I am a terrible sleeper. I have struggled with insomnia for years. And although I am currently coping with it pretty well, I still have my moments.
You know when I tend to come up with my best ideas? At about 12:30am. In fact, I came up with the idea for this article at 12:37am exactly on 2nd November 2011.
I usually go to bed at around 12am, and it typically takes me about 20-30 minutes to get to sleep. So 12:30am is that time – when I am just about to fall asleep – that inspiration strikes.
It used to be the same with songwriting. I used to love writing and recording songs, and my best songs were always written in the middle of the night.
Be Prepared
Why am I telling you this? To make a point – that inspiration can strike at any time. Usually at a far from ideal time. And the worst thing you can do when inspiration strikes is not immediately stop what you are doing and get that thought down onto paper (or into a computer).
There have been plenty of occasions when I have come up with some wonderful idea and not made a note of it. Let me tell you a simple but irrefutable fact – if you don’t make a note of it, you will probably forget it.
And the whole concept of “if it’s worth remembering, I won’t forget it” is a load of rubbish. Have you ever forgotten anything important in your life? Yes? Need I say anything else?
Catalogue Your Ideas
There is another reason why you should always make a note of your ideas as and when they hit you. By cataloguing them, you are freeing up room in your brain to get on with more immediate matters.
If you are in middle of doing something and inspiration strikes, you are not being efficient by ignoring the idea and trying to get on with your work, because the idea will distract you. If you make a note of it, your brain will relax, knowing that the idea has been put to one side, but is not forgotten.
This is a concept I first learnt when I read Getting Things Done (not an affiliate link – why?). If you haven’t read that book and find yourself constantly overwhelmed by your workload, read that book. It completely changed my life – seriously.
I personally use Evernote to record all of my ideas. It’s installed on my PC, iPhone and iPad, which means I can make a note that will synchronize across all platforms, regardless of where I am.
Whilst I would recommend that you use Evernote to catalogue your ideas, it ultimately doesn’t matter how you get it done. Just get it done.
Over To You
How about you – what do you do when inspiration strikes? How do you keep track of your ideas? Let us know in the comments section!
Creative Commons images courtesy of Brujo+, Andy Ciordia and Luz Villa
Alex Mangini says
Hey Tom,
I have sleeping problems as well, and it’s because I have thousands of thoughts running through my head at once when I try to go to sleep. A lot of it has to do with some of the stuff I work on online, and I do come up with some pretty good ideas.
But I never want to get up and write them down or anything because I want to keep trying to focus on sleep.
…unfortunately it’s a lose-lose situation as I forget my ideas and it still takes forever to go to sleep.
So I figured I’d do something, and my solution to half of my problem is to hang a whiteboard on the clear space right above my bed. So that way, if I feel like I have something worth writing down, I can quickly write it without really moving.
Now if I could just get some damn sleep, I’ll be set. 😀
Tom Ewer says
Hey Alex,
I’ve been in the same boat, many a time. The problem is, trying to ignore your ideas so you can focus on getting to sleep rarely works, as you are too busy thinking about your ideas!
In my experience it is always best to write them down so you can try and settle down. Great idea with the whiteboard 🙂
Cheers,
Tom
Tom Ewer says
P.S. Your blog looks fantastic – I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed and “followed” you on Twitter 🙂
Alex Mangini says
Wow, thanks a lot Tom! Means a lot. 😀 Will definitely stop around here a bunch too, you have some great content.
Jesus Ramirez says
Hey Tom,
What is it with entrepreneurs and sleeping late?
I go to bed at about 12:30am myself, and do some of my best thinking at that time.
I also use Evernote, and it’s great!
I have not read “Getting Things Done” but if you think its life changing then I just might… actually, I just added it to my wishlist on Amazon. I will get it with the next round of books I buy.
Thanks Tom!
Tom Ewer says
Hey Jesus,
Yeah – we’re a funny bunch, aren’t we? 😉
Definitely give “Getting Things Done” a go – everyone I’ve spoken to who has read it seems to rave about it.
Thanks for your continued support – it does not go unnoticed!
Cheers,
Tom
Gregory Ciotti says
Great post Tom.
I have to laugh because I was just listening to a Mitch Hedberg standup (comedian obviously if you’re not familiar, funny dude) and this quote was oddly appropriate:
“Sometimes in the middle of the night, I think of something that’s funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen’s too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain’t funny.”
