How to recharge your creative energy for the New Year

We’re all creative. Creativity is not just about being able to paint, design, write, sketch, perform, or shoot. We can find it beyond the arts—it’s there when we try to think of new ideas or to innovate. It’s being able to imagine beyond what is already there. We fuel all these with our creative energy. So where does your creative energy go? Where did you use it up this year? And are there ways to recharge your creative energy for the new year? 

There are only so many hours in a day and at times your creative energy might flow from planning the daily meals of the family to playing imagine with your kid. You might use loads of it in your day job to improve a process at work or to look for ways to deal with a difficult colleague. By the time you’re done with work and other responsibilities, you might not have enough creative energy to take on other things in need of a little imagination. 

Before the new year starts, let’s look into finding the best way to recharge our creative energy and how we can have a fresh start in 2025. 

1. Mindfulness

Being aware of what depletes your creative energy is essential to know how to recharge it. And it’s different for everyone. As this artist blog post shares, “what takes energy from me might fuel you.”

To find out what saps your energy, be mindful of how you feel when you engage in a certain activity or interact with specific people. Cut out distractions and pay attention to your senses and your thoughts as they happen. It can clue you in on how your energy is used and if you tap into your creative energy just to get through it. If that’s the case, do less of it or cut it out. 

On the flip side, if something energizes you or makes you feel recharged and inspired, do more of it. Think back on this past year. Remember, you’re not starting from scratch when it comes to getting to know yourself and what you can do to feed your creative energy.

2. Nature breaks

If you’re always tied to your desk or in front of your workspace, which leaves you tired and in no way inspired to make art, you can try to spend some time outdoors. From just exploring a neighborhood nearby to even trying your hand in urban farming, see what makes you feel inspired. Does forest bathing or simply being in a park surrounded by greenery and trees give you an energy boost to keep you motivated for a personal project you’re working on? 

Research has found that spending time in a natural setting, like hiking in the woods, has “a real, measurable cognitive advantage.” Since the mind can relax in nature, the study concluded that this allows us “to be creative, to be imaginative, to problem solve.” We get to have enough creative energy to actually innovate, imagine, or take on creative pursuits.

3. Start a gratitude journal 

Making a habit of acknowledging what you’re grateful for is a good way to recharge your creative energy. When we cultivate a grateful mindset, it allows us to see our life in abundance and not in scarcity. Focusing on what you have already, what you can work with when you feel like you have to restart, helps you to move forward.

 

Research indicates that there’s “a link between gratitude and creative problem solving.” Put it simply, when we experience positive feelings, we strengthen our problem-solving skills. You can keep a gratitude journal, wherein you list several things you’re grateful for each day (or get more journaling tips, here from Nica Cosio who will be holding a creative journaling workshop next year).

4. Do something you love

This might sound like a no-brainer, but doing something you love or something that excites you, can be the spark needed to recharge your creative energy. It’s not the easiest thing to do for some people though as there are times when we allow our fear of failure and quest for perfectionism to stop us from actually taking on what we love. But if we look at failure as part of the creative process, as Marvz Conti of Studio Habil shared in a previous interview, what matters then is just being able to create because you love doing it.  

However, when we find ourselves stuck in a creative rut or just plain drained (even when we’re doing something we love—yes it happens), doing something else, in the same creative vein can help. Elly Ang of Danger in Design once shared with us that she loves baking with her sister. She finds the break from doing illustrations and conceptualizing helpful instead of forcing herself to keep doing the same thing. 

5. Workspace makeover 

When you don’t have the energy to think, imagine, or do any mental exercise requiring your creative energy, sometimes what can help is to take on physical tasks in your workspace. Studies have long indicated that where you work and your surroundings can affect your creative productivity and motivation. 

Tidying it up or reorganizing your work area can help create a space that sparks creativity. You can also get more ideas from Common Room founders when they fixed their studio. 

There are many things you can do to be able to recharge your creative energy for the new year, for a new project, or just before you get back on the grind. Your creative energy can’t be destroyed (law of conservation of energy, anyone?). You might end up transforming it to something else, using it up, and feeling like you’re all out of it. But you just need to know that you can revive it to fuel your creative tasks. It will always be there.