We have all been there. We’re sitting somewhere, we are probably extremely comfortable, and a great idea comes to mind. We think to ourselves how awesome that idea is, and how it could solve a problem or increase our ability to achieve our goals. It could even be a stream of great ideas that come, but being comfortable wins out, and waiting to write these ideas down later sounds like the best idea in that moment.
Hours go by, and eventually you remember that you had some great ideas, but you can’t quite remember the specifics. You can write down most of the details, but it feels like a few key elements are missing. Or worse, maybe your ideas never cross your mind again.
These creative moments often occur when we’re relaxed and we let our minds drift a bit. They also occur when we are stimulated by doing something out of the ordinary. Either way, our likelihood of stopping what we’re doing to record our thoughts and put them into action is much lower in these scenarios than if we were sitting at a desk with pen and paper in hand.
Although it is tempting, don’t let your creative ideas slip away. While I encourage people to have multiple methods available to record ideas, such as paper, mobile devices, and voice memos, I know how easy it can be to fall into a lazy trap. All of the systems in the world won’t work if you don’t want to use them.
To be honest, it happens to me all the time, and I am aware of it.
One of the ways I have learned to help myself is to always keep in mind the true impact that a specific solution could have on my life. Many of my creative ideas are ways of improving my life, either directly or indirectly. It could be a way to do a task faster, a brand new business idea, or how to solve a small problem at work.
Regardless of the scope and importance of the idea, an improved life usually means more free time, and having more time in my life is one thing that drives me to be more creative. Find what drives you and apply it throughout your life as motivation.
Great post, Ryan. It reminds me how grateful I am for Evernote. My phone is usually nearby, so when an idea comes, I type it in. I used to not do this if an idea came and I was lying in bed, too tired to worry about writing ideas down – this was before Evernote. But not getting up to jot ideas down caused me to forget too many ideas to count. Evernote was the system I found to help with all my ideas years ago, and I haven’t tried anything else since.
Speaking of motivation to record those creative ideas immediately, this has worked for me. I chose one particular creative friend and we decided that any time either of us had a creative idea (even if it seems purely funny at the time or impractically ridiculous), we would text it to one another. In doing so, we each stay motivated to keep the ideas flowing, our ideas are recorded, and we often spiral into new ideas of the ideas the other shared.
The impact that has on my life, aside from the creativity itself, is that it keeps me in closer connection with the day-to-day happenings of this close friend, who has gotten married and moved away. Connecting over creativity, then, covers a lot of ground!
I enjoyed this post, Ryan!