No matter how hard you try to force inspiration, like a poorly trained dog, it just doesn't always obey.
I find that creating ideas is like making a stew. You throw in a whole bunch of new experiences, sprinkle in a few carrots and let it sit long enough and eventually you'll end up with something palatable. I read 4 or 5 books at a time - not literally at the same time, I just read parts of different books at different times of the day. I rarely read all the way through a single book, unless it's really good fiction.
It is amazing how the books all begin to overlap at some point. I am reading a book about Improvisation, just finished one about the brain, and two or three books on customer loyalty. Believe it or not there are common threads. I like to mix up the perspectives too to make it interesting.
And it is also amazing how something you read in a book will suddenly work it's way out of your mind in the middle of some critical project. I am bad at remembering the authors and titles, so I can't always get back to the source, but the impact of the words lingers.
I think the secret is to get exposed to everything imaginable and the further removed the information is from your normal every day view of the world, the better. Hence the book on Comic Books that I just finished. It was an amazingly intellectual look at the process of communicating through pictures, which is a struggle for me.
People have been saying that the Internet and electronic media will eliminate books but if that is the case, why is everyone I know currently in the process of writing a book? Is anyone going to read what we write?
So you've been given a topic to present. You are responsible for creating the title and then writing a paragraph that explains what your session will contain. The deadline is tomorrow.
That's when it happens.
Complete system shut-down.
Your brain is doing what ever brains do that is the equivalent of hand-wringing. It is not functioning. Your heart isn't much help either, because it is pumping at 40 times the normal rate. And let's not even talk about the somersaults going on in the pit of your stomach.
What to do? Find something that you are interested in and pay attention to it. That’s right. Do not force yourself to doggedly sit in your chair and produce. Ask a writer. Do you think they can cure writer’s block by locking themselves in a room and squeezing the ideas out of their head? It just doesn’t work.
What you need is inspiration, ideas, exposure and an angle. And often they come from the oddest places. And yes, I am the first to admit that sometimes it takes that last minute burst of adrenaline to get the creative juices going, but often it just takes a change of scenery. Go to a movie, watch a cartoon, walk your dog, get up and out. Sometimes you might find inspiration in the produce section of your grocery store. (Did I mention I did a presentation called "The Peach versus The Marshmallow"?)
And if the ideas are just not coming, there is a book filled with tips for unlocking those ideas. It’s called “ The Corporate Rebel’s Productivity Guide” and is written by Betsy Burroughs. She honed her techniques when she worked in advertising agencies and had to drag ideas from her clients. Her tips can help you with productivity but they can also help you get those brilliant ideas out of your head.
RSS Feed