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Have you ever sat down to do something at work (writing, planning, analyzing, creating, etc.) only to find that you've got nothin'? It's like there's a sign on the door that says "No one is home, come back later."

Maybe you're like me and are feeling pulled in a few different directions and it's stifling your creative juices. Or maybe you just didn't get much sleep last night and it has got you off your game. Either way, sometimes blocks in our mind occur and they keep us from "accomplishing the mission."

In my case, I'm dealing with a rare case of writers block and it got me thinking about how I normally overcome writers block when sourcing social media content or sparking conversations in an online community.

So here are some tips on ways to rise above writers block and have been my personal go-to methods for many years, meaning these tips are scientifically proven to work. :)

1. Acknowledge that your mojo is out to lunch and the person filling in for you isn't quite as fabulous as your normal self.
   
   Why this works: Trying to convince yourself that you're not stuck when you're actually stuck is only going to draw out the process. Once you recognize the issue, you can free yourself up mentally to focus on something else (like that thing you're actually supposed to be working on).
   
   
2. Think about things going on in your life or experiences that you recently had - is there a way to relate that into a social media post or spark an online conversation within one of your association's communities?
   
   Why this works: As people, we are highly relational beings and want to connect with others. Using stories and personal experiences as a way to draw a reader in is not only a great way to emphasize your point (people remember stories wayyy more than anything else you say), but it also makes people feel included in what's happening within your association or your life. More on Storytelling
   
   
3. Know thy audience: Think about what kinds of things your audience cares about. Are they regionally located? What kind of news or tips would they be interested in? Can you help solve a problem for them or make their lives easier in some way?
   
   
4. Share interesting tips: Once you've thought through point #3, you'll likely have at least a handful of topics that you might be able to Google and see if anything interesting comes up. People LOVE tips and tricks and also random or surprising stats.
   
   
5. Don’t over analyze. A study of unpublished Facebook posts was done a while back and found that 71% of people engage in self-censorship, meaning that they created or started creating a post and changed their mind about sharing it. While it’s important to think about how your target audience will respond to a social post or community comment, don’t over think it. In the case of activity vs. silence within your association’s online mediums, silence is not golden.
   
   
6. Talk to Your Peeps: If nothing else on this list is doing the trick, go find a coworker or friend and talk to them about the issue that you're up against.
   
   Why this works: First off, people love to feel like they're helping someone else and can offer up ideas or suggestions that might help you. Plus, once you've spoken your problem out loud, it sometimes allows the universe to send you the answer you're looking for.
   
   
7. Take 5 or Do Something Else. This is pretty self-explanatory and the reason it works is because it takes your focus off of your problem and onto something else. It's almost like tricking your mind into doing what you need it to do. Once you've stopped focusing on your problem, you're able to see opportunities that you couldn't see before.

Still stuck? Find an expert. Sometimes an expert opinion is needed!

Also, if you haven't already heard of Slack, it's a really fantastic online tool that allows users in a group or company to post ideas and share articles with each other. I have a Slack channel for social media ideas and post articles to it that I want to share or repurpose later in an effort to keep my writers block at bay for one more day.