10 Ideas on Ideas

Recently, I broke a 19 day streak due to some personal issues I had to take care of. Don't worry, everything is resolved now. In starting over again, I started thinking about ideas in general and the ideas I post on NotePD in particular.

What has your experience been in posting lists to this site? Especially when trying to maintain a streak or starting over after breaking a lengthy one?

1. Unique Ideas Are Hard to Come Up With

This is something I mentioned before in my post "10 Things I Learned So Far Posting on NotePD.com" (https://notepd.com/idea/10-things-i-learned-so-far-posting-on-notepdcom-ex424).

When coming up with lists for this site, I would often flip through my steno books of old ideas I wrote. I noticed I often came up with the same ideas over and over again without realizing it. Maybe there are certain things I need to address so my mind doesn't fall into the same patterns of thought.

I try to catch myself if I start writing a list that's too much like something I wrote last week or last month. One of the benefits of posting on NotePD is that I can go through all of my old posts and know what not to write about.

2. It’s Difficult Coming up With Ideas When Tired or Stressed

When I'm stressed out, it's hard to think past the next action I must take, let alone thinking ahead or coming up with new ideas to address the situation. Ironically, it's more important to come up with ideas in a stressful situation so you can figure out a way to solve it more effectively.

3. It’s Easier to Come Up With Ideas When Relaxed

When there's nothing immediate or urgent for me to address, I'm free to let my mind wander towards something interesting.

4. It’s Easier Coming up With Ideas When You’re Faced With a Novel Problem

If a problem is unusual to you, you'll think about it in ways that someone who's more experienced with the situation might not consider.

5. Reading a Good Book Can Stimulate Your Idea Muscle

I recently finished reading "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson. Reading about how Steve Jobs thought about the world and how he approached products and problems would often spark some inspiration in myself too.

I would think about things like Job's infamous "Reality Distortion Field" and wonder if this was an inborn trait, or something he learned due to his experiences growing up. If he learned this, could I learn it too? Isaacson argued that the same "Reality Distortion Field" that allowed Jobs to push the engineers at Apple to innovate their products was the same thing that ultimately led to Jobs's early death to pancreatic cancer. This was due to Jobs delaying life saving treatment because he believed that he could cure himself with diet and natural remedies. This made me wonder if it was even worth learning about the "Reality Distortion Field" if it was even a skill that could be learned.

6. It’s Easier for Me to Come Up With Ideas on Paper

NotePd is great for refining and editing lists, but I still prefer to draft my ideas on paper. I am able to focus better when writing on paper, without all of the distractions of my computer getting in my way.

7. I Usually Come Up With 10 Ideas per List Even if Some of My Lists on NotePD Have Fewer Than 10

While writing ideas on paper, I feel more free to come up with bad ideas that I can either improve or cut out when finalizing a list that's meant to be read by an audience.

8. It’s Hard to Control Inspiration

Sometimes I can go for days or weeks struggling to come up with a single list of ideas. There are also some days I create 3 or 4 lists with very little strain. I guess inspiration is like motivation where you don't have much control over it. You can only be diligent in having a good routine so you can take advantage when the ideas start pouring out of you.

9. Even if I Broke My Streak, I’ll Commit to Finishing up the Rest of May

When I started my NotePD.com account, I had the goal of posting a new idea list for every day of May. While part of me feels shame for falling short of my standards, improvement only comes after confronting failure, not running from it. While my old streak is dead, I can start a new one which will hopefully go on for a little longer this time.

10. I Want to Become Better With How I Present My Idea Lists for an Audience

I think that I could be doing a lot better in how I write and present my lists for an audience. I want to create lists that are detailed enough to flesh out my ideas, but also short enough to hold the interest of the readers.

This is a delicate balance that I continue to work on.

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