Creativity Tip: Write It Down

Did you ever get a brilliant idea and then forget it? Yeah, me too. As life zooms by at a lose-your-breath pace, it's easy to also lose focus.

What to do? Simple. Keep pen and paper close at all times. Or, if you prefer, some voice recorder dealie-bob on your phone or whatever. The trick is to make note of the idea immediately, using whatever system works for you.

Case in point: I was having trouble writing an essay for a client and woke up with the intro in my head. Fortunately, I keep pen and paper near my bed, so I scribbled the idea down before I got up, got going and the intro got lost. Here's what "brilliance" looks like at 6:18 a.m.:

Clear as mud? That's OK -- I understood it. On the other hand, I recently sent myself a text saying: First Sunday in December. First Sunday in December? What? Was I supposed to go somewhere? Meet someone? Is it the title of a play? A line in a poem? Who the hell knows?

So here's the brilliant idea for today:
When you get a great idea, don't wait. Clearly, concisely and quickly capture that thought.

And you can write that down, if you'd like.

P.S. If you're reading this on Monday morning, I should be at the synagogue, participating in a meeting. I'm not there. I'm in a completely different and much less enjoyable meeting. Why? Because I forgot to write the first meeting on my calendar. Write it down. Write everything down.