When You Have More Ideas than Time-- Write Them Down!
Feels like I have been playing "catch up" all week. Seems like it was just Monday, and now it's already Thursday.
Journal and Fountain Pen
My day started at 6:15am, with making coffee and feeding the cats. Then onto taking care of orders and emails relating to my eBay businesses. Thankfully, there have been a few sales, so there were things to be packed.
It was dry this morning-- unusual for this year; it seems like it has been raining non-stop since October. I like in the US Pacific Northwest, which is known for rain, but this year has been ridiculous.
Anyway, I decided I could put in about 45 minutes with the lawn mower, while it was dry... the lawn has remained a shaggy mess most of this spring because it has almost never been dry. Not only that, the ground and grass have been so thoroughly soaked that mowing while damp has resulted in large piles of green mush that resembles creamed spinach... and causes yellow patches on the grass.
But I wanted to WRITE!
Then I left the house at 10:30 so I could be ready to open our art/gift gallery in town by 11:00 and spend my day there. II had really hoped to get some articles written today... but there's just too much going on.
Flower with the inevitable water droplets of this spring
Since I will be here till 6:00pm, there will hopefully be some "quiet breaks" here and there to allow me to get a few words written here on Steemit.
Of course, "doing other things" doesn't have to count as lost blogging time.
I am almost always "writing things inside my head" or, at the very least, coming up with ideas. I always carry paper and pencil in my pocket, so I can jot down anything that comes to mind-- just a brief outline-- so I might revisit it and turn it into something later.
At the moment, the "unfinished ideas" outnumber my time to act on them by a wide margin. But at least I have a small pile of handwritten notes... that I hopefully will be able to turn into something... or not.
I have actually given up being attached to doing something with most of my ideas... there just isn't enough time, and I have found that if I worry to much, my creativity is stifled. Better to just let things go and work with the next idea that comes along.
The "Secret" to Consistent Blogging and Writing
The reason I am sharing this brief ramble is that a lot of aspiring writers and bloggers seem to end up "getting stuck" if they don't get to write during their "writing time." Or if they can't set aside "writing time."
Branchlet floating in a puddle
It has taken me some years to get there, but I have come to realize that ANY time can be "writing time." Even if you don't have time to actually sit down and write something out.
Even if you are in the middle of something else-- or sitting in traffic-- the mere act of having an idea and briefly jotting it down serves as "writing time." As long as you can pause for a few seconds-- or a minute-- to "capture your idea," you can still have writing time on even the busiest of days!
And here's the thing: A lot of our very best and most creative ideas come to us while we're in the middle of doing something completely unrelated.
How about YOU? Do you have a specific time set aside for writing/creating? Or do you just do things "when inspiration strikes?" Do you keep notes of ideas you get when you're nowhere near a keyboard? Leave a comment-- share your experience-- start the conversation!
(As per usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit!)
Heh... I used to do this. The problem is I wouldn't stop writing ideas down and likely would not give them life. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will likely forget many ideas as they are replaced by others and that some of my ideas will never see light.
I generate ideas far faster than I have TIME to actually do something with them.
There's a delicate balance there... I have far more ideas than I can ever use, and many of my little notes "die on the vine," but I have always found them to be a really good backup because I am truly useless at sitting down and writing "something" on command... and my creative flow rarely matches when I happen to have some spare time to write something reasonably cohesive.
I think my outlining/notetaking also has roots in the fact that I very rarely had contiguous blocks of time available-- it has typically been a case of "steal 30 minutes here, 20 minutes there" which is rarely enough to carry a thought from "spark" to completion. So I'd just jot myself a quick reminder.
hehe... Yeah like I said I get it... I packed boxes and boxes of notebooks around with me for years. (actually a couple of decades) and eventually I got rid of most of them.
Now I might use a notepad to jot something down, or google docs, but it also might often end up as a steemit post. :)
The same patterns emerge in the most successful people. They figure out a way to make consistent really good micro decisions and set up a system for success. I liked this post so much I linked to it from the Micro Decision post, thanks for putting out consistently good work!
