Idea Journal

April 13, 2005 | 19 Comments

Last Saturday morning I woke up with a head full of ideas, yet nary a clue on how to get them out. It’s a common problem I’ve got. Sometimes it’s simply not enough to have an idea. You need to find ways to express that idea and get it somewhere where is can have a life of it’s own.

But it’s a challenge. Ideas come at the most inopportune times, don’t they? For this very reason I’ve taken to keeping my journal near by at all times, most especially when I’m sleeping.

My Idea Journal(s) To The Rescue

I’ve got a note book that I bring with me to work and keep nearby at all times. That does pretty well during the day. The key here is that it’s small enough to carry around. Again, you never know when those ideas are going to come!

And that brings me to sleepy-time. I get all sorts of ideas either while I’m sleeping or right after I wake up. I know, from way too much personal experience, that if I don’t get those ideas down I’ll loose ‘em. So I keep another small notebook (with a nice vector light-bulb graphic printed on it) near my bed at all times.

That is the key. Don’t move it unless you’re absolutely sure it’s going right back. You do and you’re going to find out it’s gone when you need it most.

So, that’s one good way I keep my ideas from floating away. Any of you have great ways to record and keep track of ideas?

Filed under: Life
Keyword Tags: ideas journal memory creativity

Comments

1. Rob said:

I’m using one of those excellent Moleskin notebooks to write my ideas down. For me it’s important to get into a flow of writing - usually that doesn’t happen when I have to type on a keyboard. I also ike to “enhance” my ideas with sketches or little drawings to make things more clear and that only works when I´m writing things down by hand.

And as you said: you never know when those ideas keep coming :-)

Posted on April 14, 2005 11:20 PM | #

2. Scott said:

what about a small voice recorder, for ideas that can be expressed verbally? That way, if an idea strikes while you walk down the sidewalk, you won’t have to stop and find a spot to sit down and write. Unfortunately, you’ll risk looking crazy because you’ll constantly be saying “note to self:” into a little device.

Posted on April 15, 2005 01:20 AM | #

3. MacDara said:

I started keeping a reporter’s shorthand notebook a couple of years ago, for recording any notes and ideas that occur to me to note during the day. I carry it everywhere I go, and keep it by my bed at night, always with a pen (nothing fancy, just a Bic ballpoint).

I don’t discriminate about what goes in it – quotes, book citations, web addresses, article and story ideas, phone numbers, anything. It would look like a mess to most people, but for me it’s perfect. I’m such an absent minded person, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier…

Posted on April 15, 2005 01:42 AM | #

4. Richard Kendall said:

I keep trying to remember to do it, keeping a notebook by my bed at all times.

Writing stuff down before I go to sleep helps me to stop worrying about all the tasks I’ve got to do. Can’t believe I survived all these years without it.

And all those ideas that would have made me a millionaire over the years, gone!

Posted on April 15, 2005 03:35 AM | #

5. Alistair said:

I have a friend that does a similar thing, however he does it with his Palm; takes it absolutely everywhere with him

Posted on April 15, 2005 06:00 AM | #

6. Keith said:

You know, I think that’d work great for some people, but for me I find it hard to type my notes into my Treo. I do that at times, but I’d much rather write it down, old school style.

Posted on April 15, 2005 06:04 AM | #

7. Zelnox said:

Haha, you know what? I was thinking last week about how there should be an idea flourishing system (idea management system is already taken…and flourishing sounds cool). I tried looking at basecamp, but that didn’t help. A good system would allow us to put ideas down, play with them, and combine them.

I usually use cheap scrapbooks (with 32 pages) and I scribble down ideas, sketches, whatever. I also always carry folded used photocoppy paper that was going to be recycled so I can write on it (remember Kottke’s PDA? I have the same model!)

Posted on April 15, 2005 06:28 AM | #

8. Peter Flaschner said:

I’m using the moleskine book too - in fact I’ve got two; the small one which comes with me everywhere, and a larger one for the bedside.

I tried using a voice recorder on my treo, but found the sound of my own voice too distracting! I never wanted to listen to the thing.

My only problem with the notebooks is that I have to remember to read what I wrote.

Posted on April 15, 2005 06:37 AM | #

9. Chris Vincent said:

Seems to be an odd phenomenon, coming up with ideas in bed. I actually get a lot of ideas right before I get to sleep. Yeah, it’s a little annoying. But like you said, you have to get them out somewhere.

