How to start an Idea Bank, and why you need one
Welcome back friends, to Productivity, Without Privilege. I’m your host, Alan Henry, fresh off of a train back to New York City from visiting my alma mater, and it was a wonderful experience. I know, I really should say something like “oh wow it’s changed so much it reminds me of the good old days” and wax rhapsodic about how things were “back in my day,” but honestly that’s not what I took away at all. Instead, if anything, I was inspired by how much my alma mater has grown and changed over the years.
The new labs, the new research facilities, the new common spaces for students to get together and study and relax, even all the new dining options, all aimed at making their lives—and the lives of their professors and TAs—better. I wholeheartedly love it when people don’t have to suffer the things I did; it means that the changes we requested and the voices we raised were actually heard, and now people are benefiting from those improvements.
I’m normally a pretty nostalgic person, and sometimes like to wistfully think back to my own past, but that’s just what it is, a moment in spacetime long past, inaccessible by the hypersurface of the present, faded well into the back of the light cone in which we all exist. And that kind of brings me to what I want to touch on this week, a good reminder of why it’s so important to focus on right now.
Oh, before I go too far, I want to thank all of the new subscribers! I’ve seen quite a few of you come in lately, and I appreciate every single one of you. And of course, if you haven’t already, please pick up a copy of Seen, Heard, and Paid: The New Work Rules for the Marginalized. I would very much appreciate it, and hey, it might even make a great holiday gift for I don’t know, literally everyone in your life! Buy one! Buy five! Hand em out to carolers!
Anyway. I’m absolutely not the first person to tell you that right here, right now, is all that’s truly important, I said it in the last newsletter. So this week I’m going to share a few techniques that I use to stay mindful and in the present, and also that I use to keep my stress levels down while I do the work I have to do without worrying too much about the work that I need to do in the future. It all starts with something simple: an idea bank.
I’ve been reacquainting myself with my own idea bank a bit more lately, as more of my work has shifted away from the kinds of workaday tasks that I used to do easily into more creative, conceptual work that I have to keep track of over longer periods of time. When you start doing more project-related work instead of ticking off tasks on a regular basis, you need someplace to dump your hopes, dreams, desired changes, and future goals. You don’t expect to just keep them in your head, do you? Yeah, how’s that working out for you now?
If you’re anything like me, that means that right before you fall asleep at night, or in the middle of your shower, you’re probably coming up with the ideas that will change your life for the better, move your career forward, or tap into your own creativity by giving you a way to express yourself in a way you’ve always dreamed. And then, of course, as soon as you fall asleep or turn off the water, those ideas are gone forever, right?
Way way back when I was writing for Lifehacker, I did a deep dive into why some of our best ideas come in the shower, and how you can actually harness them. A lot of it comes down to two big things:
Find some way to capture your ideas, whenever they strike.
Harness that creative energy at other times.
The first is easy-ish: it’s as simple as carrying around a notebook and pen, if you’re the type who loves to do that, or even finds it vaguely romantic to always have something to journal or sketch in. Lean into it, grab yourself a Moleskine or a Field Notes notebook and a lovely pen (may a recommend anything Jetpens sells?), pop that into your bag or pocket and go about your day. (No, none of them pay me to say that, but they could if they wanted to.)
For the more digitally inclined of us, especially those of us who spend enough time on our phones that we’d rather just use that instead of carry around something else, there’s a world of services designed to help you with this, and many of them are pretty expensive. Don’t bother. I’m a big fan of starting with something simple and easy, like Google Keep or Apple Notes or whatever else you might have on your phone. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I love Google Keep enough to write a whole feature about it. And yeah, that was also back at Lifehacker, several publications ago, but I still use it today as my idea bank, so that should say something. And despite a lot of those screenshots and the competition apps being dated, that article holds up. I still keep everything from long-term house plans to future book ideas in Google Keep, and we even use it to plan weekly dinners and grocery lists.
I like to open Google Keep whenever inspiration strikes and jot down a few memory pegs to help me remember it later, then save the note with a fancy title or a background image that will inspire me again later. If time is short, I’ll make a voice note and listen back to it when I have time. Whatever it takes. The point here is to get the idea out of your head while it’s fresh and the neurons are firing. If you wait, you’ll get caught up in rebuilding your idea from memory instead of letting your fingers fly while your ideas are swirling around your head.
