6/24/25

🎤 TED Talk Tuesday: Creativity Doesn’t Have an On Switch

Let’s paint a picture.

You sit down at your desk. You've cleared your schedule, made your coffee (maybe iced, maybe hot, depending on your chaos level), opened up Canva or Procreate or Photoshop and told yourself:

"Okay. Just gonna knock out a few quick designs and be productive today. Easy."

Fast forward an hour later and you're:

• Staring at your screen like it personally offended you.

• Organizing fonts by vibes, zodiac sign, or obscure movie reference.

• Googling “why am I not creative anymore???”

• Eating a third snack you don’t even remember getting up to make.

Suddenly, it hits you: “What if this is it? What if I’ve used up all my creative juice and I’m just… done?”

Let me lovingly and dramatically shout this into your soul:

YOU. ARE. NOT. BROKEN.

What you are… is human.

And creativity? She’s not a button you push or a tap you turn on. She’s not Alexa. She’s not Siri. She’s not available 24/7 on demand.

She’s more like a feral little goblin who lives in your brain rent-free, shows up uninvited at 2 a.m. with a chaotic idea and zero regard for your sleep schedule, and then ghosts you the next morning when you're actually ready to work.

She thrives on mood swings, emotional instability, late-night inspiration, and sometimes absolute nonsense. And most days? She couldn’t care less about your deadlines or your to-do list.

You can’t force creativity.

And the more you try to force her, the more she digs in her heels and slams the metaphorical door in your face.

This doesn’t mean you’re lazy. Or unmotivated. Or secretly not cut out for the work you're doing. It means your brain and body are asking for something different.

And here's where I need you to really listen:
Sometimes “doing nothing” is the most productive thing you can do for your creativity.

Because the truth is, rest is part of the process. Recharging is part of the process. Getting away from your screen, your social feed, your inbox, and even your design software—is part of the process.

You can’t fill from an empty cup.
You can’t design from an empty well.

And no matter what hustle culture says—staring at your screen until your eyeballs dry out isn’t grinding. It’s self-sabotage in a cute productivity disguise.

So here’s your official permission slip:

• If all you did today was open your program and then immediately minimize it out of sheer overwhelm? That still counts.

• If your “work session” turned into reorganizing your glitter PNGs and watching a 90s sitcom? That still counts.

• If your brain told you “not today” and you listened? That counts too.

None of this means your creativity is gone.

It just means she’s probably curled up in a blanket somewhere, sipping a Dr. Pepper, waiting for you to quit pressuring her.

Want her to come back?

Then go do things that don’t feel like “trying.”

Go outside. Watch the trees. Play with your pets. Rewatch your comfort movie. Dance to that 2007 playlist like it’s still your MySpace song. Write nonsense in your sketchbook. Laugh until you cry. Cry until you laugh.

Fill the well.
Then, and only then, will creativity peek her head around the corner like:

"Hey… you got snacks? Wanna make something weird?"

And just like that, she’s back.

Because she always comes back. She just had to go be dramatic first.

TL;DR: Creativity isn’t a switch you can flip on and off. It’s more like a moody houseguest with no schedule and a flair for drama. So stop beating yourself up when you’re not “producing.” Rest. Play. Refuel. She’ll come back when she’s ready—and when she does, she’ll be fierce.

Now go stare at the ceiling guilt-free if that’s all you’ve got today. That counts.