Tiny Wins for Songwriters: What to Do When You Feel Exhausted
- Tara Henton
- Nov 23
- 3 min read
There are weeks when creativity flows easily — and then there are weeks like this.
The foggy-brain ones.
The “everything feels like too much” ones.
The days where even opening your notebook feels out of reach.
If you’re exhausted, unwell, overwhelmed, or simply stretched thin, this post meets you where you are.
Creativity isn’t only for the days when you’re energised and organised.
It also belongs to the quieter, heavier days — just in a gentler form.
The tiny wins below aren’t habits to build or tasks to complete.
They’re small, compassionate invitations to stay softly connected to your songwriting without demanding more from yourself than you have to give.
Here are five tiny wins for songwriters that truly count, even on your most depleted days.
These small actions aren’t about productivity or perfection — they’re about maintaining a tender thread of connection to your creative self until your energy returns.
1. Capture One Sensory Detail From Today
When your mind feels foggy, reach for something simple and grounding: a single sensory detail.
One sound, image, texture, or smell.
Maybe it was:
the weight of the duvet when you didn’t want to get up
the clink of a spoon against a mug
the glow of the hallway light in the early morning
This isn’t writing — it’s noticing.
And noticing is enough.
2. Revisit an Old Song and Highlight One Line You Still Love
No pressure to start something new.
Just open something you wrote before and look for one line that still feels true or interesting.
Underline it.
Sit with it.
Let it remind you that your creative voice is still present, even if your energy isn’t.
3. Set a 3-Minute Timer and Write Whatever Comes Out
Three minutes is short enough to feel possible, even on difficult days.
Write without structure or expectation — fragments, nonsense, half-thoughts, emotions, colours, memories.
Let it be messy.
You’re not trying to craft a song.
You’re simply opening a tiny window for your mind to breathe.
4. Collect a Title, Phrase, or Line You Heard Today
Let the world do most of the work.
Maybe you overheard a sentence, spotted a phrase online, or heard a line from a podcast while half-listening.
Write it down.
Not because you need to build on it now — simply because collecting sparks still counts as creativity.
Sometimes these found phrases become seeds for future songs.
5. Record a 10–20 Second Voice Memo of a Melody or Lyric Fragment
Not a verse.
Not a structured idea.
Just a tiny melodic curl or a single line spoken aloud.
Humming into your phone takes almost no energy, but it keeps the creative doorway cracked open.
Later, when you’re feeling more yourself, you may be glad you captured that sliver of something.
Tiny Wins Still Count — Especially When You’re Exhausted
Low-energy seasons aren’t failures.
They’re part of the creative rhythm.
And here’s something important:
It’s absolutely okay to take real time out.
To rest.
To close the notebook.
To retreat without guilt.
Sometimes you simply need to give yourself time to rest — and in doing so, you give your creative self exactly what it needs to start finding its way back in small, unexpected ways.
Tiny wins don’t replace rest.
They simply give creativity a soft place to land if it happens to show up.
💬 Tiny Wins for Songwriters: Over to You
When your energy is low, what helps you stay gently connected to your songwriting — if at all? Maybe it’s noticing one small detail, catching a phrase in passing, or humming a scrap of melody. And when you truly need a break, what helps you honour that without guilt?
Share your reflections in the comments — your experience might reassure another songwriter who needs to know that rest is allowed, and small still counts.
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