3 Small Habits to Shake Up Your Songwriting This Week

We’ve all been there: sitting on the floor with a guitar or staring at a blank DAW screen, waiting for that “lightning bolt” of inspiration to hit. It’s frustrating. But the truth is, the best writers don’t actually wait around for inspiration. They just build tiny habits that make it easier for inspiration to find them.

If you’re feeling a bit burnt out as the week winds down, don’t try to force a masterpiece. Instead, try these three low-pressure habits to get the gears turning again.

1. Object Writing (The “Sensory Deep Dive”)

Think of this as a gym session for your descriptive muscles. Most of us write about how we feel, but we forget to write about how things look, smell, or feel.

• The Habit: Pick something random in your room—a half-empty glass of water, a frayed guitar cable, an old receipt. Set a timer for 10 minutes.

• The Goal: Write about it using your senses. What does the air smell like around it? Is the texture cold or gritty?

• Why it works: It stops you from relying on “songwriter clichés” (like fire, rain, heart, soul) and starts training you to find the poetry in the mundane.

2. “Genre-Hopping” During Your Commute

We all have our “comfort food” music. But if you only listen to Folk, you’re only ever going to write Folk melodies. To grow, you need to “cross-train” your ears.

• The Habit: Put on a playlist of a genre you usually ignore—maybe it’s 90s House, Brazilian Bossa Nova, or even Hardcore Punk.

• The Goal: Listen for one specific thing. How does the bass interact with the kick drum? When does the singer take a breath?

• Why it works: You’ll subconsciously start “stealing” rhythmic ideas or melodic leaps you never would have thought of on your own. It’s like adding new colors to a paint box you’ve been using for years.

3. The Morning “Brain Dump”

Sometimes we can’t write a song because our heads are too crowded with “real life” noise—bills, emails, or that weird thing someone said at work.

• The Habit: Before you look at your phone in the morning, grab a notebook and write three pages of whatever is in your head. It doesn’t have to be “good.” In fact, it should be total nonsense.

• The Goal: Just keep the pen moving. If you’re bored, write “I’m bored” until something else comes out.

• Why it works: This clears the mental “drain.” Once you get the boring, everyday thoughts out of your system, you’ve cleared the path for the creative ideas to actually surface.

Why “Small” is Better Than “Big”

High Inspiration, Low Stakes

The goal here isn’t to walk away with a radio-ready hit by Sunday night. The goal is to lower the stakes. When you take the pressure off yourself to be “brilliant,” you actually give yourself permission to be creative.

Try just one of these tomorrow. No pressure, no expectations—just see what happens when you show up.