The Art of Capturing Creative Ideas
A Lifeline for Creatives with Divergent Thinking Super Powers that Leave them Feeling Super Stressed.
Creativity is a wild and wonderful thing. It can lead us down paths of innovation and discovery, but it can also feel overwhelming when ideas come in torrents. As a creative solopreneur or content creator, have you ever felt like your mind is an overflowing river of ideas, with new ones rushing in before you’ve had a chance to fully explore the last? If so, this is for you.
When Lightening Strikes
The challenge of managing a constant stream of ideas can often feel like trying to capture lightning in a bottle. I frequently find inspiration in seemingly random things. A unique line in a hip-hop song, an article in a medical journal, or a particular phrase or word in a book can spark new ideas. These often lead me to explore deeper meanings, spot connections to unrelated topics, or delve into an exploration rabbit hole to unearth a new understanding. It's exciting, but also chaotic and disorienting.
This challenge is particularly acute for creatives, especially those who are dominant in divergent thinking such as the NP personality types as defined by MBTI (i.e. INTP, INFP, ENTP, and ENFP).
A Super Power or Super Stressed?
Wikipedia defines divergent thinking as “a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions.” The consequences of not effectively managing this flow of ideas can be significant. We may not need to act on these sparks of inspiration as soon as we discover them. However, ideas may be lost if we don’t capture them when they appear.
Without a system to capture and organize thoughts, ideas and concepts, the constant rush of new inspiration can become a source of stress and anxiety. This can be overwhelming and hinder progress on any single creative endeavour.
We Have Lift Off! Kinda…
But what if there was a way to capture this creative lightning? A method that allows you to seize these ideas and hold them, not as fleeting sparks, but as a controllable, usable energy source for your creative work?
As an INFP I recognise that I’m a great project starter. However, I sometimes lack thoroughness because I can act impulsively on ideas. The result? I struggle to complete what I've started as my motivation fades once the initial excitement and inspiration from exploring a new idea subsides.
No Idea Left Behind?
So I’m currently imagining a future where ideas worth exploring aren’t lost. One where a creative spark is captured and stored on ice, ready for me to revisit and evaluate it from a more objective perspective, rather than impulsively rushing down a dead end. A future where my creativity enhances my work instead of causing stress. I’m hoping this is not just an imagined possibility, but a reality that can be achieved.
One solution I’m exploring lies in the art of idea capture within the C.O.D.E. system devised by Tiago Forte in his book Building a Second Brain*.
C.O.D.E stands for:
Capture - Keep What Resonates
Organise - Save for Actionability
Distil - Find the Essence
Express - Show your Work
The ‘Capture’ technique, taken from Chapter 4 of Tiago Forte's book, teaches you to keep what resonates, and more importantly, how to manage and organize these thoughts for later use - in the following chapters. By capturing ideas, you create a reserve of inspiration to tap into whenever you need, reducing stress and enhancing your creative output.
But It Can’t All Be Worthy…
From the book I’ve taken to heart Tiago Forte’s advice for being a picky curator when it comes to what ideas or concepts will make it into my collection. Digital storage seems infinite which can lure us into capturing everything instead of what’s essential and relevant. With this in mind, Forte suggests using four capturing criteria as follows:
Tiago Forte’s Capture Criteria:
Does it Inspire Me? Keep a collection of inspiring quotes, stories or photos for when you need a new perspective or something to spark inspiration.
Is it Useful? Not everything needs to be inspirational in order to be capture, sometimes it might be a snippet of information, a statistic, a research finding, that might come in handy later.
Is it Personal? Keep a collection of personal wisdom you’ve gained over the course of your life by journaling your thoughts and feelings. Store precious memories, random moments or conversations with family and friends.
Is it Surprising? Forte says in the book he noticed that “many of the notes people take are of ideas they already know, already agree with or could have guessed”. This is a phenomenon known as confirmation bias. Therefore, he recommends capturing what conflicts with your existing point of view and makes your brain perk up and pay attention! Capturing in this way will further support divergent thinking and finding new solutions from usual sources.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, we should aim to 'Keep What Resonates' according to Tiago, as we don’t want our collections of captured ideas and thoughts to resemble the bottomless scroll of social media.
Where I Capture…
Digital Capturing
My chosen application is currently Notion. I’ve recently set up a dashboard page with a database that will act as a digital common place book. The reason I’ve chosen Notion is because I love how at its core it’s a relational database system with a powerful UI that I have complete control over, as well as having various ways of searching, displaying and filtering through the data. Plus, Notion is available to me via: the app on my phone; the app on my laptop - which can cache a snapshot of my data if I go offline; or any browser connected to the internet. I can basically access my data exactly when and where I need it.
Another handy digital app is the built-in notes feature on my smart phone. However, I switched to Google Keep after my last phone upgrade because I love how I can access my notes in Google Keep from Google Drive on any device I’m logged in on. It’s also useful for on-the-go reminders to add to my planner later as I don’t carry my A5 physical planner around with me (😜 she’s thicc!)
Analogue Capturing
Additional to my digital system for capturing, I also journal using Julia Cameron’s method ‘Morning Pages’. This journaling method is great for processing thoughts and feelings, brain dumping problems and clearing out what’s bugging me first thing in the morning, so it doesn’t bother me later when I need to focus on deep work.
I also keep a gratitude journal which I add a few lines to each evening. I find the process of retracing my steps from the day to find the jewels worth capturing supports my general well-being, plus I love looking back over it at past jewels that make me smile, such as something sweet my son said, the way the sky looked as the sun set, a random act of kindness I was able to do for someone.
Getting our Super Power to Work for us, not Against us
The creative rush can be exhilarating, but without a method to capture and organize these ideas, it can also lead to stress and creative block. The art of 'idea capture' offers a lifeline, providing a method to harness our creativity effectively. By mastering this technique, we can transform our creative process, ensuring no idea is lost and that every spark of inspiration can be used to its full potential.
Next Actions:
Evaluate your current system for capturing:
Are you already using techniques for capturing?
What are you capturing and where?
What do you need to capture and why?
Are you being intentional and focused with your capture technique?
Do you have a standardise system for capturing?
My techniques and systems are a little on the haphazard side currently. Some are very intentional and I have a system (as mentioned above). Others are all over the place.
One thing I know I definitely need to look at is how I’m capturing bookmarks and clips from Audible, highlights from Kindle books, and links to useful articles on the web. Currently these are not being exported/imported into one trusted system for use later, that’s where my digital common place book in Notion will hopefully save the day!
Listen or Read:
Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential * by Tiago Forte (I’m currently listening along on Audible and capturing clips with notes for use later 😉).
And Finally…
If you’re ready to master the art of idea capture and transform your creative process then make sure you’re subscribed to the Planning with Chloe Substack, so you don’t miss the next instalment where we’ll look at the second step in Tiago Forte’s C.O.D.E system: O for Organise.
As always I’m right beside you, cheering you on!
Chloe x
* Please note: I found this [Audible] book through my own research, personally purchased and listened to it for my own use before writing this blog post, but as an Amazon Associate I earn from any qualifying purchases you may make after clicking these links.