How to capture good ideas

A listener asks how to put brilliance into action

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to capture and make the
most of new ideas. A listener named Claire wrote in
wondering about how to do just that, lots of your

(00:23):
advice mentions giving your mind some space through exercise, walks,
downtime for great ideas to appear. She writes, this works
really well for me, but then I struggle with how
to capture those ideas and make sure I make the
time to bring them to life after. Sometimes, when I'm
on a run, so many ideas come to me that
I end up standing still every few minutes to log

(00:45):
them into my phone. I think this is a great question.
Many times great ideas come to us when we step
out of our normal workspaces, but of course, when we're
away from our desks, were slightly less prepared to capture
great ideas. Writing things down as tricky if you're in
the shower or driving. I actually think Claire's solution of

(01:06):
logging ideas into her phone is great. I know that
sometimes it's fun to run without a phone to feel untethered,
but I tend to run with mine, partly so that
if I do get a good idea, I can just
send an email to myself. If Claire is getting good
ideas every half mile or so, she should just count
her blessings. That's as good a reason to stop and
take a break as anything. Now back to my method,

(01:29):
Why an email to myself? Well, I know I'll check
my inbox at some point when I am at my
desk and able to process ideas. I know that I
will at least glance through my inbox to get to
current since that's somewhere i'm sure to look. This works
for me. Many other people have found the same thing.
But if you know you'll check your notes or some

(01:50):
other app that can work too. If you're driving, you
can use your voice assistant to send a text to yourself.
If you're in the shower, well maybe you've got your
phone nearby, or you can keep an old fashioned pen
and notebook somewhere in the bathroom and use that in
a pinch. Now, as for making the most of those ideas,
the upside of an email or text to yourself is

(02:10):
that you can then process this information when you process
all the other information that's coming in every other day
or so, I sit down with my calendar and my
planner and work through what's come in making decisions or
entering time specific commitments or items on my to do lists.
We've talked in past episodes about the fun of list making.
There are all kinds of great lists that can shelter

(02:32):
your new ideas. You can keep a to be read
list of books to track down. I keep a list
of potential before breakfast podcast ideas in a file. I
make seasonal fun lists. I make lists of presents that
people might like. I have a nagging tasks list. I
have a list of a hundred dreams, basically a bucket
list of anything I might want to try in life.

(02:55):
Devotees of David Allen are familiar with the idea of
a someday maybe list. That's anything you might want to
do but you're not committing to, or at least not
committing to a specific time. Perhaps your ideas fit in
with these lists or any other categories you create. The
point is to have lists somewhere and then get in

(03:15):
the habit of occasionally looking through these lists as you
set your weekly priorities. For example, while out on a run,
you might suddenly remember that Joe from work and Chris
from your softball team both went to Texas A and M.
This is the kind of thing you haven't recognized before
because it's nowhere near where you live, and so it's
not something you normally think of. They have both independently

(03:37):
mentioned being obsessed with the football team, So you send
yourself an email to connect the two of them. Then
you can do this during your next email processing time.
But to do it well, you can take it up
a notch and actually turn it into relationship priorities for
the week. If it's football season, you might look at
the calendar and suggest that Joe and Chris both join

(03:59):
you at a sports bar to see the Texas A
and M game to Saturdays from now. Now, your idea
has both connected people and given you a fun social occasion,
and all because you sent a note to yourself before
you forgot the idea, and then you processed it as
part of your regular habits. How do you capture and
make the most of your ideas? You can let me

(04:21):
know at Before Breakfast podcast at I heart media dot com.
In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
here's to making the most of our time. Hey everybody,
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

(04:44):
me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.
At i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is
spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

(05:11):
production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H