"Micro decisions," I like that... seems to me that's the level at which we actually implement our grand schemes. It's also the level at which we set priorities... the kinds of priorities that make or break a habit: "I will produce SOME kind of blog content this morning, even if I don't feel like it," or realizing that the way to not snack endlessly on potato chips doesn't start with self-control, it starts with not buying them at the store... and it's interesting how often people's actions don't actually support their stated intentions...
DMG,
Yep, doesn't matter how grand the scheme, it's the implementation that matters, and that only moves forward one decision at a time. Those decisions can be super hard and if you don't set yourself up right they can be leveraged against you. Totally agree re. not buying chips at the store if you don't want to eat them. It's funny, that seems so simple, but there is a LOT of effort that went into making you buy those chips. At the Big Food companies they spend tons of money to hook people up to brain scanners, show 'em packaging & products and watch what lights up in their brain and how much. Still, if you don't shop hungry you're less likely to be affected. Micro decisions have huge consequences. Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for writing this down and posting it here. I don't have a specific writing time but I feel I need to schedule one. Maybe I am wrong but I need to try. I am like you I always have ideas in my head and I write them down but without a proper schedule they never develop into written pieces. They mostly stay ideas with more ideas on top. I have a notebook near my bed for when I wake or fall asleep with ideas and I have my phone for taking notes.
Thanks for reminding me that I stick to my plan of writing every day. Even if it is just a few ideas in my notebook.
Ideas on written paper "that never become anything" is definitely an issue for me, as well. I had a few days' break last fall and organized all my loose bits of paper, and they amounted to having the "bones" for well over 500 pieces/posts!
Since resuming "general" blogging here on Steemit, I have tried to get in the routine of writing at least ONE "something" every day. I don't always succeed... but making it a tangible goal has helped; consistency IS important.
Yes consistensy is important and also it is very satisfying to write every day. I think once I figure out a proper writing time, it will be beneficial for my mind. Thanks for encouraging me with this post.
Exactly what I do. Sometimes when I decide to sit and write whether it be poetry or a blog, the inspiration just doesn't happen. So every time a thought comes into my head I jot it down to use later. It can sometimes be frustrating, but with patience and practice it develops.
Actually using the loose notes later is a practice, it its own way. I have never been much good at "writing to order," but when I have a wad of loose notes to use as a "prompt," I can nearly always "trigger" something.
I agree. If you don't write them down and just try to keep them in your head it's so easy to forget.
Actually, using the Notes app on my iPhone has been a big game changer for me over the years. I still write by hand as well, but I find writing ideas or paragraphs on Notes really produces results for me. I email myself whatever I want to continue working on and then flesh things out on my computer. Sometimes, too, I can complete a whole story on my phone. In the past, when I journaled, very little of what I wrote, even ideas, ever made it out of my journals. Perhaps, because I never had a solid writing place to work from where I could use Post-It Notes, etc to help me remember my ideas.
Ah yes, the email thing. When I get to work, I open an email form and type bits and pieces into it pretty much all day long and then send it to myself at the end of the day. I'm the opposite with things written on paper, though... I'm encouraged by the actual act of crumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it away as a "used" idea... there's something very tangible about that simple act that makes me more likely to write something. My actual paper journals? Not so much... and that has pretty much been reduced to use as part of keeping "morning pages" (Julia Cameran/The Artists Way).
I have found Google Keep works really well for me.
Not familiar with that particular app-- will have to check it out, thanks!
I love your way of using the content while ehancing it with some lovely flowers in the back ground it shows high levels of competence on your part sir keep it up.
Thanks for the comment and for your kind words!
Hi denmarkguy,
Great article and very realistic. I, too, find myself scrambling for paper; anything to jot down ideas...usually at the most unexpected times! And yes, worry and stress definitely stop the flow of inspiration and creativity. Years ago I had an NDE [Near Death Experience] brought on by stress --- something I'll explore in the near future.
Thanks for this post. I will upvote and follow you!
Peace!
multiverse