It’s happened again. 

It’s a Monday morning and you’re sitting at your desk. Armed with your beverage of choice and noise-canceling headphones, your goal is simple: get your article, drawing, or whatever creative venture you’re working on done.  

To prepare, you’ve cleared out your to-do list. There are no meetings to attend, no children to scoop from daycare, and no dogs to bring outside. It’s just you, your project, and a swath of uninterrupted time. 

But when you start the timer, your brain’s engine sputters and dies—your creative tank is on empty. This is when you realize that there’s a difference between having the time to do something and posessing the creative energy it requires. Without the latter, it’ll be difficult to get anything done—no matter how empty your calendar is. 

As a freelance writer, I wouldn't be able to earn a living if I didn’t know how to manage my creative energy. So over the past two and a half years, I’ve tried a few tactics to help restore it regularly. Here are my top five: 

Tip 1) Fill your own cup first 

Imagine your creativity as a finicky spirit that occasionally prances into your headspace and gifts you with new ideas. This spirit won’t fit in your mind if it’s already polluted with frustration and resentment. This is why getting yourself in a good headspace is critical to your creative energy. The more pleasant the environment, the higher chance you’ll lure the spirit to come in. 

Sure, there’s a case to be made for chaos leading to art (few things are as creatively fruitful as being dumped, for example). But more often than not, you’ll need an open, relaxed mind to let your creativity fly. 

Filing your own cup means putting yourself first. In my case, I find myself in a sour mood if I start writing for clients before meditating, journaling, and chatting with my sister. Nobody likes starting their day by putting another company’s needs above their own.  

By spending even a few moments in the morning on yourself, you’ll not only feel more in control of your time but set up a positive headspace that invites creative energy.

Here are some ideas that require comically little effort: 

→ 🧘‍♀️ Do a 5-minute meditation right after getting up. I use Insight Timer (it’s free!) and will literally lay in bed and just breathe. 

→ 💪 Do a 10-minute ab workout in your bedroom. Pamela Reif has a bunch of 10-minute ab workouts that are crazy effective. 

→ ✍️ Start morning pages. Typically, morning pages are three pages of uncensored brain dumps written first thing in the AM. But I do a simple version—one page before starting work—and it’s just as helpful. 

Find the cup filler that’s right for you. Whether it’s a three-minute stroll around the block, reading ten pages of your novel, or listening to your favorite podcast while brewing your coffee, this “me time” goes a long way to welcoming your creative energy. 

Tip 2) Schedule energizing activities into your day 

“Life feels very chaotic with so many different balls in the air.” 

It’s a phrase time-management expert, Laura Vanderkam has heard over and over again from clients, as she writes in her essay for The New York Times, “There’s a Better Way to Reclaim Your Time Than Quiet Quitting.” Her antidote? It’s not to scale back your to-do list or set firm boundaries between life and work—it’s to add energizing activities to your schedule. 

Vanderkam writes that people who integrated fun activities into their day reported a dramatic life improvement. “Their satisfaction rose 16% from the beginning of the project to the end,” she says. “They even reported making more progress on their professional goals…as their increased energy and engagement spilled over into all areas of life.” 

In other words, when you feel excited, both your energy and time seem to multiply. I’ve added surfing and Spanish lessons to my calendar (FYI: on websites like Preply, one-hour lessons start at as little as $10 an hour!) and the ROI has been significant. The days not only feel longer, but these activities act as a fast charge for my creative brain.  

Tip 3) Avoid going full throttle 

Last December, I nearly burnt out trying to get all my deliverables to my clients before the holidays (IYKYK). I pulled three consecutive 10-hour days not exercising, eating properly, or resting in between. 

The result? I met my deadlines, but I was shattered. A dense fog settled into my brain. I couldn’t squeeze out a single word—and stayed creatively stunted for a few days.  

The lesson? If you spend one day giving 110%, you’ll spend at least three days recovering. The best way to preserve your creative energy is to respect your boundaries. If you feel your brain fraying, eyes glazing over, and headache settling in, step away now. 

If you decide to push through, you might get thirty minutes to an hour (tops) of work done. But, trust me, the quality won’t be great. According to a study published from John Pencavel of Stanford University, productivity output falls steeply after 55 hours—so much so that someone who clocks in 70 hours produces nothing more with those extra 15 hours. 

Tip 4) Add the fun factor 

Full disclosure: I spent 15 minutes staring at this section of the article wondering how to phrase this. As my cursor blinked back at me, I asked my go-to question when I’m creatively stalled. 

“How can I make this fun?”

I went to Spotify and put on my favorite song from Franky Rizardo (it’s this one if you’re curious) while brain dumping my thoughts. Bam! Now I had a wall of text to help me write this article. Your creative spirit isn’t only sensitive—it’s playful. If you find a way to engage with it, it'll be more likely to bloom. 

Here are some other ideas to infuse the fun factor into your to-do list: 

→ ☕️ Brew a cup of tea. See if you can write one page before the tea gets too cool.

→ 🤗 Meet up with someone. It’s ten times more fun to create when you’re sitting next to people who are doing the same thing. 

→ 🍬 Set up rewards along the way. I’ll buy myself a box of M&Ms and tell myself I get to have one after each paragraph I write. Is it torturous? Yes. Is it challenging and fun? Also yes. 

Tip 5) Disconnect 

Ultimately, your creativity isn’t some toy that  you can pop fresh Double AA batteries into whenever it starts to slow. It’s a living, breathing thing, meaning the best way to restore it is to let it rest and relax. 

However, not all rest and relaxation are created equal. A 45-minute scroll on Instagram will leave you more zapped than you started (calling myself out here). 

Instead, the best way to nurture your creativity is to completely disconnect. Turn off your notifications and try to read some fiction (a 2009 study from the University of Sussex found that reading can be more effective than listening to music or drinking tea!).

Because if you force your creativity to work for you instead of with you, you won’t get far. As Elizabeth Gilbert wrote in Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, “...to yell at your creativity, saying, ‘You must earn money for me!’ is sort of like yelling at a cat; it has no idea what you’re talking about, all you’re doing is scaring it away, because you’re making really loud noises and your face looks weird when you do that.” 

If you find yourself struggling to summon your creative energy, don't spiral. Instead, try one—or more!—of my tips to replenish your creative energy. 

And if none of these tips pan out for you, don't sweat it. Sometimes the best thing you can do is simply let it go and try again tomorrow. As long as you treat your creativity with care and respect, it will always come back to you.