What Happens When You Have Too Many Ideas?
And how to deal with it
Ever find yourself lost in multiple ideas, unable to progress well on either of them?
Do you often start a new project before an ongoing project is completed?
Does your to-do list keep piling up?
Do you feel short of time for everything you want to do?
Do you procrastinate on things you want to do and end up doing nothing sometimes?
Do you keep getting too many ideas as you navigate the internet and see all the endless possibilities out there and then get overwhelmed by the fear of missing out or wanting to try everything?
If you had all these thoughts in you, we are essentially on the same boat. So, how to navigate through these over-the-top waters?
Full disclosure- I haven’t really figured it out yet but I thought I can share a few thoughts in this context which you can use to figure out what works for you.
That said, here are a few ways I try to deal with these thoughts and what seems to help me a bit.
Give structure to your work
Use a notes app or some work tracking tool. It could also be the good old pen and paper. I used to be superlative in the past. I used to imagine and have a lot of thoughts in the air and think that I will one day figure it out and work on them.
That rarely works. When I disciplined myself to make notes, whenever I get a creative thought or an idea, I saw a huge difference. I use the default notes app on my phone to document these thoughts. Sometimes I also use pen and paper. Always note things down. Make it a habit and take that little extra effort diligently. It will help you reflect on everything better.
Beyond that, I started breaking each of these thoughts into points and actionable items whenever I find the time. That helps with clarity on what we are thinking and how to proceed further.
If you don’t have it yet, go make a to-do list of your thoughts after reading this blog. A ten-minute activity that can get you started with a new habit.
Letting go of ideas
It is important to understand which ideas are worth pursuing and investing your time in. It is even more important to know which are not. If your thoughts on something feel clunky, unrelatable, or like too much hassle, that's a red flag. Know when to delete it from your life.
Be careful with the sunk cost fallacy which the dictionary defines as, “the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.”
If you are not enjoying the process, that’s another red flag. The mindset of letting something go at the right time is critical.
One great experience is better than ten mediocre ones. Go to your to-do lists today and introspect on the stuff you should let go of. Declutter your life.
Sharing and delegating work
Your journey need not be a lonely one. There are always people out there who can help you in various aspects. Sometimes, it can be a spiritual thing like giving moral support or inspiring you to get something done, etc.
I would recommend you to share your work and ideas with the public on social media. Seek feedback and attract an audience who are also into what you do. That can lead to meaningful collaborations and build your network. Don’t be shy or think what others will think. No one really thinks the way you think they would. You are losing the benefit of rich networking with people who will appreciate and support you. You can use platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram.
Together, everyone achieves more. If you have always been reserved to share your work and ideas publicly, take that leap of faith today. Put it out there and see where it goes. Trust me, it has so many benefits.
You can also share about the ideas you are letting go which someone else might be interested to pursue.
Classify your tasks
Classify the tasks in your to-do lists into various categories. Here are some groupings:
- Tasks that can be done in the spur of the moment randomly. For example, making a small LinkedIn post.
- Tasks that can be done quickly during some break time without much thinking. For example, reading news, or catching up with your newsletter emails.
- Tasks that need some focused time, which you may want to do on a weekend. For example, writing a specific blog or updating your website.
- Manual tasks you can do when you feel like doing nothing.
- Tasks you need to prioritize when you feel driven and inspired.
You get the gist. Based on your work and lifestyle, you can classify all your tasks into such groups. When such a situation happens, just check your to-do list and pick a task for that situation.
For me, this approach helped me get things done. For example, I started maintaining a list of LinkedIn post ideas and that's a task I do in the spur of the moment randomly. When I have a space of some 5–10 minutes when I don’t feel like doing anything, I just open my LinkedIn ideas list, pick one and make a post. This helped me be consistent on LinkedIn.
Plan ahead in time
For us to stay motivated and inspired, we need to feel PROGRESS. For example, if you are a YouTuber, seeing your subscriber count increase will give you that drive.
It is important to create situations for ourselves to make us feel progress. Most times we end up not acknowledging it properly even when it happens. A few other times, we might feel like we are doing a lot of things but not going anywhere.
Planning ahead in time can give us better clarity in these aspects. Have a set of milestones and a set of schedules on when you release your work. This helps you stay in the loop even on days when you are not working as usual where your pre-planned work is released.
Have a lazy day
Lazy days actually help you stay refreshed and motivated in the long run. Have them guilt-free. Spend time doing absolutely nothing or just slacking off watching movies and playing games all day. You might as well just take rest and think about nothing.
Such days can reinvent and reinvigorate ourselves. So yeah, go take your break when you need.
Keeping it all in one place
This is something I am ideating hard on how I can do it. Everything about your life- all at once place. I call it a “life board”.
Whatever happens, whatever you want to do, this board should be your go-to place to keep a track of everything you do. Your to-do lists are a part of it, but the board in itself is much larger.
It is something that needs to track everything you- your social media, your projects, your work, the work of people you follow, your learning paths, your time management paths, your entertainment needs, and even other holistic aspects like your health, fitness, etc all under a single umbrella.
This is basically anything that can aggregate information across apps and projects of you in one place. Having such a place can be very handy.
Telegram is one platform that can help us achieve this- to act like that all in one platform. Another is email where you set alerts and subscriptions to everything you track.
There are many other approaches to do it too. Explore.
These are the ways I am looking at to improve my efficiency and do more with less. I am hoping to build in more productivity as I explore more on this front.
