Build Creative Resilience—Proactive vs Reactive Habits

We love it when a plan comes together

Apr 19, 2025

Friends, the best creative habits aren’t the ones that push you harder or guilt you into showing up. They’re the ones that meet you where you’re at—whether you’re in a groove, in a fog, or flat-out stuck on the couch with your hoodie pulled over your head.

Lately, some days—I’m cruising. I’ve got my proactive rhythm going, my Currently List is done, and the creative momentum feels...really good.

Other days? I’m deep in headache mode, April is absolutely the worst month for my head, and my brain’s basically offline. Everything in my head feels like too much (let alone whatever is going on outside of my own brain). That’s when I need to reach for a different kind of tool—a reactive habit. Something that helps me reset, recalibrate, and start again without judgment (or shame, or pressure, or whatever else the inner critic is trying to yell about).

And honestly? I’ve needed both kinds of habits a lot lately. It’s reminded me that proactive and reactive habits aren’t opposites—they work in tandem. One keeps things flowing. The other helps you get back up when you’ve fallen off the track (again).

So today, we’re talking about proactive and reactive creative habits—what they are, how they work together, and how to build a practice that supports your creativity on the good days and the hard ones 💛.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this email:

What proactive creative habits look like in everyday life
How to recognize when you need a reactive habit instead
How both work together to build creative resilience

🔧 What Are Proactive and Reactive Habits?

Let’s start from the top.

Proactive creative habits are the routines and actions you build ahead of time to support your creativity before something goes wrong. Think of them as the nourishing meals, the daily vitamins, the morning stretches—habits that strengthen your creative body and help it run smoothly.

Reactive creative habits are the tools you reach for after something has already gone wrong. When you hit a block, feel overwhelmed, or just can’t seem to get started, reactive habits help you troubleshoot and recover. They’re your Tylenol, mom’s chicken soup, and your favorite color band-aid—acute solutions to fix creative aches.

Both are essential. One builds stamina, the other builds resilience. The trick is knowing when to use which.

🧠 Proactive Habits (Before the Crisis)

These habits create stability and momentum. They're the creative routines that help you stay on track, reduce friction, and build a habit you can return to with ease.

Here are some examples:

Daily journaling to clear mental clutter
Weekly Currently Lists to document your life + have something to look back on
Scheduled breaks to recharge before burnout hits
Creative warm-ups like doodling or swatching supplies to ease in
Set studio hours or creative office time to create routine
Accountability check-ins with friends or community
Daily photo + note-taking to stay present, grounded, and visually observant
Creative inspiration boards for mood-setting and idea tracking
Exploring new techniques regularly to keep things fresh
Celebrating small wins so you don’t get stuck waiting for perfection

As usual, I’ve been leaning hard on my Currently List every Monday. It’s one of my most valuable proactive habits.

I sit down, jot down what I’m watching, reading, listening to, making, and feeling—and suddenly I’m no longer staring at a blank page. I’ve got an anchor. It’s especially helpful during headache weeks when my creative energy is low and I need a gentle way to ease into the flow.

Even better? That Currently List becomes the foundation for my Monday newsletter. I don’t need to be clever or insightful—I just need to show up. That’s the power of proactive habits: they lower the barrier to entry.

Your Turn: What’s one small thing you could do before you feel stuck that would help you keep going creatively?

🔥 Reactive Habits (When You’re Stuck)

Reactive habits are not signs of failure. They are your creative first-aid kit. When the usual systems aren’t working, these are the moves that help you reset, recover, and start again.

Here are some go-to options:

Revisit your “why” to reconnect with your purpose
Switch mediums (paint instead of write, take photos instead of collage)
Take a walk or do another form of body-based reset
Declutter your space to clear out creative cobwebs
Play a game or cook a meal to activate your brain and hands differently
Talk to a friend or ask for feedback to gain perspective
Journal out your frustration to understand what’s getting in the way
Use creative constraints (only use 2 colors, set a 10-minute timer)
Look back at past work to remember what you’re capable of
Change your environment—move to a new space or even outside

Even with the best proactive habits, there are days when nothing works. That’s when you reach into the reactive toolbox.

