Small ways to brainstorm big ideas
Grand ideas for any task or work is always great but to generate those you should start in small ways. You wouldn’t create a big idea that is fully finalised just out of the blue. A particular process is required to have something that is fledged out to its final form. Below we talk about a few small ways you can implement in your life to create those big ideas, whether for life, work, or even study.
Rapid Fire
“Stop Overthinking”
It is often easier said than done. A 15-minute solo rapid-fire brainstorm can help you break through the mental fog. The key here is not to stop writing. Let every word of an idea flow from your mind, to pen, to paper (Or the keyboard to the screen if you prefer digital). Grab a stack of post-it notes and a marker. Aim for one idea per post-it note. Self-judgement is never welcome as rapid fire is not a game of quality. It is a game of quantity. 90% of your post-it note ideas will end up being useless, and that is A-OK. You’re the only one who’ll ever have to see them. Once completed, you’re left with a laundry list of inspirations. You can start grouping post-it notes together and building these small ideas into bigger things.
Inhale Inspiration
Input and Output. If you’re not continually fuelling your tank with the kinds of things that inspire you, how can you possibly create inspiring ideas in return? This is mainly crucial for essay-based subjects. With examiners and teachers having to mark many essays consecutively, adding a flare of creativity makes your writing stand out and gives it more personality. You can get inspiration from different avenues. Read. Research. Listen. Experience. Go out into the world. Talk with people. Watch interesting things. Google random things even. Allow yourself to be inspired by other people’s ideas, but don’t copy them. This gives you an insight into finding new techniques which you can implement in your writing. What can you add to make your ideas uniquely yours?
Crowd Source
We often forget we can ask people for ideas. Spending too long one a task would make you too focused on the work and often make you stop thinking outside of the box. This, as a result, would prevent you from thinking new, bright ideas which can add value to your work. If you have an Instagram account, post a story and ask people what they think about a piece of work you want to be doing. Ask your family and friends about anything you have been struggling with and see what input they can give themselves. Feedback is always appreciated. Although, once you have received the feedback and collected them accordingly, you need to evaluate which feedback is valuable and which one isn’t. Through this process, as we have talked more in detail in our blog, you would know how you should progress further.
Keep Track
Good ideas often strike us at the most inconvenient of times. Like when you’re in line at your local chicken shop, or when you’re on your 344th bicep curl rep and people are starting to give you weird judgement looks. Have a designated place to record and write down your ideas with ease. This can be digital or physical, the key it the stored method should be easily accessible when needed, and you would be able to come back to it frequently. In the long term, you will get into the habit of always go and write onto your storage device when you have a spark of inspiration resulting in a bank of great ideas. By doing so, your future self will thank you and probably give you a high five that hurts so bad because #334bicepcurls.