This has been the most exhausting year (and counting) of many of our lives.

It takes a lot of effort to get the energy you need to create.

If you’re like me, there’s a bit of a paradox: you don’t feel good unless you’re creating, but some days, you don’t feel good enough to create!

So how do we stop the sleepy cycle?

If you’re ready to get back into the creative groove, or you’re about to start a work session but you’re feeling low-energy, these 27 Energy Boosts will help you feel good and make good art.

To get the most out of this article, bookmark it and return to it whenever you need a boost!

Energy Boosts that take less than 5 minutes

If you need a quick boost before starting an art session, or you want a fun way to begin your day, start with these!

Tidy up a space in your house.

Set a timer for five minutes. Pick a spot in your house you haven’t paid attention to in a while.

As fast as you can, clean that area.

You’ll be amazed what you can do in five minutes of focus! And you’ll get a big energy boost from doing it.

Destroy something.

Grab something that you won’t miss and tear it to little itty-bitty pieces.

I crushed a rice cake in my bare hands. It was very satisfying.

This might seem silly, but the break from routine is liberating and will get your creative juices flowing!

Reconnect with someone you haven’t spoken with in a while.

Send a quick “how are you?” text or an invitation for a longer chat to someone you like but having been keeping up with.

The good vibes will start your creative session off right.

The important phrase being “someone you like.” Don’t text toxic people. Leave the trash on the curb.

Turn your “creative ritual” into a party.

How do you enter your creative space? Do you write a few pages in your journal, or light a candle?

Let’s crank it up a notch. Add as many pleasant things that bring you joy as possible.

Get your favorite drink, a snuggly blanket, and some pumpin’ music. Or, put on your hottest makeup look, and perform a sexy TikTok dance before you get going.

Whatever makes you happy! But turn the few minutes before you start working into a part-ayyyyy.

Energy boosts that take less than 20 min.

If you have a bit more time in your routine, or you need a bigger boost, start with one of these. Or end your day with these as a fun reward in your schedule!

Sleep, eat, drink, and be merry.

Feeling totally worn out? Grab your favorite juice or make yourself a cup of tea.

Mix up a fruit salad or cook your favorite comfort food snack.

Or, go take a quick cat nap. (I’m not good at cat naps, unless by “cat nap” you mean sleep for eighteen hours. But some people can do it)

If you’re feeling worn out, give your body the nutrients, water, or rest it’s craving!

20 min. dance party.

Make a playlist of songs that help you feel awake, alive, and happy.

Then, before you sit down to make stuff, play that funky music and dance!

Dance wildly and without inhibition. It’s way more fun (and helpful for your mood) that way.

Do something new every day.

Okay, this might seem like it should take more than twenty minutes, but it doesn’t have to.

This prompt doesn’t mean you’ve got to go climb a mountain or dive with sharks.

It means stretching your creative thinking to find something strange to do.

Have you ever watched a punk rock music video? Find one on YouTube.

Or maybe you’ve never learned how to say “I love you” in American Sign Language. Look it up!

Every day, find a small thing to do that you have never done before. It could be diving with sharks (don’t annoy them, they have enough going on without you poking at them), but it could also be trying a new flavor of tea, or writing a haiku.

Think of something new every day, and you’ll get a burst of good vibes and excitement to take into your creative projects.

Need suggestions? Shoot us an email at support@makegoodcreativenetwork.com. We’d be happy to give some ideas to start you off.

Dress completely different than normal.

Write down your usual outfit, and then, for every article of clothing, write down the opposite. Then put together that outfit and wear it for the day.

If you usually don’t wear anything on your head, grab a hat.

If you usually wear big t-shirts and jeans, find a crop top and shorts.

Whatever you’re comfortable with, but experiment with how wearing a different “costume” can make you feel totally different, even when doing the same activities!

Art-Inspiring Energy Boosts

The following boosts are not only good for giving you energy, but also giving you ideas to create around.

If you’re bereft of both enthusiasm and inspiration, try any one of these energy boosts.

Ask a friend to share their favorite memory of you.

Use that as inspiration to create a poem, drawing, or video. Then, present your creation to them as a gift, immortalizing your wonderful moment together forever!

