How to Have More Ideas


notebooks

I work with computers. I spend a staggering number of hours every day seated at a computer. I work for a company that makes a product designed to act like paper, but better. I can type faster than just about anybody I know and my handwriting looks like that of a surgeon who just finished his third martini while riding in the back of Gravedigger. Why, then, do I keep a pen and paper on me at all times and, when seated, open in front of me, ready for input? Because that’s how I have ideas.

We’ve all heard statements like “I have my best ideas in the shower”. Have we ever stopped to consider why that is? I’m certainly not a neurologist, but my money says that it’s because you’re almost certainly free of distraction. You’ve cleaned your body a million times, so you don’t have to focus on cleaning it this time and your brain is free to wander. That’s how I feel when I look at a blank page in a notebook.

“But, sir!”, you may be thinking to yourself, “can’t you just as easily stare at a blank text file on your computer and possibly have the very same reaction?” No, not really. At least, not me. Because so much of my time is spent in front of the computer, my mind immediately jumps to one of a hundred things I could be doing when my fingers touch the keyboard. Through years of doing this type of work, the computer has become “where I work”.

My notebook is my brain’s shower, my computer is certainly not.

Try it – put some blank paper and a pen on the table in front of you and just let your head splash around for a bit. Write down everything you think of, even the stupid crap. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the kind of creativity that can happen in such a simple circumstance. Think of it as pretending to get in the shower.

Photo by me – and, yes, that is my most recent order of Field Notes notebooks – shut up.

Trackbacks

  1. understand is that generate traffic to a…

    blog requires certain skills and also time.you need to do several things right with your blog and also you need to give it time for people to know about it and for search engines to favor it.here are some tips you…

  2. then you can take them to the…

    next level by looking for their feedback. for example, you can direct your questions at current hot topics or pose a question about a general like that they have. this will give them a chance to feel like they are being…

  3. article marketing has been around for decades….

    since the arrival of mass media, article marketing has been used to advertise companies, products and services provided by a brand or label through various techniques. despite being in existence for a number of decades, the real turning point of articl…

  4. link says:

    is who they will be doing business…

    with. you get a better response when you can just be yourself.8) link it up! now, you don’t want to go crazy with the linking, but you do want to give your reader as much value as possible. you want to…

  5. analysis says:

    countries.if you want to write for a…

    different country than the one you reside in, you really need to have strong cross-cultural ties. for example, i went through a stage where i read british authors extensively. i became quite familiar with the subtle differences between the english of…

  6. click here says:

    best for you and then you can…

    concentrate your efforts on the things that earn you the most money. blogging for profit is a great way to bring in extra cash. it has a lot of potential and the amount of cash you can earn from blogging will…

  7. books, journals, and internet articles. a historical…

    fiction writer is a writer first, and his capability to conduct research and delve deep into the earlier period is secondary. a novel set in a bygone era attracts readers who develop a curiosity to know what comes next, and this…

  8. again with quality content.some people are experts…

    in writing quality content, and some do not have the mastery in the language. a skilled content writer will write the web content in normal vocabulary that can be understood by a common man. website content writing should not create a…

  9. ordinary website is that a blog is…

    updated with new content almost every day, whereas a website is pretty much static. therefore, other than the type where you simply log your daily experiences, the most important thing is that you should have enough knowledge about a subject to…