Episode 160: Feeling Creatively Blocked at Work? This Improv Based Activity Will Help
The way you spend your days is the way you spend your life.
It sounds overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. When you think about the way you spend your day - are you a “yes” for the actions that take up a small amount of time? A large amount of time?
Do you incorporate something into your routine that someone else wouldn’t understand but it makes sense for you?
Do you incorporate something into your routine that doesn’t make sense for you but does for someone else?
In this episode, Erin gives you a simple improv-based activity to determine what actions you’re saying “yes” to that serve you, and also the flipside: what you’re saying “yes” to that really isn’t for you.
ICYMI – Your Post-Episode Homework: Send Erin a message telling her what you’re a “yes” for on LinkedIn or Instagram linked below. When you put what you’re a “yes” for out in the world, you're holding yourself accountable. If you’d prefer to spread your yeses in another way, tell a friend or post about it. Create a social post and share it with your network. When you start to put these yeses into the world, you'll be amazed at what comes into your life and what you can creatively bring to fruition.
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Connect with Erin Diehl:
Email Erin: info@learntoimproveit.com
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 160 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Hi new friend. I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer, failfluencer and keynote speaker who is ready to help you improve your it, it being the thing that makes you, you. So think of me as your keeping it real. Professional development bestie, who is here to help you develop yourself into the best version of you possible so you can develop your team and lead with intentionality, transparency, and authenticity. Oh, and did I mention we're improving your IT through play? That's right. I'm an improvisational comedy expert who uses experiential learning to help you have your aha haha moments. Those are the moments when the light bulb goes off and you're laughing at the same time. So grab your chicken hat, your notebook, and your inner child, because I'm gonna take you on a journey that is both fun and transformative. Welcome to the Improve It Podcast,
Erin (01:09):
Improve It Peeps. She's feeling feisty today, so I'm singing in my own intro. You gotta be your own hype woman here. Oh my goodness, I'm so excited for today's show. I always say that, but today's show is all about if you are feeling creatively, creatively, creatively blocked, how you can use this improv based activity to help this activity is tried and true. It is a hack. It is quick, it's easy. It can happen anywhere. And the great news is you don't need a stage or you don't need a scene partner to make it happen because the scene partner is your mind, mind, mind, mind. That's your mind being blown. Now, before I get into today's show, quick housekeeping item. If you're a new listener to this show, if you are an OG listener, listener to this show, I want you to know that I'm available to come talk to your organization, conference, wherever it might be.
Erin (02:21):
I just finished an amazing keynote this past week in Chicago with the University of Chicago Booth, this amazing women's conference. The energy was crazy, but I have two keynotes that I am doing all over the country, all over the world. They can be virtual, they can be in person. One is called F, words at Work, and spoiler alert, I don't swear. And the other one is called I C U. So you can reach out to us at info, learn to improve it.com if you want more information. But if you were looking to hype up your next conference, your next big event, I'm your girl. So without further ado, let's hype up your life, shall we? So if you are somebody who is struggling right now, creatively, this episode is going to fix that. So get ready. Now, I want you to think about the things that you do on a typical day.
Erin (03:23):
Maybe you're in charge of your company newsletter, and every time you go to write this thing, your hands just can't hit the home row keys. You are stuck, you are stagnant. Or perhaps you're in charge of marketing copy and you can't put words on a page. Or let's say you are in HR or you are a part of the employee engagement experience at your company, and you are just stuck creatively for ways to empower and engage your team. Or perhaps you have a presentation coming up and you think to yourself, this is the same boring, mundane presentation that I give time and time again. I'm bored, so my audience is gonna be, or perhaps you're listening and you're on the job hunt, you're looking for a new job. And when you look at your resume, you think you have the skills and the want and the know-how to improve it, pun intended.
Erin (04:27):
But every time you do the formatting, I hate formatting on word docs. The spelling, the format slash look of the resume feels like a fifth grader did it. And I'm just saying this, I've done this myself. So if this sounds like you know, it's not enough, it's just where we're at right now. Or let's say you're bored at your job, your job is mundane. It's the same thing day in and day out, and you think to yourself, anybody can do this. What am I still doing here? If any of these things are happening to you in the day-to-day, they seem overdone. You have no, no excitement when it comes to the work that you're doing and you're seeking a new way of looking at things. Stay tuned. What I just explained and what I just described was the negativity about the tasks that you have in front of you.
Erin (05:34):
When we are creatively blocked, it is usually because we are blocking our connection to the inner wisdom inside of us. Now, you know, I'm a little woowoo, so I'm gonna keep going down this path. Hear me out. We are all born with love in our hearts. We are all born with an inner guidance, guidance system. See, I'm having creatively blocks, creative blocks today, Erin, I hope, my God, I'm not even gonna edit this episode just so you can hear what a creative block feels like. So I can't even speak words today, words. Here we are. I'm in a podcast host. So if you are struggling with this negative narrative, it's time to flip the script. The negative narrative is what is blocking you? Just spoiler alert. A fact is a fact. You are allowing this narrative to control your creative output. Let me say that again.