My company actually maintains a sort of group “idea journal” with an extranet. It’s kind of like a custom, specialized Basecamp. We write our ideas down on notebooks and then record them on the extranet for further discussion. Nothing new, really, but like you said, ideas always come at unopportune times.

Posted on April 15, 2005 07:27 AM | #

10. B. Adam said:

Since I use my Treo as my “ubiquitous idea capturing tool” as David Allen calls it – meaning I use it for my GTD Next Actions lists, as well as my Projects list, etc – I’ve gotten use to just trying to use it for everything. I like the simplicity and portability of it.

But, I do still jot down quick notes on Post-its and transcribe them into the Treo later and I use legal pads for brainstorming work (still can’t find a decent “mind-mapping” app for Palm).

I don’t know what I did before I tried writing everything down. I guess I just forgot a lot of stuff – I can’t really remember :)

Posted on April 15, 2005 11:37 AM | #

11. Daneil Johnstone said:

I have a cheap notebook attached to the side of my bed by a bit of string once i have written the idear down i rip that page out to contiue devoping my idears.

Posted on April 15, 2005 01:12 PM | #

12. Sean Voisen said:

I jot down ideas like this all the time on random legal pads, then when I get a few minutes I move them all over to a single list at Tada List. Having them at Tada List is great because then I can share them, get an RSS feed of them, check them off if I actually act on one of my ideas, etc. Especially good if you have an idea on something to blog about.

Posted on April 15, 2005 02:27 PM | #

13. Alistair said:

Regarding Comment #6:

I understand what you mean. I have been contemplating purchasing a Palm,
however I don’t know that I would use it for as much (in the long run)
as I want to use it for.

My main reason for having one would be dates schedules. However, at the
moment I don’t take anything but myself to work; so I’d need to carry it
with me and that would also be a pain.

I think the solution would learn to remember things, that way I would
never need a third party device to do it for me.

Posted on April 15, 2005 05:55 PM | #

14. colin said:

i am in the process of making a web app that will enable you to be able to keep all your ideas in one central location. It is digital sketchbook and inspiration book to compose your ideas and store them in one central location which can be accessed via the internet.

Posted on April 16, 2005 08:54 PM | #

15. Michael said:

Scott: Don’t you mean he’ll look ridiculous when he’s saying “Diana,” into a device ;) (That’s a little Twin Peaks humor for ya :)

Holy mother of God Keith, this comment preview is slooooooow. It’s several sentences behind me :(.

Either way, I use a moleskin reporter and a moleskin notebook. The notebook I keep at work most of the time, and the reporter I have with me. I find the hardest thing, is to actually find a ‘language’ to talk to myself in.

Posted on April 16, 2005 11:55 PM | #

16. Nancy said:

I keep a stack of index cards and some pens in a small basket on my night stand. That way, I don’t have to remember to always return a notebook to the same spot, yet I always have something on which to record pre- or post-sleep thoughts, which I agree can be quite valuable.

Posted on April 19, 2005 06:46 AM | #

17. Adrian said:

I tried going the PDA route, but that was way to cumbersome. Nothing quite like a nice notebook (I have a nice soft leather covered one that I take with me everywhere that’s refillable). When I’m at work and at home, I have an Access database that I use as sort of a “Life Digitizer” that I’ve built up over the years. It lets me keep track of people, personal thoughts, finances, and all kinds of other data. I’m hoping to incorporate picture stuff with it so that all the stuff I’ve been scanning in (paper documents, pictures, etc.) can be associated with other stuff in the database, like a banking transaction can have a scanned copy of the receipt, or a check I wrote can have a scanned copy of the check, or an experience I write to myself can not only have the people involved be associated with it, but any pictures or video taken can be associated with it (any binary data really). It basically is my very personal (not online, and certainly not public) Journal, and lets me keep track of my life, hence, the term Life Digitizer. My notebook is for jotting stuff down when I’m not at a computer that I can access my database from.

Posted on April 22, 2005 03:41 PM | #

18. James E. Lee said:

Great idea! This is closely related to an article I recently wrote, “Create a “thought pad” to record your *draft* ideas & thoughts”.

You make an excellent point about the importance of having your means of recording ideas always at hand; I touch on this when I mention using my mobile phone to send myself thought pad entries when I’m not near a computer, but I probably should emphasize the point more. A friend of mine discusses this issue in the context of task/todo list management in his article about mobile tasks.

Sean’s point about creating an RSS feed of one’s ideas is an interesting one!

Posted on May 25, 2005 03:47 PM | #