I had a great idea, but I forgot to write it down

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“Paper is to write things down that we need to remember. Our brains are used to think." ~ Albert Einstein

How many times have you had a great idea? Well, maybe not even a "great" idea, but an idea that was pretty good.

How many times have you thought to yourself, "I should write that down so I don't forget?" And then you got busy and forgot to write it down and the idea evaporated?

For me, it has been a daily occurrence for years. Don't get me wrong, I write a lot of my thoughts down, but since they happen at such odd times or places, the idea might be written on a scrap of a paper napkin or on the back of a bill that I need to pay or on a grocery store receipt.

I often carry a journal with me so that if I get an idea I have someplace to write it. But it seems that when I have something to write on, the ideas just don't come to me. When I don't have anything appropriate to write on, I have hundreds of ideas.

Whenever one of my children or grandchildren come over to help tidy up the house, I have to look at the stuff before they throw anything away just in case I had written an idea down on that piece of paper.

A while back, I attempted to organize all the bits and scraps and odd notes around the house, but—and this is not an excuse—there were so many of them that I had no safe place to put them. I had filled several notebooks with the scrawled thoughts, but it was taking too much time to rewrite them. I need a better solution. I am open to suggestions!

I agree that I have an obsession! Obsessed with those thoughts that I have written onto scraps of paper. But I need my brain to think! If I keep obsessing over the ideas then I get nothing done!

This post kind of went south of where I was heading, but I think I can tie it neatly together.

  1. Develop a system for writing down your thoughts or even recording them. Keep a notebook or journal by your bed so that you can write down those random thoughts that come to you while you sleep and then wake you.
  2. Keep the idea file organized. Do this frequently so that it doesn't become an overwhelming task.
  3. Use those great (and not so great) ideas for blog posts or that book you've wanted to write. Don't just let those thoughts and ideas go to waste.
  4. Sort out the thoughts and ideas that really are NOT so great. Be willing to part with them.

Well, I hope I can take my own advice and start keeping better track of those scraps of paper. Some of them may be gold indeed and some might just need to be flushed!

Let us be discerning enough to know the difference!

Best wishes WA family!
Karin

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Recent Comments

33

This happens to me all the time. I currently have several notebooks with ideas for posts. I tried to keep one notebook per website and that got to be too much. Now I have several notebooks with ideas for my websites and they are all jumbled together because I run out of time to sort through them. I'm looking for a better system too.

If only we had unlimited time to work on the unlimited ideas that come to us!

Well, I guess one day technology will either catch up with our busy brains or we will have the opportunity to slow down.

Best wishes for a prosperous 2021,
Karin

Oh, I forgot to mention that one thing that another thing I use is I downloaded the "Slack" app on my phone. So I have ideas there too. I just need time to consolidate everything. Sometimes my full-time job gets in the way.

I'll have to check out the Slack app. It sounds interesting. My full-time job is constantly in the way of my success! LOL


Karin

Ahh, what a nice post, Karin. I am going to start again, this post has inspired me- used to always have a notepad for such things but have become quite slack at it and for sure have forgotten some things. Time to keep the mind sharp in thinking and the thoughts written down, like Einstein says.

Thank you, Christorv. With hope, we can both become better at it.

Karin

I always have a little notebook in my purse so that I can write stuff down before the thought disappears. Otherwise I know I'd be in trouble!

I also have paper and pen on my nightstand in case I think of something I must remember before I can go to sleep. Works better than a sleeping pill for me!

Thanks, Jeannine. Very good ideas indeed! When our minds are clear before going to bed, it is like a sleeping pill... Better, as you said!

Best wishes for a prosperous 2021,
Karin

Hi Karin
I find this easy...
I use notion.os on iphone and pc. Also available for macos and Android. Free for individuals.
I use it for organising everything, ideas, actions, writing, research etc.
Here is an introductory post I write focused on writing. I have said I will write more posts in this method. Are you interested?
:-)
Richard

Thank you, Richard, that sounds very interesting. I will be checking out that post and the app, too!

Best wishes for a prosperous 2021,
Karin

There are also many other searchable resources for using Notion. If you get stuck, let me know.
:-)
Richard

This is something many of us struggle with. I have started using index cards. My desk is littered with them right now. But times past I have also used folders on hard drives and memory sticks. And then hard drives end up on a shelf, memory sticks get misplaced. One of my challenges is that I am also constantly writing things down that I need to do for work. So there are those notes that are great creative ideas and those that are more immediate and work task-related and they all get mixed in together.
I keep thinking there will be a peaceful time in the future when I can gather all these notes together and sort through and do things with them. I will need to use a variety of search terms just to find the folders again.
Then of course there are those fantastic ideas that come at 3 am and are lost in the fog of sleep. One of the most famous being, Coleridge's Kubla Khan. The written poem he said was a fragment of something that came to him in an opium-induced state, and he was very frustrated that he could not remember the totality of it. Here's an inspiration for us all to capture those fleeting flashes of creativity:
"His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise."

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