Content isn’t the only way to become trusted. (But I like it.)
Trust. Some would say everything has always been based on trust. From a member of the ...
I made a throwaway comment under one of our company LinkedIn posts the other day and someone challenged me on it.
I said I’d “never come across many professional writers who say they get writer’s block”.
For one thing, on reflection, we’ve all heard of many famous novelists and other fiction writers who do. So my comment was a little silly, a little ‘in my world’.
But I do stand by my thinking that for journalists and many other professional crafters of copy, sitting down and writing isn’t the hardest part. Perhaps that’s where I could have been clearer.
To explain just a bit more – before getting to the meat of this post’s advice – consider the classic Think/Plan/Do framework.
We talk a lot to our clients about investing enough time and effort into that first phase. Doing the thinking well pays off down the line. And thinking can be hard. And I understand the paralysis.
What the greats do
So to the pay-off of this post. If you’re stuck on the thinking phase – which I hope we all agree is a vital phase by this point – I have some tips. Or, rather, some greats from history together with something most of us do every day, have shown a way forward.
The key, generally, is to load up with the problem at hand. Consider all the information you have and your ideal end point – could be an idea for a presentation, a new product feature or even how to pitch a tricky prospect.
In Thomas Edison’s world, he advised sleeping on all this. The famous (genuine?) quotation is: “Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”
Bill Gates’ solution is maybe even more mundane. He’s a fan of doing the washing up after a meal. You’d be right in thinking he can afford to have someone else do his dishes. But his reason is that the simple, repetitive act of washing up, even for 10 minutes or so, is enough for good ideas or solutions to problems to surface.
And haven’t we all experienced something similar at different times? One common daily scenario is when taking a shower. We go into a certain mental state and somehow new ideas pop into our heads.
Remember, this is about two things:
1) Loading up on the problem, and
2) Doing an unrelated activity on autopilot.
This isn’t about tech or having a big brain.
Just do one small thing: next to your bed – and even next to your sink or shower – keep a notepad and pencil. Because I can guarantee you will forget most of your great ideas if you don’t immediately write them down.
