Inside: Ever wonder what kills creativity and what keeps it alive? You have more influence over your creative output than you think.
If there was ever a misapplied Christian verse, it’d be Philippians 4:13. Our shiny coffee mugs and trusty Sunday school totes proclaim: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
You’d think that Christians were empowered to achieve anything and everything. But when read in context, this verse refers to our God-given power to persevere in any circumstance with contentment.
Still, that doesn’t stop us from trying to be a modern-day Wonder Woman or Superman. Like the rest of the world, Christians aren’t immune to striving beyond our limits. When we do so with our creative work, we stifle creativity and burn out.
Here’s a list of ten things that will kill your creativity—guaranteed.
How to Kill Your Creativity
1. Create every day even when it’s not working for you.
Many productivity experts stress the importance of a daily creative habit. While this routine helps build discipline and momentum, it can also lead to burnout for some people. Just as God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, we weren’t made to labor for seven days straight, even if it’s what we love.
You aren’t a productivity failure if your rhythm doesn’t match what the gurus say. The best creativity advice is what works best for you, so give yourself permission to experiment.
Your routine might look like doing creative work for longer sessions for the first half of the week. Or you might work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, then doing non-creative work on the days in between.
Mixing your routine up prevents you from falling into a creative rut where you feel that you have to create every day. By breaking up your sessions, you build anticipation for when you do get to create. The downtime also allows for creative rest, during which ideas continue to incubate.
RELATED: How You Can Use Creative Rest to Restore Your Creativity
2. Make extrinsic motivators your only measure of success.
What drives you to do your best? Intrinsic motivation comes from the personal enjoyment of an activity. Extrinsic motivation comes from money, promotion, or praise from others.
With intrinsic motivation, the activity itself is satisfying. With extrinsic motivation, the activity is a means to an end. The downside is that people motivated by external factors not only tend to be less creative, but they’re also more prone to burnout.
In the movie Chariots of Fire, Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddell is a prime example of someone driven by intrinsic motivation. He declares, “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.
Liddell knows his athletic abilities are a gift from God. He finds joy and satisfaction in using them for God’s glory. We, too, can aim for God’s pleasure when we create.
3. Turn your creative gift into a non-stop production line.
Even when we’re performing to the top of our ability, we’re not built to be like an AI, constantly churning out results. If you have deadline after deadline, your creative gift can turn into a production line that not only kills your creativity, it leaves you feeling trapped and sapped of joy.
So resist the temptation to turn your gift into a relentless hustle. Don’t allow your passion to become a non-stop grind. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind (4:6 NIV).
Sometimes, it’s better to have fewer accomplishments with peace than more results with grief.
4. Be impatient for results.
In the book of Genesis, Abraham and Sarah were given a promise of having their own son but had trouble waiting. Sarah took things into her own hands by giving her maidservant Hagar to Abraham to have children, leading to long-term consequences.
You and I aren’t much different. Perhaps God has given you a big-picture vision for your creativity. When we lack patience, we overwork to see results faster. Not only does this increase the chance of burnout, but it also brings out the worst in us. We bristle like a prickly porcupine when anyone interrupts us and gets in our way.
Jesus reminds us that we can’t do anything running ahead of Him: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Let’s learn to walk at God’s pace for our lives—even when it’s slower than we’d like.
5. Fall into the trap of social comparison.
In Ecclesiastes 4:4, Solomon identifies a major reason why our work feels so futile at times. “And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Envy is still alive and kicking today, especially in social media. Our attempts to keep up with the creative Joneses breed self-doubt, inferiority, and discontent.
More important, social comparison makes us less true to who God made us to be. Our creativity becomes a cheap imitation of someone else’s, rather than an authentic reflection of our God-given originality.
A simple rule is to try to create more than you consume. The more time you spend off social media, the less social comparison you’ll experience and the more creative you’ll be.
