How do you get out of a creative rut?

Asking for a friend.

I am in a creative rut.

I've been underwater these past three weeks, securing every bit of inventory I can and arranging delivery before the de minimis exemption expires on May 2. After that date, my small business is faced with tariffs up to 145%.

At the same time, I've been finalizing the details of our reimagined TV tray tables launching this fall and placing purchase orders for all components with our manufacturers. Who—by divine intervention—are based in the U.S.

a preview of the base of our reimagined tv tray table.

After pushing these boulders uphill all day, the last thing I feel inspired to do is film content for the near term or strategize launch plans for the long term. But I also know that as a social-first brand, we live and die by content and community.

This is the catch-22 of entrepreneurship.

Looking back, when my business was smallest and I had the least to manage, my content and marketing were at their best. Now that we've grown and I have less time and bandwidth to devote to creative work, it's suffered as a result.

packing my first orders in august 2023.

I'm not yet in a position where I can outsource this role. And honestly, because I actually enjoy creative work more than logistics and operations—it likely would be the role I would outsource last.

So where does that leave me? I guess here, writing this Substack post, and putting it to the group chat: how do you get out of a creative rut?

I could've written a post about something like "5 ways to get out of a creative rut—here's what worked for me" but honestly, I am fatigued on everyone on the Internet posing as an expert on everything.

I believe true connection comes from sharing—regardless, or in spite of, if you have the answers. Not everything needs to be a tip or trick wrapped up in a pretty bow. And let's be real; no one actually knows what they're doing. Once you realize this, it’s actually quite freeing.

I will say that writing this Substack every week has been something of a creative kindling. It's a medium that forces me to look inward, whereas so much of creating for Instagram and TikTok is outward facing.

And because the professional and the personal are inextricably linked, I also find myself uninspired to capture new home and interiors content, and to fill out my new space in New York. To truly make it a home.

my los angeles home that’s pretty hard to feel uninspired in.

It may be partially because I don’t know how long I’ll be here, and partially because there’s something (read: looming recession) hanging in the air that feels like a cautious limbo, daring all of us not to get too comfortable in our ways.

So there you have it. No hacks. No big takeaways or loose ends tied up.

Just sharing just to share.

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have you felt this way? tell me what helped you get out of a creative rut or to feel re-inspired. do you also like sharing just to share? let me know in the comments.

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