Many of us do work in which we need to regularly create new ideas for projects, system improvements, and team management.
We don’t just spontaneously come up with great new ideas. They grow when we seek and grow them by preparing the ground, planting seeds, and tending to their growth.
In his excellent book, Daily Creative: Find Your Inspiration to Spark Creative Energy and Fight Burnout, author Todd Henry emphasizes the need to take actions that create inspiration. He writes, “We need sources that we routinely check for insights, habits, and rituals that help us review our notes and make new connections, or places we go that introduce new and valuable stimuli.”
We need to have systems and practices that regularly expose us to the raw material of good ideas.
An Example: My System For Creating and Developing New Ideas
Through much trial and error, I’ve cobbled together a system that helps me consistently create and develop new ideas for writing blog posts.
This isn’t the only way to do it, but perhaps it might serve as a starting point as you put together a system that works for you.
My system has three basic functions:
1. Review sources that spark ideas on many topics.
2. Make it easy to record new ideas.
3. Group new ideas in one location and track idea development.
1. Review Sources that Spark Ideas on Many Topics
• Reading. I keep a list of books I think might be interesting and relevant to the areas I work in. I typically purchase a book in Kindle format and read it on my iPad in the evenings.
As I read, I highlight phrases or sentences that strike me as insightful, surprising, or helpful. I sync these highlights with the Readwise service. Readwise organizes my highlights for each book in a searchable database. I can also export my highlights to a notes app, such as DevonThink.
• Readwise highlights. One of the most valuable functions of the Readwise service is that every morning it generates fifteen random highlights from my highlight database.
These remind me of ideas that, I thought, were valuable enough to highlight. I probably get more new blog post ideas from reviewing my highlights than from any other source.
• Daily readings. I have two daily reader format books I read every day. The daily entry for each is typically no more than one page.
One of the books is The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living, by Ryan Holiday. These writings inspire both my personal life and my blog topics.
The other book is Daily Creative: Find Your Inspiration to Spark Creative Energy and Fight Burnout, by Todd Henry. Henry’s writings inspire many of my blog post ideas about how to do creative work.
• RSS Feeds. I subscribe to a number of blogs and newsletters on various topics through the Readwise Reader.
This reader combines all new posts in one location, so I can quickly scan them and read the ones I choose. I can also move them to a “read later” location. If I highlight a post, it also goes into my Readwise highlight database.
• Podcasts. I don’t listen to many podcasts, but the ones I do can be very helpful in sparking ideas. These include Mac Power Users, Focused, and sometimes Automators.
• MacSparky Labs. As a member of MacSparky Labs, I have access to many practical videos, topic deep dives, weekly lab reports, and blog posts produced by David Sparks on an almost daily basis. David’s wide-ranging coverage of productivity and Apple-related topics often prompts new thinking and ideas.
2. Make It Easy To Record New Ideas
It’s important to have a simple and easy way to record your ideas and work with them.
If you don’t make it convenient and easy to record your new ideas in a usable format, you won’t do it. If you plan to remember it later, you’ll forget it.
I have an “OMG Blog Idea” shortcut on the home page of my iPad and iPhone. I learned how to build this shortcut in the MacSparky Labs. (Note: OMG stands for the name of my blog, Original Mac Guy.)
When I tap on the shortcut, it prompts me for a title. Then it creates a new Craft document in my “Blog Post Ideas” folder with the title I selected.
Next, it prompts me for my initial thoughts about the topic. This gives me the opportunity to create a rough initial outline of what I want to talk about regarding this idea, note where I need to do more research and record the source of the idea.
If the blog idea originated from a Readwise highlight, I’ll share a copy of the graphical highlight with the Craft document and move it to the top of the entry. I might use the highlight as the featured image for my post.
Finally, the shortcut creates an entry with the title of the blog idea in my “OMG Blog Project Status” list. I’ll go to the Craft document, and use the HookMark app to create a link. I paste the link into the “OMG Blog Project Status” list.
3. Have a System to Group New Ideas and Track Their Development
My blog idea shortcut automatically saves all of my new blog post ideas to one location, the “Blog Post Ideas” folder in my Craft space. This makes it easy for me to browse the topics I have initiated.
The shortcut also creates a link in the “OMG Blog Project Status” list. This is a list of linked titles.
When I’m ready to develop a blog post idea, I first drag it up under the “Mind Mapping” topic. I open a new MindNode mind map, name it after my blog topic, and begin drafting a mind map.
When I’m finished researching and mind mapping the topic, and am ready to begin writing a post draft, I drag it under the “Writing in Ulysses” topic.
I also have categories for “Editing in Ulysses,” “Pending in WordPress,” and “Scheduled in WordPress.” Once the post is published in WordPress to my website, I delete it from the Project Status List.
Using and updating this list makes it easy for me to tell the status of any blog topic project. I know at a glance where it is in development and what needs to be done next.
How My Blog Idea System Works in Practice
• My morning routine supports new idea creation. I use an app-based morning routine on my iPad. See, How to Create an App-Based Morning Routine That Will Jump-Start Your Productive Day.
During my morning routine, I read my daily Readwise highlights, do my two morning daily readings, and review my RSS feeds on Readwise Read.
These readings often prompt a new idea for a blog post. Since the OMG Blog Idea shortcut icon is on my custom morning routine home page, it’s easy for me to tap on it and record my new idea.
• During exercise, I listen to podcasts. I’ve always been bored doing exercise, so that’s a great time for me to listen to podcasts. If I encounter a new idea for a blog post, I’ll pause the podcast and voice record the idea on the Drafts app on my Apple Watch.
• In the evening, I read books. In the evenings, I read new books or saved RSS material. I highlight interesting passages and sync them to Readwise. If I have a new idea for a blog post, I’ll tap on my OMG Blog Idea shortcut to record the idea.
• I review my blog post ideas during my weekend review. As a part of my weekly review process, I review my blog project list and select a topic (or topics) to develop during the coming week.
I’ll open a new MindNode mind map, and record my initial ideas on the topic. I’ll schedule time during the week to continue the development process with research, multiple revisions to the mind map, etc.
For a description of my weekly review process, see The Power of Quarterly and Weekly Reviews.
Conclusion
To regularly create and develop new ideas for work projects and personal growth, it is important to have systems and practices in place.
My systems and practices may or may not work for you. Modify or add to them in any way that supports your creation and development of new ideas.
You have your own unique work and practice and have unique needs. You will undoubtedly read different books, subscribe to different blogs and newsletters, and listen to different podcasts than I do. Use what is most relevant to your work.