Heh, despite the pain I often use pen and paper for this stuff.
For web content that inspires me for a new post, I use Read Later Fast, which is a Chrome extension that I’m pretty sure is available for Firefox too.
Evernote is killer though, I’m looking at the voice recording features it has and that could be crazy useful for remembering stuff, with no need to write it down.
Tom Ewer says
Hey Greg!
Torn yourself away from your ridiculously in-depth and well-researched articles to comment here? 😉
Mitch had it right – that’s why I specifically referred to that line of thinking: “if it’s worth remembering, I won’t forget it”. Unfortunately, that just aint the way the human brain works…
Thanks for stopping by, as always!
Tom
Rochelle R says
Great post Tom. I’ve never had problems with sleeping at all, i never wake up at random times, have no problem with falling asleep. But, this last month I constantly toss and turn, battle to get to sleep etc. Its not like me at all, its only been happening for a month, I can’t even begin to imagine what its like to have this happen for years.
I will always have such wonderful ideas come to me at the most random times, however, I am the type of person that convinces myself they will never work and I pretty much just give up on them. Its horrible.
Keep well. Rochelle.
Tom Ewer says
Hey Rochelle,
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner – your message was caught in my spam filter!
Insomnia does suck, but I don’t have it so bad these days. Just the occasional night – maybe once a week.
Having the confidence and drive to try to execute on your ideas is far from easy. I think we all suffer from crises of confidence at times. Perhaps you should consider what you have to lose from trying your ideas, as opposed to worrying about whether or not they will actually work? If you don’t have much to lose, why not just try it anyway?
Tom
Steve Roy says
Tom,
This happens to me all the time! It’s so frustrating being in bed and about to sleep when you get an idea. I used to just think that I would remember it in the morning, but I never did. I now sleep with a notepad next to me bed and it works great!
I also carry it around with me all day because like you said, you never know when a great idea will pop into your head…
Tom Ewer says
Spot on Steve – it doesn’t matter how you log your ideas, just get them out of your head as soon as possible!
Martin says
This is a great insight, and you shared some ideas that I have found work for me quite recently actually.
Acting om my inspiration, the moment it hits is key for me. I spent many years as a human robot just sleep walking, wishing for inspiration. I don’t recollect where I got the notion, nor from who, but it occurred to me to take action the minute an idea crosses my mind, and at the same time, I felt like I had absolutely zero ideas, and was wishing for one, since I know and see the power in someone following through with an inspiration. It seems one doesn’t even particularly need to know exactly where it is heading, or how it will work, but just following it because it is an inspiration.
Well, I swear, the day I caught an idea on paper, another came, and another, it was incredible actually. I thought about what that is about, and I will guess. I suspect that our intuition, or wherever our insights originate from, gives us one, and if we don’t act, our intuition literally just deactivates, almost like a kid that is annoyed with being ignored.
Then the other thing I do with an inspiration is act on it when I can.
very cool thoughts, thanks Tom!
Tom Ewer says
That’s a really interesting thought Martin – that your intuition/creativity is a muscle that needs to be exercised like any other. I dare say that you are right…
Thanks for your input! 🙂
Martin says
Sure Tom, thank you!
I like the way you put it, that is sort of logical.
I must add, I really felt dried up of ideas, and I kept saying an affirmation of how good ideas keep flowing to me. That may sound hokey pokey, but it seemed to really work.
I felt fake saying it, but I had heard of the power of that stuff, and needed something. Then one day it was like the flood gates opened with ideas.
I really like the topic of inspiration. I am amazed by some inspirations that people have had, ya gotta wonder where Da Vinci got his, ya know? Amazing!
Tom Ewer says
Man you’re getting deep now 😉 but seriously, it is truly amazing what we are all capable of doing. You look at things that have been accomplished by people – there may be nothing more holding you back from doing similar things than simple belief, and drive.
Potential is one thing – taking action is another entirely. You can have all the potential and ability in the world, but it all counts for naught if you don’t take action.
Martin says
Haha yeah I can tend to do that.
You pretty much just summed up my last 10 years or so, knowing without taking action.
What amazed me was with this inspiration thing, where a small action, writing down an idea when it came to me, lead to more inspiration.
It really does count for naught until you take action. I lately have been taking to the topic of what successful people do etc. and I see that belief and drive aspect you mentioned in all of them really. Pretty cool stuff.