valuable skill to have in life.

Perhaps you’re about to collaborate on a film project with someone, and all you can think of is a video project you did back in college that you’re less than proud of. Instead of fixating on a past moment, remember that you must first fail to succeed, and that everyone has to start somewhere. Cut yourself some slack, and move on from it.

Revisit

If you are telling yourself that you’re not up to scratch when it comes to the next project on the horizon, it can be helpful to take a look back.

Revising previous works can let you see just how talented and creative you are, and that you absolutely have what it takes to nail your next creative endeavour.

It’s important to note that persistent negative overthinking can be linked to depression and anxiety. There are loads of fantastic online resources and organisations to help with mental health. These tips are designed to help with overthinking in a creative sense, and do not come from mental health professionals.