Six Simple Creative Activities to Try (When You’re Not Feeling Creative and Your Mental Health Needs a Boost)

Martine Ellis
2 min readApr 21, 2024

Research tells us that doing something creative — particularly making something — is good for your mental health; I know this to be true from personal experience.

If you’re doing a solo creative activity, such as knitting or embroidery, the rhythmic, repetitive motion feels like meditation after a while. It can be truly mindful.

Group activities, for example, attending an art class, are an opportunity to meet people while you learn; being creative and social can boost your happy hormones.

But what if you aren’t creative?

It doesn’t matter.

Focus on the process — be a process-driven maker. Focus on learning new skills — remember, learning is a creative process.

Here are six simple creative activities to try when you aren’t feeling particularly creative:

  1. Take a photo walk: be a tourist in your local area — take as many interesting shots with your phone as possible. Choose your favourites and then print and frame them.
  2. Doodle: if you don’t know where to start, hop over to YouTube and search “how to doodle”; perhaps start here.
  3. Build something with Lego: if you…

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Martine Ellis
Martine Ellis

Written by Martine Ellis

I write, speak, and teach about wellbeing-driven productivity to help you succeed on your terms • Writer • Trainer • Consultant •

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