Immy chats about blank canvas anxiety and how to overcome it.
You may not have heard of the term ‘blank canvas anxiety’ before, but it’s something a lot of us have felt. Blank canvas anxiety is that overwhelming feeling when you look at a blank page with no idea of where to begin. When you’re staring at the empty page, but the words just won’t come out. This can often be driven by perfectionism and a fear of making the wrong move, leaving you feeling stuck.
As a graphic designer, I sometimes struggle with blank canvas anxiety. What I’ve learnt is that the solution isn’t sitting around and waiting for inspiration to strike. It’s about finding the perfect idea through different methods and approaches, which help to remove the pressure in our minds and makes it easier to begin.
The goal is to start moving before you overthink it. Once the ball is rolling, ideas emerge, decisions become easier and the blank canvas becomes full.
One technique is to prioritise quantity over quality. Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes and challenge yourself to generate 30 ideas. Don’t edit, delete or judge anything as you go. The goal is simply to create. Embrace the mindset that no idea is a bad idea. Creativity and critique are two different processes, and trying to do both at the same time will only slow you down. By giving yourself permission to explore freely, you’ll uncover unexpected directions and quickly discover which ideas have the most potential.
I’ve found this technique works especially well with mind maps. Rather than forcing yourself to think in a straight line, mind maps help reveal the thought processes behind your ideas. They’re a fun way to engage both sides of your brain. The key is to not worry about making them look perfect. Your mind map doesn’t need to be neat and polished, it just needs to make sense to you. Focus on capturing your ideas, building connections between your thoughts and keeping your momentum going.
Another way to overcome blank canvas anxiety is to actively seek out inspiration. I love looking beyond my immediate surroundings and exploring different industries, cultures and disciplines, taking these ideas and applying them to my work, paying attention to small ideas that catch my eye. Innovation often comes from combining existing ideas in new ways. When something inspires you, make a note of it. Over time, you’ll build a personal inspiration library filled with ideas and observations. Then, whenever you’re experiencing brain fog, you’ll have resources to revisit and reignite your thinking.
Another technique I like is the ‘version zero’ approach. The idea is to intentionally create a bad first draft by giving yourself permission to make something imperfect and messy. This removes the pressure to produce something great on the first attempt, making it much easier to get started. Once you have something on the page, you have something to work with that you can refine and improve into stronger ideas. Whenever I’m stuck on what I need to create, whether it’s designing a worksheet or creating an illustration, I draw a rough sketch away from my laptop. Once I have more of a solid idea of what to do, I edit my rough drawing on my laptop. After all, editing is far easier than creating from nothing! A rough draft can always be improved, but a blank page can’t. The hardest part is simply starting, so this approach helps you to overcome that initial resistance by lowering the stakes and giving creativity room to grow.
It’s also important to make time to take a moment away from staring at the blank page. You can take a walk, get some food or have a chat with the people around you, so you can come back to the challenge with a fresh mind. I find that members of the bunch are always up for a chat break when faced with a problem. They’re also great at giving advice and being another set of eyes looking for a solution.
There are moments when we’re all faced with uncertainty and don’t know where to begin. Whether you’re writing a report, developing a strategy, solving a problem or starting a new project. Creativity can feel intimidating when starting from scratch, but what I’ve learnt is that creativity rarely begins with a brilliant idea. More often, it emerges through action. The best ideas are built through experimenting, getting started and being consistent.
Rather than waiting for inspiration to arrive, focus on taking the first step, however small it may be. The key is finding a way that works for you to make the blank canvas less intimidating, whether that’s brainstorming, mind mapping, collecting inspiration, creating a version zero draft… the list goes on!
What’s your approach when faced with a blank canvas?