You often come up with your best ideas when you aren’t thinking about it.
The trick is to make sure you capture these movements of brilliance.
When do you come up with your best ideas?
You Can’t Force Ideas
If you have ever been part of a creative or brainstorming session, you know how difficult it is to think up original ideas.
In fact, there are entire disciplines and techniques dedicated to brainstorming new ideas. Most involve taking you out of your normal thinking, or even turning the process into a game.
The main idea is to get your mind out of conscious thinking and let your brain go on autopilot.
“You think of your best ideas when you don’t think about it.”
Your mind wanders many times throughout your day. The trick is to catch yourself when this happens and capture the magical ideas that come from it.
When does your mind wander?
- In the shower
- While working out/running
- Doing chores or laundry
- At the coffee shop
- While you are reading
- During your commute
Here are 5 Tips for Capturing Your Brain’s Best Ideas:
- Be Ready to Capture Ideas – Being ready to capture ideas when they happen is a mindset and a skill that can be honed. When your mind is wandering, you need to be prepared to catch yourself and capture that fleeting idea.
- Have a Note-taking Tool – It could be a notebook, or the Notes app on your phone. Whatever it is, you need to always have it at-hand to document your latest thought.
- Give Yourself Time to Relax – You need to give yourself time to unwind. At home, at work, or even in the car give your brain time to wander. (Great tip: Next time, try leaving the radio off during your commute.) You are not trying to force thoughts but trying to let them flow.
- Habits Stimulate Creativity – Routines actually stimulate creativity. When your body is “going through the motions,” your mind is free to wander. Let your habits drive your actions so that your mind can think. You will come up with some of your best ideas while you are doing the mundane.
- Crazy Ideas Are Often the Best Ideas – Don’t let the crazy ideas slip past you. Often, people will let crazy ideas pass them by as too “far out.” Sometimes, these are the ones that can be crafted into genius.
Let Your Mind Do Its Thing
Often, your best ideas are the ones that your brain thinks up all by itself.
Genius ideas often come when you aren’t thinking, and your brain is left to process all by itself.
Just be ready to capture those flashes of brilliance when they happen.
Question: When do you come up with your best ideas? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
I often come up with an idea totally out of the blue when I’m not even thinking about it. Of course, I am thinking about it but it is on a below conscious level so I am not aware of it. I love when that happens because it feels so effortless.
You’re quite right, but you haven’t provided the solution. I grapple with this frequently. My best ideas are in the shower and reading your post just gave me a great idea. Buy some bathroom pens like kids use. Thanks for helping me find the solution:) The other one is driving and audio memos are good, but I’ve been trying to get Siri and Google to open up a note pad when I’m driving and almost every time they automatically start ringing some random person in my contact list.
Great suggestions on capturing ideas. I often find myself thinking and coming up with ideas while I’m driving or getting ready for the day, so these tips are really helpful. Thanks for sharing!
My most creative moments are when I’m most unable to capture them – when I’m in the dark, in bed, half-asleep. People often leave a notepad by their bed, but I’m usually too tired to turn the lights on and write. I think I should try dictation instead, but I have yet to do so. Do you think that’s a good approach? Do you have a recommendation for a dictation app/service/product that can understand a person who’s talking while exhausted?
I know the importance of capturing creative ideas when they come up. The problem is that even with a smart phone, I don’t seem like want to take down those ideas. I will often forget after that. I guess I will have to make it a habit to do so.. hmmm
I really need to start learning this. Our brain can only remember so much and often time than not, we lose out on great ideas simply because we don’t keep track of it when it comes. No excuse for me or any of us. We have our mobile constantly at hand. It should definitely be a great tool for us to note things down.