The mind of a true entrepreneur is one that is creative, busy, hungry and above all – most of the time – lets face it, a complete mess! With the creative juices flowing twenty-four hours a day, literally… sometimes it’s hard to switch off, rest, and across the board, stay productive – which is required to avoid entrepreneurial burnout.
An even harder feat is making sure that those ideas get captured in the right way (mind-maps, and all!) so that you can get them out of your head space, and start working on them – when its not time to sleep!
I recently got an email from VBL Subscriber, Michael Manning, which I’m going to cut and paste here:
Hello,
I am new to your website and, truly find it confusingly awesome!
Great job making the reader look at their life from another angle. After reading over many articles, I keep coming back to one question. How does a self proclaimed “serial entrepreneur” find it so easy to start business after business so effortlessly when most of us are too scared to step out and start out our first?
Have you streamlined the process and, if so it would be fantastic to hear about it. I too have many “ideas” and would love to learn how to put them into operation in a relatively short period of time. Again, the site rocks and I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Michael Manning
I replied to Michael, as I do everyone that write’s in, but following hitting the send button, it actually got me thinking even more… I’ve heard this from many, many followers of this blog in the last year, as well as other countless entrepreneurs that I have been in touch with before in the past.
Here at the VBL Blog we’re about creating a ‘lifestyle that you’ll love to live’ (taken directly from our podcast intro!). In recent months we’ve been tagged as a ‘lifestyle design’ blog (currently ranked #1 for the above mentioned podcast on iTunes, under the same search term!), which is absolutely fine, because I suppose it is about designing a life to its fullest. However, the focus of the virtual business lifestyle is entrepreneurship, and it always will be – just in a way that doesn’t require for you to be handcuffed to a desk every day!
Can’t Sleep..? Don’t Sleep!
You know what its like – you’re tossing and turning in bed, trying to drop off to sleep, yet your mind is shooting in a million different directions with idea after idea. I’d been suffering from this problem a lot in the last few years as I continued to remain extremely focused on building my outsourcing company to the 200+ employee entity that it is today (we started with just 7 members of staff!).
I would very regularly lack sleep due to just laying there with these self-fueled brainstorming sessions going on in my head, as my sleeping beauty of a wife lay next to me (alright for some, isn’t it!?).
How I 'Used' to Capture My Ideas!
Then one night, around April of this year, as I was in the middle of yet another sleepless night, I had an idea that I simply just could not allow to swim around in my head. I got up. I grabbed my moleskin notepad and a pen from my bag, and I started jotting notes. I drew mind-mapping diagrams on how I saw this service idea working, logo ideas, listed different angles I could attack the market at, potential customer targets, market trends that I knew of, and tons more.
One hour later, I went back to bed, and BOOM – fell to sleep immediately. I woke up seven hours later feeling well rested, and raring to go on the ideas that I had put together in the early hours.
Eliminate Ideas… Remain Productive!
Going back to Michael’s email. Have I streamlined the process to knock out businesses left, right and center..? No. I haven’t. But, I believe that I have got to a point where if I have an idea that comes to me, whether I’m trying to sleep at the time, or whether I’m ‘working’ on something else, I capture it in a way where I make the most of it!
By removing these ideas as and when they pop into my head, I create more entrepreneurial ‘space’, I guess, ending that madness and being able to work on current projects, or to even allow those creative juices to continue to flow on the new idea.
Like that night, where I ended up turning an ‘idea’ into a full blown business model – my Virtual Staff Finder service, which was eventually launched a few months later, by the way. You can find out what I did to get this business to market in just 4 weeks once I pulled the trigger fully on it in this recent article.
Different Device… Same Result.
The 'New Way' of Capturing My Ideas!
As I mentioned above, I used to use moleskin notebooks to capture all my ideas – I have around 10 of them filled to the rim from over the years! I also know many other entrepreneurs that use them, too. However, in early October of this year, I ‘upgraded’ my note-taking structure, so to speak, by purchasing an iPad.
The premise is still the same, obviously – get the ideas out of my head, on ‘paper’ and then get on with whatever I was doing when the idea hit me in the first place – especially if thats trying to sleep!
