“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.””~ Thomas A. Edison

Nothing is worse than when a black hole develops in your mind. A creative exhaustion that sucks even bad ideas into a disparaging singularity that makes you wonder if you’ll ever hatch another original thought. You’ve been at this point often enough to know that despair, despondence, and creative meltdown isn’t far over the horizon. How do you put the cork in the black hole?

As counterintuitive as this sounds, immediately stop your present project and do something you hate. Balance your checkbook, pay bills, clean out the gutters, get cracking on that pivot table, or whatever activity you loathe doing more than anything else in the world. That sounds like a terrible idea. Why would anyone do something they hate as a cure for stymied inspiration?

Your mind is designed to shield you from unpleasantness. When you are in the midst of something you can’t possibly stand to do, your thoughts will wander to more enjoyable endeavors. Unless your focus is strong enough to resist playing the “I’d rather be doing x, y, or z” game, your attention will invariably fall upon the things you love to do. Suddenly, that black-hole cork you desperately tried to find earlier will come wafting to the forefront of your creative process.

While this method might sound like a Jedi mind trick, you’re leveraging your brain’s defenses to your benefit. Everyone’s mind works differently, so this might not work for you. However, there is some trigger that snaps you out of the doldrums. The next time you have an “A-ha!” moment, take a minute to note what was happening around you when brilliance struck. Were you cooking? Was there a song on the radio? Cataloging these stimuli will help you understand your unique creative processes for the next time you can’t think of a single thing.

Consider this …

1. When was your last “A-ha!” moment?

2. What were you doing immediately before this moment?

3. Take a moment to identify a few of your “least favorite things” that require your attention.

4. Start every day doing the feared thing first, but keep an inspiration notepad close at hand.

For more, check out The Top Performer’s Field Guide, The Innovator’s Field Guide, or visit www.JeffStandridge.com.

(Originally published in The Innovator’s Field Guide.)