Don’t Let Your Great Idea Pass You By!

071916-Pencil“I trust a short pencil more than a long memory.”

Do you ever have one of those amazing ideas – for a book, article, meme, or program – and you’re so certain you’ll remember it forever… only to realize that it’s lost?

Yep, me too!

Years ago, when I was involved with a network marketing company, the trainers would trot out that quote about a short pencil being better than a long memory – the underlying message being that writing things down would always trump thinking you’ll just remember.

Have you ever lost a great idea for a story or article? 10 ways to capture your ideas! #amwriting Click To Tweet

And after having a few amazing ideas slip away and only leaving the memory that there WAS an amazing idea, I finally took the hint! Now I write things down.


But it’s not just grabbing the nearest piece of paper and scribbling away (although that’s preferable to nothing!) – it’s recording the ideas in a way that actually allows me to find them later and put it into practice. My primary method of idea capture is my business journal but I’ve also used sneaky ways to capture ideas in the moment so they’re saved for later.

Kim’s Top 10 Ways of Capturing Your Ideas

  1. Record it in a dedicated journal
  2. Use an on-line, cloud-based notetaking system like Evernote
  3. Leave yourself a voicemail
  4. Write it in the dust on your car
  5. Keep a dry erase marker in your bathroom and jot a note on your mirror
  6. Write a note and pin it to your shirt
  7. Keep a mini-notebook in your purse or pocket
  8. Use your phone’s voice recorder app
  9. Write notes in your day planner
  10. Call a friend and ask them to take a note for you (perfect if you’re driving!)
After you capture your great idea, catalog it so you can find it again! #writertip Click To Tweet

The key with all these idea capture methods is to record the idea – and then save it in a place that is not only secure but easily assessable! Here’s an article about how to index your business journals so you can find the information again: here.

How do you record your ideas in the heat of the moment so you don’t lose them?

Kim Galloway
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