The great thing about this new process of capturing my ideas, however, is that its digital – instantly.
I use the ultimate app when it comes to note-taking on the iPad. Penultimate (love this name!) is a premium app, meaning you’ll have to shell out some cash for it (forgot how much it is, not much – but, I’d pay double what I did for it, either way!), that allows you to draw and take notes on the screen, and then immediately email them to someone.
In my case, I send them across to my assistant, who will then put them into a more ‘readable’ format, along with any images and mind-maps I sketch out, and then upload them to the Dropbox (which I mentioned in last weeks ‘Top 3 Online Tools’ discussion post) folder we share for me to check out and start working from. I can then add to those files as and when I want to.
Productive Entrepreneur = Successful Entrepreneur
As someone who likes to be as productive as possible each and every day, this way of capturing my ideas, mind-maps and business rambles is perfect for me. It allows me to stay focused, and to actually be MORE creative in setting up and overseeing various businesses.
I wish I could streamline the process that allows me to do that, but I think that the very nature of building and putting together different business models, and the financial diversity that comes along with them, will probably mean that I, or any other entrepreneur for that matter, will never be able to do so. Every business set-up is different.
I’d love to hear what you guys think on this subject. Remember, the reason why the VBL Community is growing so quickly is because we share our thoughts for a more mobile entrepreneurial lifestyle with each other. Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas… Share. Thanks.
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I’m glad to know that I am not the only entrepreneur who has this issue. With the internet, you have unlimited business models that you can adapt to your own interests and crush it online!
I got a lot ideas too (way too much) and I realized that it helps a lot to make notes. I used to put them on Notepads, but I would lose them so I always transfer it to electronic form (email, word docx, excel) and then save it in a folder called ideas. It gives you more piece of mind when you get on a piece of paper and out of your head, because longer it in there, the more you can go crazy!
Absolutely, Jason. You are not alone, my man!
You’re right, it makes you mad – hence the title of the post! Getting stuff out of your head an down on paper, whether it be the ‘real’ stuff, or the virtual type, allows you to remain a lot more focused and productive.
Thanks for the comment, buddy.
Chris
When I started my first biz (natural bath and body products), I was working for a nursing facility and bartending at night. I would get home and be so full of ideas (recipes, taglines, graphics…)I could not sleep. Eventually I quit the other jobs and focused full time on the biz (much better).
Still, if I could not sleep it was really hard to motivate the next day (I was doing everything – manufacturing, packaging, schlepping product all over CO, shipping, maintaining the books, etc). I would lay there stressing about the fact that I couldn’t sleep and would be toast the next day.
I recently sold that little biz (learned so much it but it was time to move on) and am now truly focusing on maintaining an online income from home (wherever that happens to be at the time!).
Now, if my head is swimming with ideas at night I simply get up and write them down, then go back to sleep. Or, if I am too excited about something, I stay up and work on that project (lucky me – I have a partner who puts up with my quirks), knowing that I can make up for the lost sleep the next day.
What a difference this has made in my life! I still have ideas firing off faster than I can seem to implement them at times, but everything is so much better now that I am truly working for myself – when and where I want to!
Still working on my “Apple” collection. Our friend came over the other night and showed us all the cool apps on his iPad…don’t think he has Penultimate, though (am adding it to my Christmas list!). Thank you for another relevant post…I’m off to post my own blog now (I have been putting it off since the transfer but you have inspired me)…
V
Hi Valynne
What a great story – and congrats on selling the business – I am assuming you did so at a profit, not a loss, when I say that, obviously!
Good luck with the Apple mission – Penultimate is awesome, you’ll love it. I recently picked up a great ‘rubberized’ stylus pen from Amazon and its made making my notes and drawings more ‘detailed’ much easier.
Thanks for the awesome comment.
Chris
Chris, you’re dead on with this post. This is the very essence of the GTD concept of always having a capture tool, capturing things you aren’t working on in the present for later, and trusting your system to bring them back to you.
I’d like to point out that the trusted system is key to making this work. Clearly your system is well defined and structured to ensure things get addressed in their proper time. But for those who are just getting started, this is a foundational requirement. If you don’t have it in place already, you’ll need to get that built. The methodology and the tools don’t matter nearly so much as consistently using the same location and tools so that you can always trust that you will not lose track of things that are captured for later.
I can’t even count the number of times I’ve performed a mini cost benefit analysis at 2 AM – will I lose less sleep getting up and writing it down, or can I drive realization that I’m just rehashing something I’ve already covered elsewhere or spinning nonsense? Sometimes it’s still worth it to write it down if you can’t let it go even though it’s of no future value.
Hi Mike
Wow. Mini Cost Benefit Analysis at 2am – you beat me there…!!!
You’re right, the emphasis on a capture tool (regardless of what you use) cannot be stressed enough. Now that I have one, I wouldn’t be without my iPad. But, before that, it was my trusty Moleskin – just like the one you were carrying around with you at the SHang a few weeks back!
C
Hey Chris…
Just watched your interview with David at Rise to the Top. Obviously Great as it inspired me to comment on his blog and now on your blog. Not something I often have time to do.
Over the past year I’ve been working on a project for a very tight niche, Chiropractic. I’m producing informative videos with my RockStar TV where I interview anybody who can help build a Chiropractic Practice. The videos are documentary style and themed around Rock music. I’ve also just started producing a weekly commentary call The Weekly Rock.
All this in hopes of creating freedom in my life while giving me the ability to travel and meet Successful people. I love what I do, but I’m getting very little return up to this point.
Not sure what to do now…
Hi Jason
Thanks very much for coming over and taking the time to comment. I sincerely appreciate, buddy.
How long have you been going?
It takes a while to start gaining traction and seeing ‘results’ in terms of page hits, sign-up’s, comments, etc. This blog has been going since late January and I have only really just started to see some REAL numbers over the last few months – which is awesome of course – but, is also a lot of work, too.
I guess it just comes down to being passionate about what you want to write / video about and then going for it.
As long as you know there is a market out there for it – it will starting sticking… Eventually!
Hope to see you around again soon.
Best,
Chris
Huh! (Penny Drops)
I’ve been like this for years and never realised why until now. For ages I’ve had nights when I’ve not been able to sleep some nights for the ideas running through my head. Some I’ve acted on and some I haven’t.
Learnt a really big lesson from this bro. Thank you!
Hey Ben
So glad this helped out, Ben.
Actually, you popped into my mind when I was writing this – I remember we chatted on this issue for you before.
Hopefully some clarity is there on the subject now. I certainly hope so.
Thanks for dropping by.
Cheers,
C
I have several notebooks by my bed for this very purpose Chris but, like you, I’ve been tending to go digital since getting my iphone last year.
Interesting you mention the iPad. Just yesterday my Christmas present arrived. An iPad. I have a question though about that app you mentioned. Does it recognise your handwriting and change it all to a text format? From your description I suspect not. As such, I’m still more inclined to stick with Awesome Notes because it saves having to manually write up the digital notes.
If I’ve misunderstood and it can ‘read’ your handwriting and convert it to text that would be super cool and a great time saver.
Hi El
No, Penultimate doesnt convert your handwriting into text. But, this doesnt bother me, as I got going with it to mainly manage my mind-mapping, and note taking in general. Its a great piece of software – wish I came up with idea!!!
So happy to hear you’re now an iPad user – trust me, you are gonna LOVE it..!
Have an awesome weekend.
Chris
Hey Chris,
Came here after watching the video…I’m exactly the same. However I have learnt now to have a note pad beside my bed. But not any kind of notepad one with colour pages, it’s funny how color can play a huge part in our psychology…depending on the idea, depends on what color I use.
Also what I have found to help is aqua notes http://www.myaquanotes.com/ so when I’m in the shower…. no brilliant idea is missed.
That’s a cool little invention, that. I wonder how many they have sold..?
Thanks for the great little resource.
I have one of my own…. It’s called the ‘Shout at the wife to take down a note!’. Limited edition, mind you!!!
C