I've gathered a few reasons (mostly feelings and assumptions) that keep me from creating things:
- The fear of being judged: What would my friends think of this? What would my colleagues think? Or people that I know from high school? In an ideal world, I would want people to see my stuff, but only people I don't know in real life.
- The feeling that I'm not skilled enough yet: This comes down to the taste vs skill paradox. I know exactly what I like and what I want my work to look like, but I don't have the skills yet to make that happen. In combination with perfectionism, it makes me give up on stuff.
- The idea that someone else has already done it (better). Am I not just copying someone else's work?
- Brain rot keeps me in a flow of consuming instead of creating. I get inspired by what I see online, but I feel overwhelmed, tired, and like I do not have enough time to create something myself.
And also a few reasons why I do not continue with creating things::
- I get bored. It's not fun anymore. I feel like my work is not interesting enough. Or I have too many ideas and can't focus on one.
- I'm not in my creative flow anymore. It's very hard to get back into it once I've lost it.
What helps me the most is to just start making things, no matter how small or imperfect. In 2025, I really wanted to focus on creating more instead of consuming. It was one of my main goals for the year. I did a lot of different things, quit quite a few projects as well, but at the end of year I was really happy with some of the stuff that did stick.
Together with detoxing my phone addiction, I realised that we actually have a lot more time in the day than you'd think. All the hours that belong to your screentime can be used for creating things instead. I always thought that giving myself permission to scroll for a while would relax me and would give me some mental space after a hard day. However, the complete opposite turned out to be true: scrolling for 30 minutes would leave me completely drained for the rest of the evening and would make me not want to do anything anymore.
I have also realised that creating things makes people a lot more interesting. When you create things, you have stories to tell. I love the friends that show me their work and their hobbies. It gives you personality. I'm not saying you should create in order to be more interesting to others. But I wholeheartedly believe that it makes life more fun and fulfilling.
You're scared about the wrong things.
Reference
- An App Can Be An Homecooked Meal by Robin Sloan