Or forever picturing that time you totally embarrassed yourself.

Whichever they pick.

Read or watch something that will piss you off.

Find a news briefing, a blog article, or anything online to read or watch. Make sure it’s something that will get you good and steamed up.

Then, go make something.

Quick, while the iron of your rage is still hot!

Take those feelings and turn them into a grotesque canvas, a righteous poem, or a revenge-plot short story.

It’ll feel GREAT.

Use your day job to inspire your work.

I’m a comedy writer who used to be a business intelligence analyst for a real estate company (no, I don’t know what a business intelligence does. Nobody could tell me, either).

My work gave me a lot of material for stand-up and comedy sketches and characters.

Even if you’re not a comedian, your “day job” can inspire your creative work.

If you paint… paint a room at your workplace. Try to evoke the feelings it gives you.

If you write music… write a song about the dumb meeting you went to last week that lasted way too long, or write one about your favorite coworker.

Ponder your feelings about work, and try to put that into a project.

It’ll be therapeutic and fun!

Help someone else with a project.

Art shouldn’t be lonely. If you’re feeling too drained or exhausted to work on your own stuff…

Reach out to another creator and offer to help with something they’re working on!

This help can be anything, such as…

• Meeting for coffee and an artistic discussion

• Beta-reading or editing their book

• Connecting them with a mentor in their field (or being the mentor yourself!)

• Completing one part of the project, like doing the costume design for their play

• Anything else they might need that you would enjoy doing!

By helping someone else with their project, you’re getting all the joy of creating with very little of the insecurity.

Plus, you’re building your Creative Network in the process! So many wins.

Make your “bad habits” work in your favor.

If you can’t seem to get your sleep schedule on track, or you spend all your time online, or any number of other things we’ve been told are “bad”…

Watch our Bad Habits video and turn those inconveniences into creative inspiration!

Longer Energy Boosts

If you don’t just need an energy hit this morning, but every morning for the foreseeable future, you need a bigger kick than what we’ve talked about so far.

Read on for our MOST POWERFUL ENERGY BOOSTS yet.

If you have kids or pets… give them to someone else for a week.

This isn’t always feasible, but sometimes, a little break can do wonders.

Find a pet sitter or hand the kids off to grandma. Schedule some relaxation time, but also, prioritize creative time while they’re gone.

The additional time will give you an opportunity to create like you haven’t had in a long time… not to mention sweet, blissful quiet.

Switch up your schedule.

Write down what you usually do in a day.

Now, move everything around.

Have breakfast for dinner. Work at night and watch a movie during the day. Run errands way early in the morning, or exactly at noon, whenever you wouldn’t usually.

LET ANARCHY REIGN.

Decorate your house.

A much bigger project than simply tidying, this Energy Booster is about remaking your space so it’s more fun and inspiring.

Get cute fairy lights, healthy green plants, and colorful wall hangings to keep you company.

Bonus points if you get the wall hangings from indie artists.

However you want it to look, take some time to really make your space feel like somewhere you want to be. You’ll love creating in it more than ever before.

Push through to finish one project imperfectly… then share it.

If you want to feel like a creator, the best way to do it is creating something, and then sharing it with others.

Get something to a first draft and then share it with other creatives or friends whose opinion you respect.

Ask for their feedback on what you should do with it next.

They’ll have exciting ideas you never even thought about, and that new input will propel you forward!

Put big projects on hold for a while.

Could be you’re burnt out on a few specific projects you’ve been struggling with for a while.

Instead of trying to force yourself to work on those, take a break.

Focus on small, loving acts of creation. Do little things that bring you joy.

Get paid for a project.

This might seem like a crazy hard place to start, but there are many ways, big and small, to get some money for your work.

This is energizing and exciting if you’ve never been paid for your art before. If you have, this may not work as well (you may need to do the opposite, and do a creative project for yourself and not for payment)!

If you don’t have much time to spare on clients or setting up a platform, try these 3 ways to make money online as an artist (without a side hustle).

If you want to make money for your art, and make art a bigger part of your daily life, download our guide to the Top 9 Ways for Creatives to Make Money Online.

