Many of us are very lucky to make a living by creating things and putting our imagination to use. But what happens when a desire for creative inspiration ends up feeling more like an obligation than a liberty? Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast, has some thoughts on the matter in this week’s Creative Career Conundrums.
- 12 October 2026
Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.
This week’s question:
“Am I destined to be creative all the time?
As a graphic designer, I feel a constant urge to create and find inspiration everywhere. I’m naturally curious, and I love finding beauty (or ugliness) in many places. But lately, creativity has started to feel like both a desire and an obligation.
My 9-5 demands creative energy without necessarily making me feel creatively fulfilled, while my freelance and passion projects give me the freedom to create work I actually believe in. The problem is that by the time I get to those projects, I often feel creatively drained. Still, taking a break feels like wasting the limited time I have to make something meaningful. I feel caught between wanting to protect my creativity and constantly pushing myself to use it. How do I keep creativity from becoming an obligation?”
Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast:
Firstly, no one is creative 24/7. You need time to refill your cup. For some people, this looks like ordinary things – cooking, working out, socialising. Others need more, like travelling or exhibitions. Trying to cram every spare moment with work will be detrimental to the quality of your output. You should take that pressure off yourself.
Working a 9-5 on top of a 5-9 is a fast way to burn out. Especially if you’re counting down the minutes until your own creative time. Something will suffer, and there’s a risk associated with your day job being that thing. There are ebbs and flows to creativity. Some months, all I achieve is my day job. Other months, I have ideas or energy after hours to do more. Both of these are okay. I listen to my mind and my body and roll with it.
“Trying to cram every spare moment with work will be detrimental to the quality of your output.”
Katie Cadwell
However, if you want to maintain momentum, it might be worthwhile adding some structure to your time. Gavin Strange, director and designer at Aardman Animations, is the master at this. He holds down an (assumably) demanding job at Aardman while releasing amazing side projects. He told me once that he works under a strict routine. A few days a week, two extra hours a day. Usually in the morning to get maximum creativity.
He never skipped that time. Always making the absolute most of it. And importantly, not feeling guilty for his time off the rest of the week. If you’re in a position to dedicate that time, give that a go.
Ultimately, how lucky are we that the thing that pays our bills can help satiate our creativity? It’s amazing to have turned a passion into our job. It’s a position that people dream of, so it’s important to remember that. Even when it’s not fulfilling you all the way.
In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.
If You Could is the jobs board from It’s Nice That, the place to find jobs in the creative industries.
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