Do you have ideas coming at you from left and right, up and down, and side to side? It seems that every waking moment I’m thinking of a new product or service which leads to the thought of a cool domain name, which then leads to designing a new website, and what colors to use, what features to have, then it may lead to joint venturing with someone for a teleseminar, then possibly a training series, and the list goes on and on and on. It’s a GREAT idea in my head, but I often find that if I don’t write it down the idea will lose momentum just about the time a NEW idea comes floating by. And then the whole cycle starts all over again.
Does this ever happen to you? Please tell me that I’m not the only one!
Over the years I’ve learned that if I will take 10 minutes and write down everything that comes to my head…sort of a brain dump, then I will be able to revisit the idea at a later date, which gets me all excited again.
If you allow yourself to act on each and every idea that pops into your head, you will not be able to focus on the current task at hand. This will lead to frustration and disappointment.
Often times clients ask me how can they stay focused, and one of my first exercises is to have them walk me through their day-to-day operations. What are they working on, what are they doing, what are they wanting to accomplish, and so forth. Usually, this exercise will send up red flags which indicates undisciplined behaviors that unconsciously leads to lack of focus and frustration.
To keep you organized with all of your fleeting ideas, track them in a journal. Write down everything that excites you about this idea. Be specific so that when you come back to it at a later date, you will get excited all over again.
Staying focused at the task at hand is not to stifle your new ideas, however by writing them down it will ensure that you don’t lose site of those great ideas!
Assignment: Purchase a journal for your Book of Ideas and start writing down every product or service idea that comes to your mind.
If you’re a member of the Campus, share you ideas in the Community Center so that we can brainstorm with you!
That’s it for now. I’ll see YOU around the Campus!
About Kelli Claypool
Kelli – you are right on target with this! I suffer from this condition of random strings of ideas that stream in and out of my mind. A recent book I am reading is “Making Ideas Happen” by Scott Belsky, Founder of Behance (http://www.behance.com) He has a process called Action Plan with an iPhone app and web app as well as good old-fashioned paper products. Reminds me of “Getting Things Done” tweaked to the creative mind. Check it out!
Sounds like a GREAT book, Allen. I will certainly check it out. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
Whatever “tool” you choose to use (whether an app, journal, or others), the key is to be consistent in order to keep overwhelm and frustration to a minimum.
Thanks for stopping by Business and Learning, Allen. We’re honored to have you here!