Just because I use Keep doesn’t mean you have to. For a long time, I used Asana, which I like when I have to build timetables around those ideas. I should note, however, that your idea bank is not a place you want to mix your regular to-do list with your ideas. You all probably know I prefer Todoist for my regular to-dos (and if you didn’t, you know now,) but I don’t keep my ideas there. You may be better than I am, but the reason for that is simple: my to-do list gives me anxiety. It’s a thing that demands attention, action, and completion. It holds me accountable. Keep, on the other hand, exists when I need it. When I’m inspired, and when I’m interested in something new. When I open it I feel less anxious and more excited. If you think both emotional reactions can coexist, be my guest. I just know that if I see a path to less anxiety in my life I’ll take it.
Now the second part: harnessing that creative energy at other times. This one depends on you and the time and space you can dedicate to being truly creative. Maybe your job doesn’t let you get creative, and your job is to do the thing someone asks you to do, finish, then do another thing. That’s okay then—but still, give yourself some time for creative thought. If you don’t need the brain space for work, you can certainly use it for your life, which is way more important. (My friend Thorin Klosowski wrote about this, that’s right, for Lifehacker, years ago.)
While you probably can’t just take a nap or a shower anytime you need to do some problem-solving, you can recreate the circumstances under which you’re in that shower mindset: A time when you’re alone with your thoughts, doing something routine that you can do on mental autopilot. And you need enough comfort that you’re not actively distracted by your surroundings, at least not in a bad way.
So think about situations you can put yourself in that match that vibe. For some people, it’s a buzzy coffee shop. For others, it’s a long walk around the block, or a stroll through the park to touch some grass and hug some trees. Maybe it’s a high place, like the observation deck of a science center or skyscraper. I get thoughtful when I ride the train, for example, or on long drives. Maybe you’re a runner—a number of my friends who run say they get great ideas when they go out for a run or a hike. Go anywhere you’re both thoughtful, inspired, and have nothing else to do but what you know to do in that moment. And then let your mind wander.
[ Worth Reading ]
Hundreds cheer the red carpet eating of 40th rotisserie chicken, ‘a part of Philly history’, by Asha Prihar: If you’re not familiar with the Philadelphia man who ate 40 rotisserie chickens in a row, one per day, you’re about to be. Not only was he a bit of a cultural phenomenon for a minute there, he drew massive crowds to watch him eat his 40th, and last, rotisserie chicken. Just talking to him he seems like such a chill…Philly dude. This story is so pure, and I intend to enjoy it as long as possible before some nefarious detail comes to light.
When destitute small towns mean dangerous tap water, by Michael Phillis, Leah Willingham, and Camille Fassett: I’ve always been lucky to live somewhere with clean water. A place where the understanding in general is that all the tapwater is safe to drink. And of course, while we logically know that there are places without clean drinking water, it’s another thing to know exactly how close those places are, and of course, which communities are the ones impacted by it.
INTERVIEW: Alan Henry, author of Seen, Heard and Paid: The New Work Rules for the Marginalized by LaVonne Roberts: Yeah, I’m cheating again, but it’s my newsletter. I did an interview with LaVonne Roberts for Hippocampus Magazine, and it’s finally live! She and I chat about the reactions to my book at The Times, and advice I have for other people who may feel like they don’t have a place at the cool kids’ table. She asked incredible questions, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to answer them!
[ See You, Space Cowboy ]
I love documentaries and docudramas. And I mean truly self-aware documentaries, not dramatizations. So when we sat down to watch Korean Pork Belly Rhapsody (Netflix) in my household a few nights ago, I thought I was just going to get a love letter to pork belly and how popular it’s become, but instead I got that and a full tour of the cultural importance of pork in Korea.
It’s almost unfair to call it “porkbelly rhapsody,” because while it definitely focuses on that cut of pork, the series does a great job of reminding me that Koreans eat so much more of a given pig than Americans do, or at least have a mass market appetite for. If you like food documentaries that are clearly sponsored by the tourism arm of the government that are still sincere and earnest even when they’re a little over the top, you’ll love this. And if you do love it, follow it up with Korean Cold Noodle Rhapsody and Hanwoo Rhapsody for the trifecta.
Just make sure to watch with a snack or something, it’s definitely going to make you hungry. I’ll see you back here in two.