Keep Your Idea File Alive and Useful

I’ve spoken about the benefits of using an idea file for those in the business of generating content on numerous occasions now, mostly at Lifehack. Whether you run out of ideas because you’re overworked and in need of some relaxation time, or you just cut it too close to the deadline to waste time thinking up a topic, the idea file is an essential tool in the writer’s kit.

The trouble is that most people will start an idea file, only to populate it with a few starter ideas and then leave it eternally dormant. The file is never opened again, the ideas in it never used, new ideas never written down and forever lost.

The key to keeping your idea file active and alive is in making it easy to add to it from any location or during any situation. If you have to hunt for the file, or it is in any minute way a nuisance to use, then it will not get used.

Augment Your Idea Capture System

Append with Quicksilver - Quicksilver allows you to append text (or prepend) to any text file in the blink of a keystroke. This means you can quickly add a line to your file without looking for it, opening more programs, or stopping what you’re doing. Just hit the keystroke, append your idea and keep working on whatever you were doing. Here’s how to do it.

Quicksilver is a Mac OS X program - if anyone knows of a Windows alternative, I’d love to update this post for my Microsoft-loving readers.

Use Evernote - Evernote is one of those programs that makes it possible to not only make notes anywhere, but access them from anywhere. The problem with ideas is that they pop up at the most inopportune of times, and with Evernote there are half a million ways to send and receive information. For instance, if you’re out doing groceries, you can send your note as an email to your Evernote account using your mobile phone.

Storing your idea file in Evernote rules out the use of Quicksilver’s Append feature, but it does mean that you’ll never, ever lose an idea. Unless you’re in the shower.

Notebook and Pen - this solution doesn’t suit everyone, but if you’re the kind of person who carries a notebook and pen or pencil with you everywhere you go, you don’t need Evernote or Quicksilver. It’s also unlikely that you don’t have a problem when it comes to recording your ideas!

I’m increasingly attracted to paper for managing information snippets. I already use the old fashioned stuff for my to-do list, but am I ready to go as far as an offline idea file? Very much doubt I could, but it is an effective and efficient method. Evernote’s synchronization features and Quicksilver’s ability to append to any text file offer more benefits, in my own opinion.

When to Ditch Your Idea File

If you have an article deadline coming up and a burning desire to write about an idea you’ve had, don’t add it to the end of your idea file and use it later. The idea file is not a sequential list that you must work through before getting to other ideas.

When an idea is capturing your interest, it’s the best time to write. It’ll be more interesting for your readers, since you’ll capture the passion and interest you have in the subject. The idea file is there for those days when you can’t think of anything to write about. Everyone has them. Don’t waste this valuable resource - use it only when you need it.

What Do You Do?

Do you have an effective idea capture system, or do you fall prey to late night panic attacks before deadlines strike? Tell us about your successes and failures, including any tips or tricks you have for getting the idea machine running when none are immediately forthcoming.

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