Stop trying to be creative and start noticing. This simple 30-minute walk exercise helps train your brain to find inspiration in everyday moments.
Sometimes the best way to get creative is to stop trying to be creative. If you're stuck in a creative rut without any inspiration, I've found an exercise that consistently helps me break through—and it doesn't require any special skills or equipment.
I call it the 30-minute inspiration walk, and it's become my go-to method when I need to reset my creative brain. I have a dog, so I'm already walking him multiple times a day. But one of those walks becomes something different—a deliberate practice in paying attention.
The goal is not to get anything perfect. The goal is to notice things that you normally ignore and turn them into ideas later.
All you need is your phone and a little bit of curiosity. Here's the structure I follow every time.
Set a timer for 30 minutes. Before you head out, grab your phone and start that timer. This helps me stay focused and stops me from overthinking the process. When I put the timer on, my brain already goes to that place—it knows we're doing something intentional.
Here's the challenge: during this walk, you are not allowed to scroll, text, or check emails. No social media, nothing. You're only going to be using your phone for capturing things.
Capture five textures. Whatever you see on your walk that catches your eye, take a very close-up picture of it. It can be the pavement, the grass, your dog's hair—whatever you see as a texture, get close to it. Look for patterns, look for light hitting surfaces, maybe a branch. Whatever you find interesting, take five pictures of those textures.
Capture five colors. Find five colors that stand out to you today. Take very close-up pictures of them. They don't have to be bright. They don't have to be dramatic. Just something that has a tone of inspiration. Try to frame the shot so the color becomes the main subject.
Capture five sounds. This one is usually my favorite. Record five sounds around you—footsteps, traffic, birds (I live close to a pond so there's birds everywhere). Whatever creates an atmosphere. You do not need perfect audio, you just need a moment that feels interesting or emotional.
Once your walk is done, look back at everything you recorded. Go through the 15 things you have—the textures, the colors, and the sounds. Then ask yourself this one question: What story or feeling connects these moments?
You can turn them into a short video, a mood board, a photography concept, or even just a journal entry. As creatives, we think sometimes that with these exercises, we're going to turn them into this huge masterpiece. Remove that from your brain. This is just an exercise that is going to help you get creative—just do something fun for today.
I'm not trying to be talented. I'm not trying to be original. I'm just trying to pay attention.
The result here is to train your brain to see inspiration in normal places. You usually go for these walks, and maybe you're going to capture something that you see every day, but maybe didn't catch your attention that time. It helps you just get the creative side going.
I love this exercise because it removes pressure. It honestly gets my creative ideas starting—small observations that later turn into bigger concepts. I love doing this when I just need something to spark.
If you ever feel stuck creatively, try this. It almost always helps me reset.
