Apathy is the enemy of creativity. As the summer season kicks in it is all too easy to find ourselves on autopilot. Whether boiling our brains on the Northern Line, or navigating the mental gymnastics of summer childcare logistics, summer can be a difficult time to maintain momentum. For creativity and curiosity to thrive we need rest and inspiration. Be it recommending a book, a breathing method or developing a craft, this summer BITE is asking leaders to share how they are making the space to nurture their creativity and find their pace.

Jen Ashton & Oli Short, Senior Creatives at Wonderhood Studios, demonstrate how they navigate through the summer months, by leaning into a slump.

Summer has come and nearly gone faster than you could say, ‘it’s a bit hot isn’t it?’ but with all this (sometimes) hot weather comes the inevitable Slump.

Like Ad great Paul Silburn once said, ‘problem? Lean into it’. So that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re solving the slump by slumping. Leaning back into whatever sofa, beach towel or tube carriage door we find ourselves with.

There are many ways to slump through the slump, but we’ve laid a few out here for you. We hope you’re laying down a beach towel right now and never read this.

If you’re not, here you go…

1. The Sofa Slump

Arguably the best of all the slumps, but often over-looked. Sofa time is sacred and if you’re more on the introverted side of things, a bit of sofa time is the perfect re-charger. Feet up, if you can and whack on a binge-worthy show or film you’ve seen 500 times so you can actually unwind. Sofa guilt is natural. Ignore it. This is important slump time.

Top tip: Prepare snacks before and have them and the remote within reachable distance.

2. A Slumpy Meal

We once read somewhere that if you can’t meditate, cook. And whilst some things we read are utter nonsense, we do find taking some time to make a meal can be a delicious way to slumpily switch off. Pick a recipe that is not going to have all the pans out and make you go to the fishmongers at 5am. That’s not slumping and we don’t work at The Bear. This is all about easy, breezy cooking… This recipe for example is fun, minimal effort but the capers make you feel a little bit ‘profesh’...

Alternatively, take some time to go out and have a meal cooked for you, or just slump back as one is delivered to you.

Top tip: If you decide to cook, don’t slump so much you leave the stove on.

3. The Sea (or Shower) Slump

 This is going to sound a bit Wim Hoff, but a good old slump in cold water sorts the creative slump right out. There’s lots of science to this from Norwegian Scientists and South African Octopus lovers, but the best way a cold-water plunge has been described is as a ‘brain upgrade’. You’re probably thinking, this is very un-slumpy. Give it a try and you’ll see. Talking of, if you don’t have an arctic sea or cold pool near you, braving a cold shower for a few seconds is still a lovely re-energiser.

Top tip: If cold water plunging is your idea of hell, just have a hot shower or even better, enjoy some hot, bubbly, tub time. Both still count as optimum places to slump the creative slump away.

4. A Walking Slump

Now this may seem oxymoronic; moving and slumping. Isn’t that exercise? Well, yes, but it’s slow paced and slumpish. There’s some more sciency stuff around how walking for certain periods helps you solve certain problems. It’s also good for joints, blah blah blah. But that’s not why we like a good walkies. Our jobs have us up in our brains a lot. So we like to get out in nature or around the city and just take the world in. It’s an exchange – the more stuff we let in, the more stuff we get out (as ideas, hopefully). It’s a bit messier than that in reality, but you get the jist. Talk if you want, but quiet’s good too. So, walk! But keep it slump.

Top Tip: If you’re in a city, look up. If you’re in the country, look out.

5. A Friendly Slump

A slump doesn’t have to be a solo affair. Sometimes slumping with your nearest and dearest can be just what you need to free up your mind and freshen up your thoughts. We love spending time with friends and family to get fresh perspectives on the world. It loosens us up and reminded to not take it all so seriously, we’re not saving lives after all.

Top Tip: Adland friends are very great but sometimes spending time with people from outside the industry can really help you to forget it all for a bit, while you recharge your creative batteries.

So... that’s a few ways we like to slump to avoid the summer slump.

We hope it might be a bit helpful.

If it is, and you actually read down this far, happy slumping!