How to get ideas in 4 easy steps

Photo by CJ Drayit: https://unsplash.com/@cjred

Here’s how to get ideas in 4 easy steps–and you can read this in 60 seconds. This isn't just for artists or creatives. We should all be generating ideas.

1. Create boundaries

Choose an area to dive into. Keep it as small as you can, but no smaller.

2. Thoroughly explore within these boundaries

Read articles, read books, listen to podcasts, talk to people, try things, have experiences. This isn’t just about passive learning. Get out there in the real world.

3. Digest what you’ve learned

Review what you learned and make sense of it. Make connections, map it out, turn it into a story. Don’t just pile up information, you need to process it, refine it, nurture it, pull out the weeds. Think of it like a garden. You have to tend to it in order for anything to grow.

4. Drop it

You heard me right. Drop it. Move on. What you did with the first three steps is give your subconscious mind a bunch of problems to solve and it’ll get to work on them without you knowing it. Then the idea will just pop up later. When it does, grab it.

If this doesn’t work, return to Step 1 and try tightening or expanding your boundaries.

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