How to Create Your Own Idea Collection System
Do you ever come up with stimulating ideas on the spot and you soon lose them because you didn’t record them at the time? Do you wish you could be more organized and systematic in your approach to work, hobbies or skill building? Let’s take a look at the practice and habit of getting your ideas out of your head and down on paper [and this includes virtual paper, too].
Idea gathering is a stimulating practice to collect your thoughts and gather your creative ideas. Most famous inventors had a proven system for recording their ideas and results in a way that was organized and efficient.
Walt Whitman was an American poet and creative thinker who came up with a unique system for storing and organizing all his creative ideas. When he had an idea for a poem or a creative project, he would write the idea down on a tiny slip of paper, and then place it in an envelope for easy storage. The envelopes would be labeled according their categories. Then, when he needed ideas based on whatever he was working on at that moment, he’d take the ideas out and piece them together in a mind map or creative tapestry.
Thomas Edison, inventor and innovator, recorded his ideas in over 3500 notebooks [these were later discovered after his death in 1931]. Edison, who sometimes had hundreds of ideas a day, was relentless when it came to recording facts to be used later for future inventions or creations. This habit of recording ideas and storing them has become synonymous today with business executives, creatives, writers, and artists/designers across all fields who rely on the fuel of their imagination to prompt fresh ideas and keep them flowing in so they are never at a loss for what to do next.
Albert Einstein also recorded his ideas, thoughts and complex theories in notebooks that are still being used today. Da Vinci, who was a multi-talented artist and inventor, recorded all his ideas in notebooks that were used for inventions after his death because he systematically recorded everything.
This brings us the habit of idea recording.
Recording your ideas is a habit that everyone can get started doing. I know a lot of homemakers who use various apps and the “notebook system” for keeping ideas handy for family trips, organizing the house duties, cooking recipes and ideas that can be implemented years down the road that involves planning for the children’s future.
Gathering your ideas and keeping them stored is fun and fills you with enthusiasm when you can refer to them months or years later and pick up the idea to put into action.
Four Ways to Create Your Own Idea Collection System
Imagine if you could have a system where you were coming up with consent ideas for your projects, hobbies, or to boost the quality of your lifestyle? By developing the habit of recording your ideas to put into action later, you are implementing a system that the age-old geniuses and inventors used to patent thousands of their products and theories. Now, you don’t have to be an inventor, scholar or scientist to do this. Anyone can start up an ideas notebook. The key is to make it a habit of recording all the ideas you come up with as they happen.
Create an “Idea Notebook”
Yes, the old pen and paper idea. You didn’t need me to place it here because it is the most obvious solution to recording your ideas. But what a lot of people don’t do is continue with this habit. They might write a few things for a few days and then forget about it. Whatever you do, don’t fall for the old trick that “I’ll write it down later” or “I won’t forget it.” I have had some ideas at the time that were amazing [my own opinion of course] and later, when I tried to recall it, I couldn’t. While my ideas might be amazing, my memory certainly isn’t.
What I find most effective is to record ideas in a physical notebook even after recording it in a virtual app such as Evernote. Why? There is something very real about writing it down. You will have a better chance of remembering the idea if you actually write it down [Yes, pen to paper]. Having a physical copy can also be easier to leaf through when you have a few moments to spare. As your ideas build, you night see the need to keep a separate notebook for various categories. One category might be labeled “Website Ideas” and another could be “Book Ideas.” Whatever it is you are working on, to cut confusion, maybe consider separating your notebooks. Who knows, after a decade or two you might have as many as Edison!
Utilizing the Cross-Fertilizing System
Have you ever had an idea that just popped into your head that wasn’t even closely related to a topic or project you were working on at the time? And did you file it away, only to realize that weeks or months later you could use it for something else? This is what cross-fertilization is. It is when you can transfer ideas or concepts from one problem to help with another.
By gathering your ideas and keeping accurate records of the ideas you have, later on when faced with a challenging situation you might find something hidden in your idea folder that you forgot was there. Cross-referencing, or cross-fertilization, is a great technique for linking projects or tasks together. Sometimes ideas you came up with in one area, even if is totally unrelated, can be carried over into something else.
Do a Mind Map or Brain-dump
I’m sure you have seen or even use the mind mapping technique before. If not its easy and highly effective for getting your ideas down on paper [and there are apps for this as well]. I prefer to tack a large piece of poster paper to the wall, write the subject in the center, and then set the timer for 15 minutes. I’ll then work non-stop for this time and just blast the ideas that come during this time. It’s also called brain-dumping but, basically the same thing. You want to transfer everything from your mind or vision to the paper.
You’ll be amazed that ideas will just materialize out of nowhere called “Idea Linking” or “cross-referencing” to where one idea just links to the next. You’ll even come up with ideas for non-related tasks you can later store for future use. I use this for writing blog posts and novels. As I do the mind map, ideas that I normally wouldn’t have come up with start materializing on the paper.
Use Evernote
This is an amazing app with lots of cool features for collecting and organizing ideas into notes, folders and stacks. Evernote can be used for practically anything. You can record your voice or make notes while on the move with the downloadable app. By having a virtual notebook handy, this means that you can record ideas or thoughts as they happen right away if you don’t have a pen and paper immediately handy. Over the years I have recorded hundreds of ideas that I was able to use later just while I was on the run. You can download Evernote here.
Build on the Ideas of Others
Edison once said that, “Your ideas only need to be original in the adaptation to the problem you are working on.” This meant that you didn’t have to come up with an absolutely unique idea that nobody has ever heard of before. You could take an existing concept and add to it, refine it, and make it original in its application. This is how Steve Jobs created the iPod. He didn’t invent digital music. The technology was already there, but it wasn’t being mass marketed and the user interface was weak. Apple took what already existed, and created a product that was sleeker, stylish and could be operated with ease and fun.
Be observant of the ideas around you. Question things and ask yourself, “Can I do better? is that as good a sit can get?” You don’t have to be a key inventor or genius [I know I’m not] to come up with better ideas that can build on what already exists. Be willing to try something new and, if you do see an opportunity that you think could be worth exploring, mind map the possibilities and get your ideas down. Then come up with a list of actions and follow through.
Takeaway Action Steps:
Make it a habit of recording your ideas as soon as you think of something. You can do this using an idea capturing app [Evernote] or an actual notebook.
Cross-reference your ideas with other situations or projects you are working on. Like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, sometimes you can find solutions to problems that you otherwise would have never realized.
Make mind mapping a habit. Do this once a week where you will do a massive brain dump and get all the ideas out of your head and down on paper. Is it an idea for a new business? A series of blog posts you are writing? A proposal for a new product? Mind map your ideas, set a timer for 15-30 minutes and dump everything in your head during this time.
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