This is EXACTLY why I am married. I am totally guilty of this. What is “this?” You see, I am what they call a “creative”. Now, if you have never been one, then you may not know what that means. It means that I get ridiculously jazzed when I get new ideas. When I get new ideas, I don’t often like to wait on implementing them. My first instinct is to jump into it with both feet and get soaking wet. My first thought is to just start running towards it. I am ready to see how it works. I want it to achieve MASSIVE success.
The only issue is that I get new ideas ALL the time. So, when I’m already working on one idea and I get 3 new ones, there tends to be a little conflict. That is the “this” I referred to earlier! So, how do I get my stuff DONE while continuing to be creative? How do I focus on the task at hand while not squelching the creative fire? I’ll tell ya, it ain’t easy!
I’ll share a few quick ways:
1. Write them down
My goodness, there is nothing worse than ideas stirring around in your head and being unable to do something with them. So, I’ve learned to write them down. That does a few things. First, it allows me to get it out of my head. Secondly, it allows me to DO something with it. Sometimes, I happen to get another idea that is similar or can be connected and I am now able to batch the ideas together at some point instead of restarting. I love to use Evernote and so I have an Evernote notebook just called “IDEAS” that I throw all of my ideas into. I review this notebook regularly to spark my thoughts or when I am ready to create my list for execution.
2. Tell someone
I am notorious for just thinking and going. That is where some of the trouble happens. Telling someone, (in my case, my wife) is a way for me to process the idea. She has this way of being able to let me know how I responded or set things up the last time I had a similar idea. She also tends to remind me that I am already in the MIDST of another idea. So, she might simply take it and place it with the idea list.
3. Talk about it with another “creative”
The thing about being creative is that sometimes we have gotten caught up in a world of competition. We hoard ideas and think that someone else will steal them and/or get the credit. And maybe the will, maybe they won’t. However, I have found that sometimes when you are caught up in something else, you may be able to find someone that can begin exploring or brainstorming an idea while you are focusing on your current idea.
How do you focus in when you have multiple ideas? Leave your answer in the comments.
Speaking of ideas, sometimes you have a business idea and are not sure how to make it go. Sometimes, you may already be implementing your business idea but you have gotten stuck. Check out our ROCK YOUR BUSINESS IN 28 Days Webinar on July 29th at 7:30pm, EST. We’ll talk a bit ideas and how to organize them, systemize them and pop into your tool belt for success.