Idealization and the Smartphone
The Smartphone (in any configuration) just may be the most powerful piece of technology every created. With access to the internet, you quite literally have the combined knowledge of the human race in the palm of your hand. But, like even the internet, its only as useful as the information that is put into it.
The other night as I was waiting for sleep I had a rush of ideas for different topics that I thought would be interesting and useful to you. I did my best to try and remember them but ultimately sleep did come and when I awoke only a handful of the ideas remained. The most important of these ideas was this thought. "If only I charged my phone next to my bed. Instead of trying to remember, I could have opened the notes app on my phone and quickly jotted down (or even spoke) the ideas when I had them." This, of course, leads to one of the biggest problems during the Idealization phase of creating a new business... remembering to take notes! "Inspiration" comes at some of the oddest times and circumstances. Probably the hardest part of taking advantage of these "moments of insight" is to remember to pull out your phone and input the ideas. Here is my plan for starting this new habit, or in other words my plan for learning to input data. Step 1: Move your phones charging system (if its not already done) next to your bed. You've got to start taking advantage of those "twilight" times when your brain is open to creative thought. Step 2: Practice using the notes feature on your phone. Start by remembering to put information such as to do lists, wish lists, or bucket list items into your phone when you think of them. Step 3: Learn how to organize the information in your note app. Every app is different so I'm not even going to try and explain it here... when in doubt... Google It. Step 4: Prepare your mind to get creative. Long ago, when I was in a new environment, forced to fall asleep with a bunch strangers in a large room, getting to sleep was not easy. After a few restless nights, I was taught that if I take several deep breaths and then create a landscape in my minds eye and "go there" I would find sleep. While I did find sleep that way, I also found time to get creative and solve small problems. Don't get distracted on "issues" such as finances, grades, or other stresses but instead focus on small problems like how would you build a better comb. With practice, you can use this twilight time to work through the "pain" that your customers have and find creative and unique ways to solve it. I suppose the greatest asset an entrepreneur has is simply taking note of the ideas as they come. After all, "remembering" can be the hardest part.
Questions:
1. Have you ever had a great idea or thought of something important that you needed to do and forgot it by the time you woke up?
2. Try Step 4 for a night, why do you think it did or didn't help?
3. What do you think you could do to help you remember to remember to write ideas down?
Resources:
Lecture Guide:
PowerPoint: