Comments on: How to Keep Your Idea File Alive and Useful http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/ on the New Renaissance of Art, Entertainment and Media Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:44:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Links of Interest : Productivity501 http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/#comment-217 Links of Interest : Productivity501 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:27:34 +0000 http://joelfalconer.com/?p=43#comment-217 [...] How to Keep Your Idea File Alive and Useful-Joel Falconer This article would be a helpful resource for anyone that is constantly coming up with good ideas and then forgetting them. The offer recommends using an “idea file” to store these thoughts before they are lost. [...] […] How to Keep Your Idea File Alive and Useful-Joel Falconer This article would be a helpful resource for anyone that is constantly coming up with good ideas and then forgetting them. The offer recommends using an “idea file” to store these thoughts before they are lost. […]

]]> By: Joel Falconer http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/#comment-63 Joel Falconer Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:52:58 +0000 http://joelfalconer.com/?p=43#comment-63 @Matt - agreed! Thanks for pointing out the importance of forming habits in this area. The ability to form and change habits is essential to all productivity and personal development practices, I believe. @Shilpan - I've used Remember The Milk and I liked it, though I do use paper for my task management now. Google Docs is an insanely great service, though I think the act of navigating to a site, logging in and opening a document makes idea tracking somewhat laborious for the lazier amongst us. Great for collab work, IMO. @Matt - agreed! Thanks for pointing out the importance of forming habits in this area. The ability to form and change habits is essential to all productivity and personal development practices, I believe.

@Shilpan - I’ve used Remember The Milk and I liked it, though I do use paper for my task management now. Google Docs is an insanely great service, though I think the act of navigating to a site, logging in and opening a document makes idea tracking somewhat laborious for the lazier amongst us. Great for collab work, IMO.

]]> By: Shilpan | successsoul.com http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/#comment-62 Shilpan | successsoul.com Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:42:00 +0000 http://joelfalconer.com/?p=43#comment-62 Joel - Excellent post. I am using google docs as the ideas journal. I normally carry my laptop every where I go so google docs is pretty handy. Another suggestion is to sign up free with www.rememberthemilk.com This is an excellent site. It has a space for ideas in addition to appointments, calendar etc. Thanks Shilpan Joel -

Excellent post. I am using google docs as the ideas journal. I normally carry my laptop every where I go so google docs is pretty handy.

Another suggestion is to sign up free with
http://www.rememberthemilk.com

This is an excellent site. It has a space for ideas in addition to appointments, calendar etc.

Thanks Shilpan

]]> By: Matthew Cornell http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/#comment-61 Matthew Cornell Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:57:12 +0000 http://joelfalconer.com/?p=43#comment-61 Love the article - one of my favorite topics. > The key ... is in making it easy to add to it There's an important partner to this: Forming the capture *habit*. I had to change my attitude about capture from asking "Is this useful to me now?" to "Might this be useful to me someday?" The later makes me capture much more than I had before, which is good - I've been burned trying to find something ("Now WHERE did I see that?"). Tech tools aren't there yet (browser histories), but there's research coming along (e.g., "Keeping found things found" - http://kftf.ischool.washington.edu/index.htm) Thanks for the thinking! Love the article - one of my favorite topics.

> The key … is in making it easy to add to it

There’s an important partner to this: Forming the capture *habit*. I had to change my attitude about capture from asking “Is this useful to me now?” to “Might this be useful to me someday?” The later makes me capture much more than I had before, which is good - I’ve been burned trying to find something (“Now WHERE did I see that?”). Tech tools aren’t there yet (browser histories), but there’s research coming along (e.g., “Keeping found things found” - http://kftf.ischool.washington.edu/index.htm)

Thanks for the thinking!

