Elevate your creativity: 5 habits to ditch in 2025

At the top of my 2025 planner, I’ve written “GRADUAL CHANGES” nice and big and circled it a few times, just to remind myself that baby steps to healthier habits are “stickier” than huge, monumental shifts. For me, each new year comes with a boost of motivation to clean house — to get rid of bad habits and make space for positive growth. But! If you want your healthier choices to stick, slowing replacing the old ones with the new is the way to go, slowly acclimating to the new climate instead of taking a cold plunge into newness right away. Starting a new routine is tricky.

That said, here are six bad creative habits I’m phasing out in 2025 — and how I’m doing it:

1. Looking for “inspiration” on social media

It could just be my algorithm, but social media doesn’t exactly feel “inspirational” lately. Even after culling my entire Following list on Instagram, my feed is usually crammed with loud reels about things related to art, while Insta condemns static posts of actual art to the shadow realm. Not to mention Pinterest has been flooded with AI images that make learning by reference nearly impossible. Swiping through clips, videos, reels, TikTok, pins, and ads looking for inspiration feels productive for a minute or two, just to find out you got distracted and wasted a full hour of beautiful daylight scrolling!

Video and AI are cash cows for social media platforms, after all, and they’ve been prioritizing the bag over community for a while now; Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr loaded to hell with brainrot content and slop. I still follow my favorite artists, but these platforms are going to show me what they value most: creators and bots who can sell me stuff.

Alternative: Finding creative inspiration in experiences

Instead of checking my socials, you can set yourself up to find new sources of inspiration easier by centering what brings you joy and kick-starts your imagination.

As much as I’d like to inspire myself with a trip to Belize every other weekend, when I don’t have jetsetting money (which is always), I have a folder on my phone that’s essentially a mood board of places, art, and artists I want to emulate and learn from. Yes, it’s slower than IG, and I won’t see their new stuff right away, but taking in new work at a leisurely pace allows me to focus on studying and really understanding what I’m trying to do creatively.

I’ve also taken a page from The Artist’s Way to take myself out on a cheap date, at least once a week. Do you have a library card? Are you in a city with a few art galleries or museums? Head over to either one, then stop by a coffee shop or someplace with a lot of people minding their own business. You’re taking in other people’s creativity in their artwork, outfits, and general quirkiness just by people-watching in these spaces!

To help break the habit of automatically accessing the dopamine traps, consider setting your phone to give you a short, single slot of access to your most distracting apps. When I’m not actively posting, there’s a 5-minute limit on my social media apps — just enough time to reply to a DM, check my comments, and bounce before the Opal app yells at me.

You can experience something new at home too, for free. Got any art books you haven’t flipped through in a while? Art supplies you haven’t touched? Fashion girlies call it “shopping your closet.” Things you forgot about feel brand-new once you blow the dust off.

2. Needing everything to be perfect

• “I need a full night’s sleep if I’m going to take my art seriously. Better try again tomorrow.”
• “Nah, I’m too depressed. Everything I make is going to turn out awful.”
• “I’ll work on this when I have 5 consecutive hours of free time to really give it the focus it deserves!”

Sound like you? I hope not.

Perfectionism kills creativity. Full stop. It’s a mindset that values flawlessness over growth and experimentation, leaving no room left to make mistakes—the very things that often lead to breakthroughs.

For a couple of years, perfectionism threatened to ruin my life. It took quitting my job and uprooting my life to finally get over the “need” for my inner and outer world to be optimal for me to do anything at all. You don’t have to take the nuclear option, though;

What to do instead: Adopt a “progress over perfection” mindset.

Embrace imperfection as part of the creative process. Set a timer for a specific amount of time and create something quickly, focusing on completion rather than perfection. Celebrate small wins, like starting a project or learning a new technique, instead of fixating on flawless results.

Stretch goal: Part of cutting out perfectionism also includes getting rid of the idea that everything I make has to have a “point.” A sketchbook, by definition, should include sketches; it doesn’t always have to be filled with fully-rendered illustrations. Not every zine has to go to print or end up in an artist’s alley. You can just…make things. Because you can. Just for you!

