To promote your work, it pays off to be a social (media) butterfly, Holly Golightly let loose on twitter. But when trying to come up with ideas, Jane Austen is a much better role model.
There are many reasons why social media, and every blog and site, have a negative impact on your ability to produce new fresh stuff. I just want to focus one one today: overstimulation and a brain that just need a Bueller's day off.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, they all have us addicted. We crave the stimulation. Our brains do. But whenever you are craving, you are not creating. Sure you need inspiartion. But to make something, not simply copy, you need rest, emptyness, calm, silence. You need to unlock, whatever all those stimuli produced, or covered.

How to do that? It is so hard to put away the phone, Ipad, turn away from your desk and withstand the urge to just check, check, check.

You can say, I will stay away from the internet for ....that amount of time.

Easier is to just do something, active, where your mind gets the time to reset. To get clean.

You could:

• take a long shower, and sing. ( literally getting clean, works wonders.)


• go on a long walk, without your phone. It has to be longer than 25 minutes, before that you will just think about your to do list, problems, etc.


• play an instrument. It is one of the most relaxing things you could do for your mind. me, after playing guitar, I always feel refreshed.


• do something manuel, wash the dishes, bake a cake, build a birdhouse, knit


• meditate


• go for a drive, somewhere where there isn't too much traffic


• go to a Botanic garden


• lie on the grass, watch the clouds


• take a nap.

All very simple things, but that is exactly what you need.

What do you do, when you feel overtaxed? Or don't you ever take a break from social media?