]]> By: Joel Falconer http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/#comment-60 Joel Falconer Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:35:27 +0000 http://joelfalconer.com/?p=43#comment-60 @Marelisa: Agreed. I find that in the quieter months of the year, ideas flow easily, and then when things are jacked up to a high point of tension, the idea file starts getting used regularly and occasionally will even run out. At this point it's <i>really</i> important to get it filled up again, in spite of the stress. @Alik: When I was a PC user I also used Outlook as the central information database for just about everything, including ideas. It's a good solution, especially if you spend a lot of time managing information in it already, since this will reduce the barriers to saving your ideas. @Vered: You're tempting me further to go the notebook route. One day I may do a 30-day trial ;) @Marelisa: Agreed. I find that in the quieter months of the year, ideas flow easily, and then when things are jacked up to a high point of tension, the idea file starts getting used regularly and occasionally will even run out. At this point it’s really important to get it filled up again, in spite of the stress.

@Alik: When I was a PC user I also used Outlook as the central information database for just about everything, including ideas. It’s a good solution, especially if you spend a lot of time managing information in it already, since this will reduce the barriers to saving your ideas.

@Vered: You’re tempting me further to go the notebook route. One day I may do a 30-day trial ;)

]]> By: Vered http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/#comment-58 Vered Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:24:08 +0000 http://joelfalconer.com/?p=43#comment-58 Ha. I'm a notebook and pen kind of girl. I have one in the car, one next to my bed and one in the kitchen (for some reason, I get lots of ideas while cooking). Since I've committed myself to a three-days-per-week publishing schedule on my blog (I don't want to burn myself out with daily blogging), right now I have more ideas than I can publish. By the time I get to some of them, they don't seem as fresh anymore. Ha. I’m a notebook and pen kind of girl. I have one in the car, one next to my bed and one in the kitchen (for some reason, I get lots of ideas while cooking).

Since I’ve committed myself to a three-days-per-week publishing schedule on my blog (I don’t want to burn myself out with daily blogging), right now I have more ideas than I can publish. By the time I get to some of them, they don’t seem as fresh anymore.

]]> By: Alik | PracticeThis.com http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/#comment-57 Alik | PracticeThis.com Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:18:27 +0000 http://joelfalconer.com/?p=43#comment-57 I manage blogging pipeline based on Outlook folders http://practicethis.com/2008/02/11/the-fast-and-the-peaceful/ In general every interesting email i stick into it and tag it as a blog item with Outlook category. If i find something interesting on the web or just an idea i fire up an Outlook post (ctrl+shft+S) write it down there, tag it and stick into the folder. When the time comes for blogging i scan it, pick the most wanted and just blog. Currently i have 102 items in the pipeline. Now i need to thing how to most effectively to burn it. What i come up with so far is a plugin i wrote for Windows Live Writer http://practicethis.com/blog-post-template-plugin-for-windows-live-writer/ that helps me streamline writing and save some time. I manage blogging pipeline based on Outlook folders
http://practicethis.com/2008/02/11/the-fast-and-the-peaceful/
In general every interesting email i stick into it and tag it as a blog item with Outlook category. If i find something interesting on the web or just an idea i fire up an Outlook post (ctrl+shft+S) write it down there, tag it and stick into the folder. When the time comes for blogging i scan it, pick the most wanted and just blog. Currently i have 102 items in the pipeline. Now i need to thing how to most effectively to burn it.

What i come up with so far is a plugin i wrote for Windows Live Writer
http://practicethis.com/blog-post-template-plugin-for-windows-live-writer/
that helps me streamline writing and save some time.

]]> By: Marelisa http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-keep-your-idea-file-alive-and-useful/#comment-56 Marelisa Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:57:08 +0000 http://joelfalconer.com/?p=43#comment-56 I think that just knowing that you have an idea file that you can resort to if need be helps you to relax when it comes time to write (you don't have the added pressure of "I have to come up with something to write about" because if you can't think of anything you can just pull out your file). And relaxing is the first step to get ideas flowing. I'm a paper person so I'll either write down my ideas with a pen or write it in "word" and print it. I think that just knowing that you have an idea file that you can resort to if need be helps you to relax when it comes time to write (you don’t have the added pressure of “I have to come up with something to write about” because if you can’t think of anything you can just pull out your file). And relaxing is the first step to get ideas flowing. I’m a paper person so I’ll either write down my ideas with a pen or write it in “word” and print it.

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