Erin (06:40):
You are allowing this negative to control your creative output. So that is what happens when you hear about Writer's Block. If you've ever heard of the book The Artist's Way, it's an entire book dedicated to helping writers find their inner inner guidance system really is what it's all about. When we remove these negative blocks and replace them with more positive, kind, loving thoughts, we can transform our creativity. So when we put in good positive vibes, we can put out great positive content work things we are proud of things that can impact people and impact the world. So here's what I want you to think. Negative thoughts in your mind equals negative words. And negative words equals negative action or just stagnant. You are stagnant. There's no movement, right? And that's what a creative block is. You can't get past this moment where you feel stuck.
Erin (07:59):
However, if we replace that with positive thoughts and those positive thoughts will equal positive words, and those positive words will equal positive momentum, change creativity, then we can put out to the world the things that are deep inside of us that need to be shared. So in improv, as you know, one of the guiding fundamentals is this idea of yes, and it is the number one rule of improv comedy. And just for anybody new listening, let me just repeat what this means. And if you've listened to the show before, this is a good refresher. It means that you are postponing judgment of an idea. So instead of negating somebody's idea, shutting it down, you say yes. Which does not mean that you agree. That means that you acknowledge the idea and the and is adding. So it's a redirection of the no. If you think the idea sucks, you're still yes, anding it by saying, that sounds good.
Erin (09:12):
How about X? And that redirects that no. And allows positive momentum to still take place. So when I listed all of these things that you might be creatively blocked with the newsletter, the presentation, your job hunt, whatever it might be, and we're allowing those negative thoughts to take place in our mind, Ugh, I just hate this resume. Every time I look at it, it seems boring. Ugh, I hate this presentation. I'm bored. My audience is gonna be bored. Ugh, I don't know what to say. In this newsletter. When we think those thoughts, that's what we're actually putting into our brain, and that's what's going to come out of it, right? So here is a shift in perspective for you. Ultimately, what you're doing in that moment is saying what you're a no for. We're gonna flip it, and you're gonna say, what are you a yes for?
Erin (10:01):
What are you a yes for? So perhaps this is you are a yes to fun in your writing. Perhaps it is you are a yes to more breaks and walks in your workday to get that vitamin D, to get some exercise to give to yourself first. So then you can give to others. Maybe you are a yes for an outside extracurricular activity, like an improv class to fill your creative in input bubble so you can then recharge and reuse your brain in a different way. Maybe you are a yes for self-care practices before you start work, like meditation, exercise. Maybe you are a yes for a great wind down method at the end of the day to recharge and give yourself some energy at the end of the day to you so you can wake up and put out creative things into the world the next day.
Erin (10:59):
However, whatever this yes looks like, I want you to keep going with this. As I'm building this, you can hear the excitement build in my voice. It's building momentum. It's giving you the opportunity to see things with a new perspective. And that perspective shift is going to change your thoughts, and that thought is going to change the words that come out of your mouth or come out onto the page. And those words are going to take shape. They're gonna manifest into something awesome. So let's just talk about right now. I'll give you an example. As you could tell, as magic and the universe would have it, I was struggling to find words at the beginning of this podcast. This is not a, you know, a note taking podcast. I'm literally giving you this, these ideas as they come to me. I have some notes, but I was struggling to find words in the beginning, as you can tell.
Erin (11:59):
So how can I allow myself to get out of this creative rut? Because I'll tell you a couple times I, I kind of kicked myself thinking, come on, Aaron, use your words. How can I get myself back to a state of balance? How can I get myself back to this place where I know that I belong, where I know that you need this information because you come here at week after week to get it. How can I do that? I can tell myself, what am I a yes for? Ready? Here we go. I am a yes for meditation. I am a yes for exercise to move my body, which helps me move my mind. I am a yes for taking a walk today at lunch with my dog, enjoying the Charleston sunshine. I am a yes for getting as much done as today as possible, but not beating myself up if I don't get everything done on my to-do list.
Erin (12:52):
I'm a yes for a movie night with my son and my husband tonight so I can chill, relax, and recharge. I am a yes for giving myself some downtime tonight after my son goes to bed to just relax, to do something for me. I don't know, maybe I'll use one of those foot shaver things and put some of that little foot scrub stuff on my feet to remove the skin calluses. You didn't think I was gonna say that, but that's where I went. So these are the things I'm a yes for. We got real specific, okay? Real specific <laugh>, and I'm gonna tell you, I enjoy those foot scrubber things. If you are a person who likes Dr. Pimple popper, get yourself a foot scrubber where you see the skin come off your heel. It's a, it's a real rewarding if you're sitting there gagging. I'm sorry, that's just where I'm at today.
