When do your best ideas come to you?
Lately, I’ve caught myself because I’ve not managed to capture the ideas that I have had during moments that are, of course, most inconvenient. Like when I’m at yoga class, or in the shower, or walking to work; or in the wee hours of the morning when I wake up and get a flash of inspiration, then lie with my teensy eyes shut debating with myself about whether I can be bothered to flick the lights on and write down whatever it is that has spun through my mind. Later, I can never remember the idea.
I’ve found through experience that the best ideas you have are those that come to you during these moments. Flashes of inspiration don’t tend to come, unfortunately, when you’re poised with pen and paper over your desk or ready with a blank screen in front of your laptop. Ideas form when they’re least expected.
Why we don’t usually act on our ideas
I believe this is one of the reasons why many of us don’t act on our ideas – which in reality, are just dreams until we write them down and create steps to achieve them in real life. For example, this is the case for me with new articles on Daily Inspiration Board. My ideas for new posts tend to come at the most inconvenient of times (as you may have gathered). Sometimes, it just feels too hard and too annoying to write down my thoughts when they come to me on the spur of the moment.
However, these are the thoughts and ideas that are so important to capture. The idea for this post came as I was dodging about 30 people trying to get off a bendy bus on the way to work, going into Wynyard. I hesitated for a few moments, but then I determinedly snapped out my Android smartphone and emailed myself the idea for the headline to pick it up and run with it later – trying not to get simultaneously trampled.
I knew that if I didn’t capture the story idea now, I’d never remember it later. This is on a small scale, but on a bigger scale – the idea for Daily Inspiration Board itself came to me while I was out jogging. The trick is to capture these thoughts and ideas and develop actionable plans around them.
Some ideas you’ll jot down and not pick up again for months. But once they’re down on paper, that’s when the magic happens. Writing your ideas down gives them a life of their own. Once they’re physically written, they become possible. All you need then to bring them into fruition is action.
How to bring ideas into fruition
Once you’ve had a spark of an idea, what then? Well, there’s two things you can do. The first, is to entertain it for a moment and perhaps even smile aloud. The second is to write it down and create a plan to actually bring it to life.
There’s no two ways about it – the second option is the hardest. But it’s also the most rewarding.
Here’s my thoughts on bringing a simple thought – or idea – to real life.
- Have the idea. Sounds simple enough, but this is actually the toughest part. Having an idea is not the easiest thing to do. It usually requires headspace – hence why you have them at the most inconvenient of times!
- Write down the idea. This also sounds simple enough, but as mentioned can be tricky when you’re running around or even sleeping.
- Develop an action plan. Ironically, this is the simplest step in the entire process. Write down exactly what you would need to do to achieve your idea.
- Put it into action. Again, this can be tough because it requires your time. Something that can be hard to come by, because it forces you to reprioritise. But it can be done – depending how much you want it.
When have you thought of a brilliant idea on the go – did you capture it, or let it go? What were you able to achieve with the idea you captured?