3. Choosing aesthetics over exploration

Otherwise known as “doing it for the algorithm,” sometimes you’ll feel compelled to make something objectively pretty, that you don’t like and aren’t proud of. Maybe it rakes in views, or you feel pressured to keep to a certain vibe, or stick to “your style.” Consistently creating for The Aesthetic ™ over creative exploration can limit your growth by making you prioritize “what looks good” over “what feels authentic.” This habit can trap you in a box where innovation takes a backseat to maintaining an image — and once that’s a habit, it’s a real bitch to break.

Not only that, but creating art just for likes, validation, or sales can disconnect you from your artistic instincts. Extrinsic motivation has a time and a place, and your time to creative development is not it. While external rewards aren’t inherently bad, they can overshadow your inner creative voice, leading to burnout or feeling uninspired.

What to do instead: Make time to experiment without judgment.

Dedicate time and space to “ugly” art or “imperfect” drafts where the goal is exploration, not beauty. Use tools like a creative journal to capture messy ideas or techniques you wouldn’t normally try. If your sketchbook is perfect and you don’t want to “ruin” it, get a cheap one you won’t mind abusing a little. Some of the most iconic art began as unconventional experiments.

If extrinsic motivation is what gets you the bag, reconnecting with intrinsic joy is what fills your cup. Spend time creating for the sheer pleasure of it—no audience, no monetization goals. Try a “just for me” project each month, where you make something that never gets shared. Reflect on what made you fall in love with creativity in the first place, and let that guide your work.

4. Fear of being cringe

The world was a better place before the invention of two words: “woke” (the newer, co-opted version that everyone uses to describe things they don’t personally like) and “cringe.” Who cares if someone’s a little embarrassing to be around? Are they hurting anybody? Fear of being cringe holds you back from taking creative risks and showing your true self. It’s rooted in self-consciousness and the desire for approval, both of which can lead to watered-down ideas.

What to do instead: Embrace vulnerability.

The most beloved art often starts as something deeply personal—and even “cringe-worthy.” I’m a big advocate for the art of, well, art as shadow work. Some art is meant to be seen by others, and some is meant for just you and your besties. Art, music, poetry — they all carry a bit of you within them, whether you mean to put it there or not. Sharing it is an inherently vulnerable experience, so try it with a trusted friend or small online community before unleashing your work on the world. Gradually, you’ll build confidence in showing up authentically.

You know what a lot of people think is cringe? Affirmations! I use them often, in my sketchbooks and on a note in my phone as I need them. My favorite one is “Cringe is the cost of creating something real.”

5. Beating yourself up over inconsistency

YouTube and creator communities champion the “rise and grind” style of creative flow. Get up at 5am! Practice every day! Analyze every piece you make! Strive to be better, to always improve on everything!

Y’all, this is capitalism at work. Yes, consistent practice is necessary to develop any skill. A little optimization never hurt anyone, but there’s a fine line between discipline and self-bullying. Creativity is not linear; expecting yourself to perform like a machine can lead to guilt, burnout, and even avoidance of your craft altogether.

What to do instead: Embrace seasons of creativity.

My seasonal depression girlies know that the change in seasons means a change of tack: winter won’t give you the same energy and capacity as summer, and that’s okay. Creative energy ebbs and flows.

Use your “off” periods for rest, inspiration-gathering, or low-pressure tasks like organizing your materials. When you’re ready to create again, ease into it with small, achievable goals, like writing for 10 minutes or sketching one page. Celebrate any effort rather than criticizing what you didn’t do.

The new year is a great time to review what feels right in different aspects of your life, and what could use a tweak or a mindset shift. 2025 has only just begun, but I’m excited to use these small changes as guardrails to practice my craft with a little more compassion and see how I feel in a season or two. If you end up making any creative habit tweaks yourself, let me know!