Life-changing Energy Boosts

These may take more time, or extend over a longer period, but the effects will be huge.

You’ll find you feel better and are creating more than ever before with any of these Energy Boosts.

Get a mentor AND a mentee.

No matter where you are or where you want to be, there’s somebody who’s been there, and there’s somebody who wants to get where you’re at.

Connect with someone in your field who you consider a great role model or success. Ask to meet up and ask them questions.

Besides just asking for help, pay it backward. Reach out to your network to find someone who wants to be where you are, or needs advice on something you’re highly skilled in.

Meet with them regularly and help guide them toward their dreams!

You’ll get a crazy amount of ideas, energy, and fulfillment out of both of these relationships.

We’ll be doing a longer blog on this soon, so make sure you click below and subscribe so you won’t miss it.

Therapy!

Yay! Mental health!

I’m not a mental health professional by any means (just your regular mentally ill layman), but I heartily support everyone going to therapy.

You go to the gym to keep your body healthy, so why not spend some time on your mind?

If one-on-one therapy is too expensive or time-consuming, check out Group Therapy options in your community.

Or explore the app, BetterHelp. It’s virtual therapy, so if you don’t mind losing the in-person element, it’s a very convenient (and less expensive) choice.

Get a blocker app that keeps you off of time-wasting sites.

Your iPhone will let you do this by using its productivity tool (swipe left). You can pick which sites to restrict, so you don’t spend hours doom-scrolling.

You can get StayFocused for your computer’s browser, as well, and restrict your time to something reasonable.

Get your daily dose of cat videos, without it taking three hours of your life.

Purchase a standing desk.

Get on your feet! Sitting all day is draining your energy (I said to myself before buying the standing desk).

If you can’t buy a standing desk right now, simply change up your workspace so you’re working in a different position than usual.

Quicker fix, similar result.

Work outside.

Okay, maybe I just told you to buy a fancy desk, and now I’m telling you to ditch it and go outside. I’m sorry.

But working among beautiful nature will help you feel more awake, inspired, and happy.

If you can’t work outside safely, then try and add a daily walk to your schedule, or time to sit outside and sketch or journal.

Switch up the amount of time you spend alone or with people.

If you find you’re generally exhausted and don’t have the energy for creation, flip your social:alone ratio.

To do this, consider how much time you spend with people, and how much time you spend alone.

Write out your usual week. How much time are you spending in introspective, alone time or focus time, and how much time is spent around people and socializing? Virtual socialization counts.

Whichever you’ve been prioritizing, flip the balance.

Cancel a few hangouts to spend some time alone reading. Or, if you’ve been skewing the other way, schedule a Zoom chat with friends or other creatives.

Switching up your socialization routine will get your creative juices (mmm, juices) pumping again.

Join an artistic community or organization.

Speaking of spending time with people!

Add more art hours to your week and get inspired by jumping into an artistic community or organization.

We talk more about this in 7 ways you are sabotaging your own creativity.

Some examples of awesome art groups:

• Join a band

• Check the app MeetUp for artists doing work like you in your area

• Writers’ critique group

• Dance classes

• Improv! Improv always! Always improv! (It’s not a cult, I just love it more than my family)

By spending more time around creatives like you, you’ll get fresh in-flows of energy, and feel like you’re contributing more to your community.

Find your Artist’s Anthem.

What is it that motivates you? What drives you to create?

It’s not a bad thing if you don’t have an answer… but if you’ve been struggling to say energized and motivated, this could be the culprit.

To design your own anthem and find your purpose, click here: Find Purpose With an Artist’s Anthem.

Are you struggling to create?

If you looked over the list above, and don’t feel like any of the energy boosts really speak to you… there might be a bigger problem keeping you from creating.

We understand. Sometimes, creative block can hold you down so firmly, you don’t feel like you’ll ever get up.

But what if you could find out exactly what was holding you back… and what to do about it?

Luckily, you can do exactly that, and I’m not just teasing you! Want to create more than ever before, and love doing it?

Grab our 21 Creativity Killers Guide (and how to beat them!)