6. Equate a good job with a perfect job.
God desires faithfulness and wholeheartedness in our work. He does not expect perfection the way some of us do. In Matthew 25:21, the master commends the servant for being a “good and faithful servant,” rather than a “good and perfect servant.”
So learn to accept less-than-immaculate standards. Perfectionism is for perfect people who don’t need God’s grace. If you strive for unrealistically high standards, you’ll break at some point. Studies show that perfectionists stifle their creativity and are much more prone to burnout.
Burnout might be the humbling place where you’re forced to accept imperfection—or never create again.
7. Let creativity take over your whole life.
Admittedly, we creatives tend to be a passionate bunch. It’s still vital to establish boundaries for your creativity, even if you love your craft. Don’t allow your creative endeavors take up all your thoughts (at least not for extended periods). When will you do your work? More important, when won’t you do that work?
Ensure that you have enough time and energy for other priorities. Don’t neglect your family, friends, and church community, for this will ultimately stifle and kill your creativity.
Pursue other interests and hobbies that give your mind a break. Your creative work will be the better for it.
RELATED: Living with Margin: 13 Ways to Create Space in Your Life
8. Allow your creative work to become an idol in your heart.
Even more important than how we spend our time is the condition of our hearts. If we’re not careful, we end up deriving too much identity, purpose, and fulfillment from our creative work. Our creativity can become an idol that takes precedence over God.
What’s the first thing on your mind in the mornings? If you lost your creative abilities tomorrow, how would you feel? Would you know that you’re still God’s beloved child and find contentment in your relationship with Him? Or would you drift without meaning in a quiet state of panic?
Your creativity is a gift, but it’s not all of your identity. Make sure that God remains the main foundation of your life.
9. Run yourself ragged as a way of life.
A recent survey found that 60% of us habitually take on more than we can handle. Yet Will Meier reminds us, “Stress is the enemy of creativity. Our best work often comes from a state of nonchalance, when our minds are calm.”
If you’re serious about creativity, you need to be serious about not overcommitting. When we’re overwhelmed regularly, our innovative abilities hit a wall. We kill creativity and wind up with the output of, well, a frozen pea.
Consider your schedule. Are your commitments commensurate given your season of life? Are you doing anything that God hasn’t asked you to do? Would you wish your schedule on your best friend? When it comes to creativity, the pace of the rest of your life matters.
10. Fail to learn from burnout.
The definition of insanity was once defined as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” We could substitute the word “burnout” here, too. Burnout happens when we keep doing the same thing that’s not working and expecting different results.
Burnout is the ultimate creativity killer. While it’s often the result of external circumstances, it can be worsened by certain personality traits, beliefs, and habits. In any case, burnout is a remarkable teacher. Learn from it, and this season won’t go to waste.
What insights is God showing you? What do you need to do differently from here on out? What would it look like to stop striving and rest in Him? Gaining wisdom means avoiding the pit of burnout in the future.
Burnout: A Time for Reflection
Is your life conducive to creative flow? If your creativity is petering out, it’s time to step back rather than push forward. Now is the moment to reevaluate your pace of life and condition of heart.
Because even Wonder Woman and Superman couldn’t do everything, even if they wanted.
Key Takeaways
1. Stay flexible with your creative routine—it doesn’t have to be a daily one.
2. Make intrinsic motivators your primary measure of success.
3. Don’t turn your creative gift into a non-stop production line.
4. Be patient for results.
5. Avoid the trap of social comparison.
6. Remember that a good job doesn’t mean a perfect job.
7. Don’t let creativity take over your whole life.
8. Keep creative work from becoming an idol in your heart.
9. Avoid overcommitment so that you don’t run yourself ragged.
10. Learn from burnout and gain wisdom.
What might you be doing that kills your creativity?
For more on this topic:
How to Make a Strong Comeback from Creative Burnout
13 Things to Do When You Hit a Creative Slump (Or Burnout)
How to Understand and Harness the Power of Your Creativity Cycle
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Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash
