15 Tricks To Help You Attract New Ideas Quickly
Brainstorm your way to success.
Anete Lusina | Pexels, natrot | Canva Most of the world is in consumption mode. Far better to be a creator. Maybe you write, produce online content, make art, need ways to motivate your team, or create courses. Whatever you do, a steady stream of ideas gives you the material you need to make it tangible and make an impact.
Here are 15 tricks to help you attract new ideas quickly:
1. Write long lists.
Take a topic, question, or focus, and write a long list of ideas. The longer the list, the more creative your ideas are likely to get, so push hard. Have fun with this. Do a dance to loosen the hips before you start and unlock the best ideas. You can even write a list of ideas for lists to write.
2. Go on ‘ideation walks’.
Ok, time’s up, lazy butt. Alex is commanding you to get outside and take a walk. Bring a notebook and treat this as an opportunity to engage your senses, get some exercise, and jot down ideas. Movement is a secret idea hack that most of us miss because we’re too busy with our fingers in our noses complaining about how lazy we are.
3. Read through quotes.
You don’t need to read an entire book to get hold of ideas that trigger your own creativity. Read through short quotes by interesting people. Now tell me you can’t think of anything fresh.
4. Change your environment.
Go somewhere you normally wouldn’t. Try a different route to work. Go to a museum today. Immerse yourself in a novel world, and it isn’t just your environment that changes — YOU change, and your thoughts change.
5. Time yourself.
Give yourself 5 minutes to brainstorm as many ideas as you can. The time constraint is crucial because it forces you to put down terrible ideas. Good. Note down all the crap you can think of. Dig deep. The best ideas are at the back of the cave submerged in groundwater.
6. Be intentionally mindful.
If I’m struggling with a solution to something, I sit for a few minutes to see what insights arise without effort in my mind. This is something barely anyone does because they’re too busy rubbing their chins running circles in their heads and getting nowhere. Have the intention of finding a solution, don’t force yourself — be mindful and the idea/s will float to you.
7. Determine where your problems lie.
The human mind is highly attuned to problems. Our brains are built to respond to them and work on them, even subconsciously. So to create more ideas, we need to be aware of more solutions, and thus problems. Consider your own struggles right now, and think about what others complain about. Ask people questions and run surveys. Where are the problems? This is where ideas emerge in abundance.
8. Do nothing.
The thing about creativity is that the best ideas are never forced. They are realized without effort. If you’re struggling, leave the work to do something else. You can even intentionally spend an hour or more doing nothing, chilling and looking at the ceiling. Good. There’s little pressure to perform here, which — guess what — is ideal for creativity.
9. Doodle.
Oh man, how cool is this? I just gave you permission to grab a biro and a pad of paper so you can scribble like a psychopath for a few minutes. Draw some weird crap for a while and just see what ideas come up. Note the ideas down, then keep drawing.
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10. Role-play.
Walk around town like you’re a secret agent with an intense curiosity for people. What are their stories and struggles? Be James Bond one minute, the CEO of a conglomerate the next, and Jack Sparrow the next. Watch how shifts in persona shift your mode of thinking. I promise you it will.
11. Free write.
The secret to idea generation is to create space in the mind for insights to rise up. When we write freely and quickly without pressure to come up with anything in particular, we are loose, and this gives rise to a vision that will surprise you.
12. Consider the other options.
Take some ideas others are sharing, and go against the grain. What’s the opposite of a popular view? A lot of interesting ideas erupt out of the flip side.
13. Draw mind-maps.
If you take a look at a mind map, you’ll see that they are organized in exactly the same way as our brain’s neurons. By seeing everything visually in this format, our process takes on a new dynamic that works in alignment with how our brains make connections. This will spur insane amounts of new ideas. Try it.
14. Combine your ideas.
There are many ways you can first establish ideas (see the other points). But now you can take it a step further and a level higher than most. Take two ideas and find ways to synergize the two so that they become something completely original.
15. Create more.
Maya Angelou once said: "You can’t use up creativity — the more you use the more you have." She wasn’t wrong. When we commit ourselves to consistent, and ideally prolific creative output, something interesting happens. We get rewarded with more ideas. It just happens. Be and think in terms of MANY and MUCH. Make stuff even if it isn’t perfect, and create a lot. This is how you become an idea nutter. We need you to get your freak on. Are you in?
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.