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The only thing I want to quibble with is capturing your ideas. You don't need to do that. If you let your mind go, you will have another idea in a minute. If

The only thing I want to quibble with is capturing your ideas. You don't need to do that. If you let your mind go, you will have another idea in a minute. If you start making lists of ideas, then you are just consuming your own input. I have a kind of rule of 3. I can do 3 things well. Spending time with my family is one. Spending time at my job is another. I've only got one other thing left that I can do well. If I split it up into a million different ideas, then I really won't do any well at all. Must purge my github account of cruft...

hammerandtongs 12y ago
I actually find writing ideas down helps me clear out the cobwebs. It allows me to move something that's consuming a piece of working memory and or subconscious processing into a concrete form that my mind can let go of. I can come back later and decide whether to do anything with the idea or not. As a bonus very often the process of writing it down revealed a bunch of the complexity or awkwardness of the idea.
jotm 12y ago
That's not the case for me - sometimes, I get awesome ideas that I simply forget and never remember. Writing them down is great. Though I rarely browse through that list of ideas - a couple times a week, maybe, or when I need new ideas for content :-)
- gglitch 12y ago
  I now use a small notebook, just 80 pages and pocket-sized. All entries are timestamped. When I reach the end and start a new one, I review the last one and my first entry is a list of things from the last that I still find interesting.
  - normloman 12y ago
    Just out of curiosity - what is the time stamp for? I also keep noteboks. I have a rough idea of what months / years they span. I've never needed to know the exact date or time I had an idea. Are you trying to find out which part of the day gives you the most ideas?
    - gglitch 12y ago
      Sorry, missed this. I date/timestamp everything (a) so that it also functions as a diary, and (b) as an aid to memory - sometimes seeing the time/date helps me reconjure the context of the thoughts.
stinkytaco 12y ago
>Must purge my github account of cruft... You just summed up my third thing: organizing things instead of doing. "I should really work on that project that's important to me, but I can't do it without 'clearing my mind' first. Better clean out my github/bookmarked reading list/workshop/garage/etc." Turns out I'm really good at getting ready to do things.
- codazoda 12y ago
  I have a similar vice... I'm really good at planning things. I've planned and then put together an awesome ultralight backpack, which I've used only a couple times in five years. I really enjoy tweaking it though, making it better. Turns out ultralight gear is useful for car traveling too. But I don't use it for it's intended purpose. On the flip side, I work better from a plan. I recently spent several hours designing a crude electric guitar, writing step-by-step instructions on how to build it, then building it from those instructions. I'm almost done and the plan has kept me on track. I have a tenancy to plan the crap out of things. Many of them I never complete; some I do.

hammerandtongs 12y ago

I actually find writing ideas down helps me clear out the cobwebs. It allows me to move something that's consuming a piece of working memory and or subconscious processing into a concrete form that my mind can let go of. I can come back later and decide whether to do anything with the idea or not. As a bonus very often the process of writing it down revealed a bunch of the complexity or awkwardness of the idea.

jotm 12y ago

That's not the case for me - sometimes, I get awesome ideas that I simply forget and never remember. Writing them down is great. Though I rarely browse through that list of ideas - a couple times a week, maybe, or when I need new ideas for content :-)

gglitch 12y ago
I now use a small notebook, just 80 pages and pocket-sized. All entries are timestamped. When I reach the end and start a new one, I review the last one and my first entry is a list of things from the last that I still find interesting.
- normloman 12y ago
  Just out of curiosity - what is the time stamp for? I also keep noteboks. I have a rough idea of what months / years they span. I've never needed to know the exact date or time I had an idea. Are you trying to find out which part of the day gives you the most ideas?
  - gglitch 12y ago
    Sorry, missed this. I date/timestamp everything (a) so that it also functions as a diary, and (b) as an aid to memory - sometimes seeing the time/date helps me reconjure the context of the thoughts.

stinkytaco 12y ago

>Must purge my github account of cruft... You just summed up my third thing: organizing things instead of doing. "I should really work on that project that's important to me, but I can't do it without 'clearing my mind' first. Better clean out my github/bookmarked reading list/workshop/garage/etc." Turns out I'm really good at getting ready to do things.

codazoda 12y ago
I have a similar vice... I'm really good at planning things. I've planned and then put together an awesome ultralight backpack, which I've used only a couple times in five years. I really enjoy tweaking it though, making it better. Turns out ultralight gear is useful for car traveling too. But I don't use it for it's intended purpose. On the flip side, I work better from a plan. I recently spent several hours designing a crude electric guitar, writing step-by-step instructions on how to build it, then building it from those instructions. I'm almost done and the plan has kept me on track. I have a tenancy to plan the crap out of things. Many of them I never complete; some I do.