Creative processes: Feeling stuck and getting unstuck
Feeling stuck in an architecture process is a common, but also highly personal problem.
We have all seen many lists of things to do to get unstuck in creative practice. They usually include such nuggets of wisdom as have a shower or do star jumps. Certainly, simple actions like this can help if you are tired and need a refresh before you can refocus. But figuring out what to do when you are feeling truly stuck, not just tired or overwhelmed, requires a slightly different strategy.
To get unstuck, we first need to recognise that we are stuck, and then identify the most likely reasons for being stuck.
Otherwise, we are just throwing solutions at the problem. When time and money are factors, as they are in architecture school, you need to be as targeted and personal as you can with your next steps.
How do you identify when you are feeling stuck?
What does being stuck look like for you?
Maybe you’re doing the same thing again and again (usually tweaking the same bit);
Maybe you don’t want to talk to your tutor because you haven’t done anything since last time you talked to them, so you start skipping tutorials (when you need them most!);
Maybe you’re spending time helping your friend with their project rather than doing your own;
Maybe you’re spinning around your 3D model from different angles, but never actually developing anything;
Maybe you’re scrolling through instagram and Pinterest in desperate search of the answer.
What does being stuck feel like for you?
It is different for everyone, but being stuck could feel like:
feeling busy all the time, but not making any valuable progress;
feeling insecure in your work;
lacking motivation;
not wanting to show anyone your work;
wanting to start all over again;
or simply wanting to give up.
Why do you feel stuck?
Usually, feeling stuck stems from one of the following situations:
You don’t have a clear vision.
Usually, this happens where you haven’t taken the time at the beginning of a project to align the project brief with your bigger goals and life vision, develop a clear, rich concept, and set a strategy to implement that vision and concept.
You have too many, or too few restrictions.
This can result from a poorly established brief, which usually looks more like a list than an understanding of priorities. This can mean a hierarchy of aspects of the project isn’t developed, and you struggle to synthesis different perspectives into the design. It can also means you end up trying to solve one thing too intensively, and loosing sight o the bigger picture.
You have an internal sense of contradiction.
This can relate to a lack of clear vision, but it can also be separate and more external. For example, you might have a contradiction between what your heart is telling you to do, and what your mind is telling you. For architecture students, this might often manifest as a difference between you would like to explore, versus what you think will get you good grades. Or, there might be a contradiction between what you would like to explore & the direction your tutor or your peers are pushing you.
What can you do when you feel stuck?
The answer isn’t to somehow magically boost your creativity, throw everything out, or just try to keep going. Instead, you can try to:
revisit your vision
Its always important to be clear on your vision before you start any project - even if someone else has set the brief! If you haven’t, now is the time to go back and define why you are doing this project, what you want to get out of it, and what delivering your dream project would look like.
Hopefully you would have planned out your strategy beforehand - so if you are stuck, its time to reassess and check in on what is or isn’t working (or, whether you have just forgotten the strategy altogether!)
Do the things that make you feel like you.
Its hard to do great work when you aren’t at your best. But also, when we feel most ourselves, we are most relaxed, and that openness often yields new ideas and insights. So doing the things that make you feel like you can be an almost effortless way to kickstart that project again.
Change your environment: add music, go outside, work from a cafe.
Do something else: engage in your favourite hobby, read a book, go to a gallery.
Slow down: take a break, have a nap, step away from the project for 24 hours if you can.
Check in on your self-belief & creative confidence
Re-read feedback you’ve previously had that you are proud of
Revisit old projects you believe were successful, and look at what you achieved there.
Write or read back over your personal, private affirmations.
Identify where you are looking for external validation, and where that is limiting you.
Give the project a framework.
Break it down into steps, write them down, then take one step at a time.
Talk to a friend - explaining your work will help you understand it better.
Do a simple design generation exercise like filling out a nine square grid with ideas.
And if none of those fit, try changing something small:
Change scale - zoom in or out
Change media - if you’ve been using the computer, sketch, if you’ve been sketching, model.
Brain storm openly.
Give yourself words as starts for manipulation (add, multiply, turn…)
Work in a series, changing or trying one small time one step at a time.