“Stuckness” is just a part of doing hard things. However, simply plowing through the work is not necessarily the answer.

Creative paralysis, or “creative block”, is often the result of inattention to a few key areas. There are three that I encounter all the time.

Definition: You Don’t Really Know What You’re Doing

It’s hard to solve a problem you haven’t defined, yet we try to do it all the time. We jump into the work, but don’t make the effort to ensure that we understand the problem we’re really trying to solve.

As a result, we eventually hit a wall when we’ve done all we know to do, but have lost touch with the end goal.

Possible sources:
– Lack of empathy: You don’t understand who you’re really serving and what a potential solution to their problem requires. You need to spend more reflective time considering the people you are trying to serve and what their needs are.
– Lack of focus: You haven’t clearly defined the problem you’re trying to tackle. You’re attempting to solve concepts, not problems. Spend some time getting to the root of what you’re actually trying to do.
– Simple Self-deception: You’ve convinced yourself (or your organization) that a problem exists that really doesn’t. You’re doing a lot of work, but you’re not really making progress because there’s no progress to be made. You need to cut your losses and find a real problem to solve.

Solution: Make certain that you are working on well-defined problems, and re-define those problems as often as necessary to re-ground yourself.

Motivation: You Don’t Really Care, Do You?

Well, maybe you do care, but only because your paycheck (or reputation) is on the line. However, this isn’t always sufficient to keep you bringing your best to the work. You have to establish a  through-line that provides the needed motivation to keep working when things get tough.

Possible sources:
– Misplaced ego: You’ve made the work all about yourself, so when there’s little acclaim on the line you can’t quite gear up for it. What outcome are you working to achieve – one that transcends your own recognition?
– Old problems, new you: You’ve personally moved on from the problems that used to intrigue you, but you’re still plugging away at them. What new, fresh problem would actually excite you?
– Black Box Phenomenon: You’re plugging away at the work, but have absolutely no clue why any of your required tasks are relevant to the larger mission of the organization. You’re all “what” with no “why”, which creates dissonance. Seek an alignment between what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

Solution: You have to be brutally honest with yourself about issues of motivation, and do your best to tie your work back to a deeper through-line that motivates you. Sure, you may not always care about the specific tasks, but how you work says a lot about who you are as a person, which I assume you do care a lot about.

Systems: Old Dog, New Tricks

Finally, your progress may simply be limited by your existing system or workflow. Things like standing meetings and organizational hierarchies tend to stick around for years after they’ve served their original purpose, but so do personal productivity habits. Where are you due for a shake-up of your systems to help you gain a little creative traction?

Possible sources:
– Stale systems OR too much pool-jumping: Are you (a) due for a system refresh or (b) in need of some stability to enable you to focus more effectively? (Systems are just conduits for your work, not the work itself.)
– Wrong mix: Do you need to expand your relational network, or involve new people in the project to help you jump-start your work?
– Bad assumptions: Are you making assumptions that are limiting your scope of exploration? Sometimes systems can limit your vision in an unhealthy way, and questioning your operating assumptions can give you new direction for your energy.

Solution: Do an audit of your systems, and see if you can identify energy drains. Where could you use fresh focus, relationships, or stimuli to help you gain traction? Where have things grown stale?

“Stuckness” is, in many cases, a choice. You may not come up with the optimal solution, but if you stay diligent and commit to progress, you can always re-direct to a better place. However, wallowing in stagnancy is a shortcut to misery and wasted time and energy.

Refuse to be stuck. Do whatever it takes to break through.