Write It Down

On a monthly basis I receive a newsletter from Lee Silber, a San Diego based author, coach and designer (www.leesilber.com).  He calls his newsletter his “monthly idea generator”.

Last month he presented something that successful “big thinkers” subscribe to – writing things down.  As Lee points out, it is often the case when you have this great idea, a brilliant breakthrough and/or an epiphany you’re usually in the middle of doing something else.  So what do you do?  Per Lee:

If you’re in the shower, a grease pencil to write on the tiles works well.  I know that sounds crazy, but it would be more crazy not to note your good ideas down somewhere.  Maybe you’re on a long walk or a run when inspiration hits – if you have an index card and pen in your pocket, note it there. If you’re out to dinner or at a bar, write it on a napkin.  Let’s say you’re driving and you think up a creative solution to a problem, pull over and write it down, send yourself an e-mail, or call someone else and have them write it down.

Lee is right on the money here.  But let’s all remember that not all our ideas are gems.  I used to keep a pad and paper and, subsequently, a tape recorder by my bed at night and quite often woke up in the middle of the night to write down my thoughts or record them.  I would then review them in the morning when I woke up.

I must admit that some of my ideas upon review were way out there, which led to me to stop  eating pizza after 10:00 pm.

However, I did have the odd gem including the design for a home.

As to the shower in the morning, it has proven to be one of the greatest problem solvers for me.

There are no right or wrong ways to preserve ideas.  The most important thing is to store them in a manner that works for you so they can be acted upon accordingly.