For me, when my usual creative flow hits a wall, I need to do something that gets my hands and brain working in a totally different way—like cooking a recipe I know by heart or playing a game with Jeff. It’s not about the outcome; it’s about the rhythm. It lets my creativity reset without the pressure to produce.

I usually realize I need a reactive habit when I start asking myself: “Why isn’t this thing that usually works…working?” That’s my signal to pause and pivot.

Your Turn: What’s your version of a “reset button” when you feel stuck or creatively off?

🌀 The Intersection of Resilience

The best creative practices rely on both proactive and reactive habits. You build the proactive ones when you have capacity, so you have less catching up to do when things go sideways. And when you do need help? You’ve got a whole reactive toolkit waiting.

Here’s the magic: when proactive and reactive habits work together, they help you build long-term creative resilience.

Proactive habits keep your practice steady. Reactive habits help you recover. And over time, you get better at knowing when to use each one.

You don’t need 20 perfect strategies—you need a few reliable tools you can actually use. A check-in routine, a reset ritual, a go-to list of ways to recharge. When you invest in the proactive side, the reactive stuff doesn’t have to be quite so dramatic.

Like I said up top, I use my Currently List every Monday to help me ease back into creative flow—especially during headache seasons. It’s a light lift, a familiar habit, and it gives me something to build from (including this newsletter!). It’s become a cornerstone proactive habit.

But when even that doesn’t work? I step away. I cook, or I game. I let my brain and body have a conversation without the pressure to produce. And after a reset, I can usually find my way back.

There’s no single perfect formula. Your creative life will always ebb and flow. The key is building a toolkit that supports you through the fluctuations.

Proactive habits help you stay strong. Reactive habits help you bounce back. And together, they help you stay connected to your story—on the good days, the hard days, and everything in between.

Your Turn: What’s one proactive habit you’d like to build this season—and one reactive tool you want to keep handy?

Weekly Resource List:

The Basic Guide to Daily Pages (7-minute read): Everything you need to get started with Daily Pages.

📓 Almanac Course (On-Demand) – Learn how to create a rhythm for your year using seasonal patterns and build your creative energy map.

🎧 Podcast: “Rest is Part of the Work” (30 mins) – Why rest isn’t lazy—it’s strategic.

✨ Upgrade Your Creative Practice

Loving these newsletters? When you upgrade your subscription, you’ll get access to even more tools to support your creative habits—especially the ones that help you keep going when life gets a little messy.

Here’s what you’ll unlock:

🗂 The full Daily Pages archive—hundreds of creative prompts + examples
📅 Monthly live masterclasses to spark ideas and build momentum
🎧 Selfies + Self Worth Masterclass to get more you in your notebooks.
💬 An amazing community of creative folks who get it

"I supported your work because you are amazing and it honestly is only due to you Kristin that I am able to journal now. I'm still not the best at it, still struggling a bit at times but you are amazing and I thank you very much for being here." — Zoie

Ready to keep building your creative routine—with a little backup?

Here’s what we covered today:

What proactive and reactive creative habits are (and why they matter)
Tons of real-life examples to inspire your own habits
Why using both helps build creative resilience

✨ Action Step: Choose one habit to add to your creative toolbox this week.

Talk to you next week!

xoxo,

Kristin

P.S. If you’re enjoying these newsletters, please consider sharing this edition with a friend who might need a little creative boost today.

And whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways I can help you build your creative habit:

Check out the FREE Daily Pages 101 course.
Upgrade your Substack subscription and join me Monday-Friday at Noon ET for my Daily Pages creative time (bring any project you’re working on). And—join us on the first Saturday of the month. for our live masterclasses, a new topic each month on building and sustaining your creative habit. See the full archive here.
Check out the free Awesome Ladies Project community + app and join us for weekly challenges, free stickers, and amazing friendships!