Erin (13:38):
That's what I'm a yes for. So my friends, that's how it works. So maybe you have this presentation coming up and you're nervous and you're scared it, you don't even like what you're putting out on the slides and you aren't bought into it. So of course your audience is gonna be, how can you redirect that negative narrative with a more positive loving narrative to yourself? What are you a yes for? Are you a yes for the experience? Because guess what? If you fail, you're gonna learn something in that process. Are you a yes for being authentic and using storytelling to help your audience see what you're trying to teach in a different way? Are you a yes for invoking emotion and audience engagement? Are you a yes for laughter in your presentation? Are you a yes for starting the presentation with music to get people excited?
Erin (14:32):
So if you can just think differently about what the most amazing outcome would look like and reframe it with that. Yes. Oh my God, you're gonna crush that presentation. Now, let's say you wanna take everything a step further here today, all right? You have said everything that you're a yes for. You've redirected that negative thought where the more positive thought, it is changing your words and you are gaining momentum. But you want to check in with yourself and understand if you should actually be a yes for this specific thing that you are a yes for. This is going to sound crazy, but I will promise you that this yes, and to what you're a yes for works. So let's say, let's go with this example about your fear of presenting and you're nervous about adding in storytelling to this presentation. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to ask yourself a question. Should I incorporate storytelling into my presentation? Now, I want you to stand up straight, okay? And I want you to put your arms down by your side. So I want you to stand as straight as possible, but don't lock your legs. And I want you to say out loud, am I a yes for storytelling in my presentation?
Erin (16:13):
If you are supposed to use storytelling, your body will naturally make you lean forward. If you are not supposed to incorporate storytelling into the presentation, your body will make you lean backward. The forward movement means keep going and go ahead. Put storytelling in the presentation. The backwards movement means don't do this. This sounds crazy, energetic healers, doctors, practitioners use this practice to show you that your body, your inner guidance system, knows the answer. All you have to do is ask and listen. So when you eliminate, so let's just say this. Let's say you're questioning the things you're a yes for. You are a yes word, you feel it in your body, but you want that double check this standing still leaning forward or backwards, and don't force it. Allow your body to naturally go forward or backward will allow you to understand if you should pursue that, yes, even further.
Erin (17:35):
So step one is telling yourself, I am a yes for and start listing off those things. Part two is yes, ending that what I'm a yes for by standing completely straight, asking a very specific question, am I a yes for X? And seeing if your body leans forward or backwards, and if it leans forward, it means continue pursue. If it leans back, it means stop. Don't do it. You naturally know what you want and your inner guidance system knows what you want. We have to take this time to change the narrative and really listen to ourselves. So the first part is manifesting, and then the second part is checking in what I just mentioned. The second part is a part of our wellness workbook. Okay? It's actually an amazing freebie for you. It's called Play your Way into Wellness. The workbook. It starts off with a quiz.
Erin (18:35):
So you take a quick quiz and it tells you what type of wellness avatar you are. So we're helping you with self-care, and then once we define your wellness avatar, we then give you improv techniques and daily rituals and energy boosters for your specific avatar to sprinkle fun throughout your day. Because the other way that we block creativity is not by bringing joy into our life. So you can get this wellness workbook, it'll be a popup on our website. You can go to learn to improve it.com. You can scan the show notes here, and you can find the link to it in our show notes. You take the quiz and then your avatar and your wellness workbook will be sent to you via email. It's so simple, so easy. But I want you to have these hacks at your fingertips, and it's a huge document.
Erin (19:29):
There is literally, I'm not even joking, 23 pages in this freebie for you to help you with different exercises and rituals to bring joy to your work and help you reconnect and re know who you are. So my friends, oh my gosh, we talked about so much today. But here's the, here's the conclusion. If you focus on the negative, you will block your creativity. If you focus on the positive, you will bring momentum into your day today. Your body knows what you are a yes for. So manifest check in with yourself, and I wanna know what you're a yes for. I want you to tell me. So if you wanna send me a DM on LinkedIn, on Instagram, it's keeping it real deal. I wanna know, because when you put it out in the world, you're holding yourself accountable. If you don't wanna tell me, tell a friend, better yet, post about it. Create a social post and share it with your network. When you start to put these yeses into the world, you are going to be amazed at what comes into your life and what you can creatively bring to fruition. As always, friends, I am sitting here just rooting for you, cheering you on. I want you to keep failing, keep improving, because this world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I'll see you next time.
Erin (21:10):
Hey, friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>? That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it, and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.