Overwhelmed with ideas, me and chris often struggle with this topic. So much could be done, only, we are only 2 heads, and 4 hands.
Which idea is good to keep, which ones are not? A pretty good conversation topic, if you feel like sharing a coffee with a stranger. I’m sure everyone has something to say on the subject.
Some interesting tips are give over here (link found via guylaine) :
1. Creative destruction. Create a weekly or monthly ritual to critically examine your pipeline. Prioritize your ideas and kill the ones that haven’t been actionable in the past year, are low on the priority scale (…)
2. Donate your ideas. Give them away for free. License them to your competitor (sounds frightening, but you might as well benefit and develop relationships in the process). If you have no intention of using your ideas, allow others to make them happen for the greater good.
3. Generate Ideas in Moderation. Our judgment is impaired when we get intoxicated. When rampant, new ideas will get you off track. So, drink in moderation and strive to make ideas happen, rather than generate more ideas.
4. Focus on Results, Not Time. Achievement should be measured by output, not by the amount of time spent on a project.
My way of dealing with ideas has changed a lot over the lasts weeks. I chose to dedicate myself only to the essential stuff : what brings me joy and a feeling of aliveness now, what sounds like music to my heart.
Otherwise, i throw out any idea which i suspect i might want to see happen only to feed my ego, in a reaction to fear, or to please others.
All the ideas i put my energy into must feed myself, and my vision. I realized lately that i can carefully choose the elements in want to play with in my life, the ideas i want to play with in my head – and the word play says it all.
I like the Donate your ideas point, but I think it would be more appropriate to use the term Share, since and idea can only be duplicated; you won’t “lose” it once your tell it to someone else, and there’s no guarantee that you won’t tell it to someone else, unless you agree on some exclusivity terms, but it would make it too complicated IMO…
The fourth point is also critical; too often, people are NOT willing to changes little things that might help a particular project in taking off simply because they spent too much work on it. I see this everyday!
Interesting thoughts. Overwhelm of any sort including ideas can often make you grind to a halt. Its a delicate balance.
I also like the fourth point. Its helpful to remember things that have turned out well ( designs done in half an hour) that have been as good as others that take for ever.