Chasing After Ideas With a Paper and Pen
Posted by Samar | Posted in Productivity Hack | Posted on 21-01-2009
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Since my post on recording ideas (in which I practically stuffed a pen in your bags/briefcases/pockets), I decided to add something to my pen carrying habit. Instead of just being satisfied at having a pen in my bag, I decided to make sure to take the pen out every time I had a few minutes.
Chasing My Ideas
I added a small book in my tote and stuck a pen in it. I took it out every time I was out, was waiting for something or had a few minutes. I took it out on my way to school, waiting for my class, and on my way back. I even pulled it out while playing scrabble as I waited for other people to complete their turns. I wanted to see if I could make ideas come to me when I called them.
Coming up a Blank the First Time
The first time I took the note book and pen out, all I did was stare at the blank page and finally ended up doodling my name. Not a single thought or idea came to me. The second time, I was getting frustrated again when a thought occurred to me. “What does a person do when brain storming fails?” I wrote it down immediately.
All it Can Take is One Idea or Thought to Open the Floodgates
That thought is still sitting alone on a page. But it catapulted my brain into overdrive. Soon afterwards my brain was flooding with possibilities in answer to that question. Most of them were discarded almost immediately. But the ideas stemming from them took a whole new direction.
Jot Down Everything
Suddenly, I’m filling pages. Not every idea I get is good (actually, most of the are plain mediocre) or even well thought out but I write everything down and go through each point later. What seems like a bad idea today, may present an opportunity tomorrow. “Always remember, one bad idea gives rise to 10 better and at least one great one!” That used to be my father’s mantra every time I would stop myself from voicing an idea saying it was ’stupid’.
My own mantra? Get the bad ideas out as fast as you can and make way for the great ones. Okay, so I may have heard my dad say that one too.
Finally: A Habit Formed
After doing this for the past two weeks, scribbling in my notebook has become a habit. My fingers start to itch if I’m sitting idle for more than a few minutes and stepping out without a notebook is unthinkable!
What do you do? Do you wait for ideas to come to you or do you go chasing after them?
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I can’t imagine going anywhere without paper and pen. I was caught recently, needing to write down an email address and only had a small purse with me. I was so upset! Hubby came to the rescue with a receipt, and I vowed to never use too-small purses again…even on a night out!
You might be interested in the Pulse. Look for review in March issue of Shufflegazine.
B J: I can’t either now. Those small clutch bags so in fashion now are not very practical since they can only store one thing at a time.
You know, I can do another post on the most weird surfaces I’ve jotted down stuff. There are quite a few!
Magnus: Thanks for stopping by. I’ll definitely be looking into it when I buy my first mac
I have to say, considering how useful the smartpen technology can be, it’s not that expensive.
sometimes while driving,I cannot write so I keep singing my thought until I pulled over to write.It will be a good idea even tag people to write about most weird surfaces they have jolted down.It will be fun.Lets do it
I’d sooner leave home without underwear than without a notebook and pen. Sometimes ideas invite themselves in, most times I have to hunt them down but with pen and notebook always handy, I always have somewhere to catch and hold them.
Daanish: I make it a point to tell someone that I have to jot down something when I get home or quickly type in a couple of keywords on my cell phone’s note taker while I’m at a traffic signal.
Cheryl: You had me laughing hard! What is the strangest surface you’ve ever written on?
Welcome to the base.
That’s a good idea. I have a pen in my car that I keep for those times when I need a pen, but I never really carry one on me all the time. I bet I lost lots of ideas by not having a pen and paper handy. That’s a good tip – thanks
Hi Samar,
Like you I carry a small notebook (my beloved Moleskine) everywhere I go and use it for notes, ideas, mind hacks and much more. I even carry small change in case I ever run out of cash and need some desperately in the spare pouch at the back of the Moleskine.
I couldn’t imagine not having them (I have two) as they have become somewhat revered by me.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..Your Excuses Don’t Interest Me
Hiya Samar
Just a quick hello on your blog to let you know that this is the first of your posts to start appearing on TheWriteNetwork.com.
Love your articles and lots more scheduled to be released soon.
I always carry a pen(cil) and paper with me wherever I go. Ive tried so many different tools in the past and always come back to my trusted pen and paper.
Thought you might be interested in a picture of my tools (on flickr): http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnlifeasitis
Chung Nguyen-Le´s last blog ..Chasing After Ideas With a Paper and Pen
@ Monika – Wow, I carry only one with me so far. But I have an assortment of notebooks on my desk which I pick up if I’m heading out with a different bag than my usual.
@ Chung – Thanks for publishing the post on The Write Network! I know what you mean about using different tools. I’ve tried many, but nothing is as simple and easy to carry as a paper and a pen.
Loved your photos. And might I add, very cool ride!
Samar´s last blog ..Blogging peeve: Smarter s-p-a-m
[...] do you do? Do you wait for ideas to come to you or do you go chasing after them? [...]
I think you should write down all ideas, or half of them gets lost. But I hate paper because I misplace it all the time.
I used to have a PDA with touch screen and a good scribble application on that one, it allowed me to capture everything in handwriting. Now I have a smartphone without touch screen but with keyboard and I input all ideas into separate notes on that one. It’s more cumbersome, but everything is neatly filed from the start and I have it always with me (+ an automatic backup on my PC).
Finally, when driving I use the voice recorder function of the smartphone. Not ideal, but better than crashing into something.
Luc J´s last blog ..Livescribe Pulse Smartpen – Link Notes And Audio Recording