If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of great ideas throughout the day – maybe you have bursts of inspiration from something you see or hear, then all of a sudden, for a brief moment you have an incredible idea. The first thing you think is, I’ll remember that for later.
I’ve been there a thousand times, and unfortunately you usually remember this great idea a few years later when you read somewhere that someone else had the same idea and did something great with it, where you forgot all about it ten minutes after you thought of it.
I found this frustrating, usually these ideas are not great, where often it could be an idea that will improve your business or you relationships. Whatever it is, you have to remember it before anything productive can happen.
The reason we have these great ideas, is our subconscious brain is constantly working in the background helping us find ways of getting what we want. With it being subconscious we have no control over how it works, so when it decides to give us an idea, or suggestion we have to be prepared to make use of it. Otherwise, the large proportion of your brain power which is the subconscious mind is going to waste.
There are several solutions to this problem, I will talk about the solutions I personally use and find very effective. I will also explain how I use these techniques to get the best out of everything I do. This has literally transformed my life and the results I get on a daily basis.
Evernote
I initially started using Evernote for marketing projects, I found it useful because of it’s flexibility, being able to import images, videos, links and notes whenever required. I also used it for creating business plans and writing long form content. Then one day I installed the Evernote app on my phone and started using it to create daily notes, including thoughts and ideas throughout the day. I would then organise the notes at the end of the day. The results were excellent.
There’s many benefits with this system, if you lose your phone, or damage it while jumping into a swimming pool drunk ( yes I’ve done that! ) you will still have a backup of your notes stored somewhere for the next day.
Notepad
The second method I use which has now became my preferred method, is to carry a small notebook and pen at all times. This means everywhere I am, I can easily write down my ideas at the moment they appear.
This method, which I initially heard from Kevin O’Leary quickly became my favourite, there’s something great about writing things down on paper rather than typing them into a phone. This also means I can quickly sketch images if I want to aswell.
Try it out
I always try multiple solutions out long enough to determine which methods I can stick with, and feel more natural to me. This way I can quickly know how if I will be consistent with it or not. Consistency is the key, if you only do something on occasion, it’s not going to work for you. The only way you can correctly determine how effective something is will require doing it consistently for long enough to measure it’s results. If after a period of time you notice for example a 20% increase in effectiveness then your on the right track.
How to use ideas
The way you use your ideas important, there’s no good having ideas written down on paper and not taking any action with them. You have to consider how these ideas will impact your vision and goals. If you can see how a certain idea can push your goals forward or improve the results you’re currently getting then you should add it to your to do list for the next day. If you have a few ideas written down then you should prioritise them by importance and based on the impact you believe they will have on achieving goals.
By the end of the day, I could have 10 ideas on paper and after reviewing them may only keep half. As I complete each task, I scrunch up the post-it and put it in the bowl on my desk, the more scrunched up post-it’s in my bowl at the end of the day, the more productive I have been with my ideas.
It’s important to think about how you can improve every process you do daily, from the time you spend on the phone, organising business tasks to how effective your meetings are. If you can get more done in less time then you can focus your energy on bigger challenges and growth. There’s no point being a busy fool, always aim to be as efficient as possible.
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