Capture those fleeting ideas

People get new ideas in common settings. For some, the three Bs are especially productive: Bed, Bath and Bus. Others have reported that the three Ss produce creative ideas: Swimming pool, Sauna, and Sleep.

Ideas are fleeting things. They streak across our minds, and if not captured, might be lost forever. The main thing that distinguishes “creative” people from others, say experts writing in Psychology

Today is that the creative ones have learned ways to pay attention to and preserve some of the new ideas that occur to them. They have “capturing” skills.

Scientist Otto Loewi struggled for years with a problem in cell biology. One night, a new approach occurred to him in his sleep. He grabbed a pen and wrote it down in the dark. But the next morning he couldn’t read it. Fortunately, the great solution came to him again during sleep. Taking no chances, he went straight to his lab. He won a Nobel Prize for the work he began that night.

People who want to capture their ideas develop methods of doing it. Artists have sketchpads. Writers carry notebooks. Inventors make notes on napkins and candy wrappers.

Salvador Dali got ideas for paintings from his early sleep state. For new inspiration, he would lie on a sofa with a spoon in one hand, balanced on the edge of a glass placed on the floor. When he drifted off to sleep, the spoon hitting the glass would waken him. He would then sketch the images he was seeing.

Anyone can learn to capture new ideas and nudge their creativity to new levels. So can you — so develop your own techniques and you will soon discover that you are more creative than you think.