10-Minute Creative Reset

A quick guide to reset and refresh

This is a short expressive arts practice designed to help you pause, re-orient, and reconnect through making. You’ll follow a clear set of steps using drawing and a small amount of writing. There’s no need to be creative or to understand what you’re making.

You can use this practice when you feel scattered, overstimulated, stuck, or simply in need of a reset.

Time & Materials

Time:
10 minutes total

Materials (choose one):

• paper + pen or pencil
  or

• paper + one colour

Keep it simple

Step-by-step

1) Set a timer for 10 minutes
When the timer ends, the practice ends.

2) Draw a border around the edge of the page
A simple line is enough. This creates a clear space to work in.

3) For the first 5 minutes: make marks inside the border
Keep your hand moving. You could draw lines, loops, dots, shapes, or scribble whatever comes to you.
There’s no need to plan an image. Let the marks emerge as they do.

4) For the next 3 minutes: deepen the image
Without starting over, add a layer to what’s already there.
As you look at the image, notice what catches your attention. What does it seem to need?

You might:

• darken or layer one area

• repeat or highlight a shape you notice

• add texture

• connect two areas with a line

Let your response be guided by what’s already present.

5) For the final 2 minutes: add words
Answer each of the following with one word only, adding the word directly onto or near the image:

• What do you notice first when you look at the image?

• How does it feel to look at it now?

• If this image had a name, what would it be?

  Write the words lightly. There’s no right answer.

6) Stop when the timer ends

Closing the practice

Let your pen rest.

Take a moment to notice:

• how your body feels now compared to when you began

• what was it like to move between drawing and words

• any small shift in attention or presence

There’s no need to make sense of what you notice.

Now, place one hand on your chest or belly and take three slow breaths:

• inhale gently through the nose

• exhale through the mouth, letting the breath soften and release. With each exhale, allow the practice to settle.

You can leave the image as it is — on the table, folded away, or set aside. Nothing needs to be carried forward except the experience of having paused, made, and responded.

This is an invitation, not an exercise to complete. You can return to it, adapt it, or let it go.

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Curious to explore expressive arts further?