How To Organize Your Creative Ideas.
Be Brilliant In Your Business Podcast, Episode 92
It’s fun to be inspired.
As a creative business owner, we must learn to bridge the gap between two very different (and sometimes conflicting) parts of ourselves - passion and productivity.
So what do you do with your creative ideas to make sure they get the attention they deserve without derailing your plans? In this episode, I am breaking down my 3-part process called Idea Catching: How to Collect, Curate, and Nurture Your Brilliant Ideas.
Prefer to read instead of listen? Scroll down for the blog post.
Episode Highlights
Inspiration is inconvenient! We get inspired by all kinds of things, so we need a way to gather and organize our ideas so that they don’t get lost or turn creativity into overwhelm.
What is “information hoarding” and why is it a problem?
The tools and process I use to collect my ideas.
How and when I organize my ideas so that they don’t pile up or disappear.
When to work on an idea versus letting it gel.
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Let’s talk about inspiration.
Inspiration flutters into our minds like a butterfly. It’s often inconvenient, so we need a good way to gather our ideas when we’re feeling creative and then to put them to good use later on.
Today I am taking you through my 3-part process called Idea Catching: How to collect, curate and nurture your brilliant ideas.
This is a concept that I came up with back in 2014, can you believe it? I wrote a blog series that still holds up today (though I think it’s a lot better now ;) As a bonus, I also created the Idea Catching Toolkit which includes the process, resources and a template to help you organize your ideas. You can download this for free inside the Maverick HQ.
Are you ready to go idea catching with me?
Part 1: Collect
This part is something that you're probably pretty familiar with, because you're doing this already in a multitude of ways.
I have a few recommendations to help you streamline this, because I want to make sure that you're not creating the idea equivalent of a “scary closet” in your house. (Do you know what I'm talking about? That place in your house where you shove all the miscellaneous things whenever company comes over.) A scary closet has lots of great stuff in it, but you'd almost rather go get new stuff than have to open that closet! Please do not create an idea scary closet :)
For idea collection, I am a fan of a multimedia approach. My motto is that whatever you've got in front of you in the moment that inspiration strikes is the best place for it to go. There isn't a right or wrong way to collect your ideas, but there are some things that you can do with them that will really help you out later on.
So here's what I use to collect my ideas.
My go to is the Notes app in my phone. It's so simple which is why it’s great.
My second favorite tool is voice memos which is also a default app in my iPhone. I love using voice memos because movement helps me think, so I can talk it out with myself while walking or working out. I’m sure you can relate!
The great thing about the voice memos is that once you have them, you can also easily get them transcribed. I use Otter.ai for this. I draft a lot of my podcast episodes this way.
My third favorite tool is Pinterest secret boards. It’s the best because it gives me instant access to research articles, shopping sites or any other linked resource. If you don’t already know that you can have secret boards, well, now you do.
And finally, a good ‘ol fashion notebook.
Did I mention I’m a fan of simplicity?! I’ve tried a lot of fancy tools but I always find that the simpler the tool the more likely I am to stick with it. Because it’s what you do with that information that matters.
Tips for collecting ideas:
Label and date ideas (when applicable)
Purpose: Title (Example - Podcast Idea: Idea Catching)
Or
Source: Title (Example - Notes from Asana Webinar)
For handwritten notes, underline, draw a box around the title, or create any other graphic standards that help you visually identify your ideas.
Keep (only) a couple of digital checklists in phone that you'll use over and over. I have an ongoing:
Grocery/Target/Shopping list
TV & Movies I want to watch list
Because, inevitably, this info gets mixed into your idea-storm and it's a quick way to put that info where it belongs - without taking you way off track.
Part 2: Curate
I like to think of curation as observing your new butterflies to get a sense of where they fit and if you want to keep them (for now).
In real terms, it’s time to plug them into your other systems. I have two different places for ideas to go. If it belongs in a project (for example, a podcast episode topic) then it goes into my Asana project for the podcast. Asana is where I manage all active projects for the business, my clients, and the podcast.
If it’s not aligned with an active project, maybe it’s a pie-in-the-sky fantasy or something that sounds like a “great book idea” for someday maybe, then it goes into my general Idea Aviary. I have a template for this, which you can get in the free Idea Catching Toolkit.
Tips for idea curation:
Block time for "Idea Curation" weekly. This is an administrative task - although I want you to enjoy it and feel inspired by your ideas, you’re not generating ideas in this time. It’s a useful habit to be able to distinguish these two ways of thinking.
You want to make this a habit, so I recommend scheduling it at the same time and day for at least 30 days. With all new things, your brain needs consistency in order to build a neural pathway. When you do it sporadically, it’s a lot harder to get used to!
Start this process by uploading audios to Otter, so they can be transcribed while you look through your other notes.
Ask some clarifying questions to help you sort your ideas. I have a list of clarifying questions included in the toolkit.
Distill the best parts of the ideas you want to keep into your idea aviary or project management tool. Discard original notes - If you need the original, include a digital link or snapshot in the new note.
Part 3: Nurture
The purpose of idea catching, as are many of the frameworks and tools that I share, is to be a vehicle that helps you create balance between steadiness and passion.
For creatives, passion is really important. But businesses rely on steadiness. So creative businesses need to find a balance between steadiness and passion.
Nurturing your ideas means working on them a little bit, with no pressure of turning them into something specific. It's not a project, and there's no timeline or task list yet. But do something that fuels your excitement about your own ideas. Brainstorm, visualize, research. take a class to develop a skill.
Create for the sake of creating, and enjoy this part of the process. Will it help you turn your idea into something valuable for your business? Maybe. But that’s not the point. This is something you can do every day or week in your free time, to help you stay inspired and happy.
Then, the next time you’re doing a business audit and planning your goals for the upcoming quarter or year, you’ll have a collection of beautiful ideas to consider as projects. Take a look at your list and see which ones align.
I use my 30 Day Done planning process to turn ideas into projects.
Hopefully this process gives you some ideas of your own, to help you get organized and in charge of your creativity!