Be on a constant search for ideas

Last week I wrote an posted 6 articles, after deciding to follow a weekly-based schedule in order to boost my productivity.

Writing must've been the most entertaining and the easiest part of the entire week, and the reason is quite simple - I did some planning on what articles to write before the week even started.

I wrote daily in the past as well, but the process was way more chaotic back then than it is now. I was stressed almost all the time, I was constantly running out of ideas, and I was barely able to keep up considering I was working on other things as well.

Now however, It's much better, and the reason is that I'm constantly searching for new ideas.

My two main mistakes back then were not consuming enough new and varied types of content, in order to expose myself to new things as often as possible, and not deliberately search for ideas at all times.

I really can't stress how important that is as a content creator.

Having at least 3 or 4 article ideas ready by the time the week even starts makes the entire writing process a lot easier. You know what you have to do, and that helps you focus on the task itself instead of spending too much time trying to figure out what subject you could approach that day.

I have accepted a long time ago that I cannot be at the same level of productivity every single day, or even every single hour. I have days in which writing and coming up with ideas is really easy, and days in which I cannot think about anything for more than a few seconds before getting distracted. Sometimes different parts of the day help me do certain things better. For example, writing is a lot easier for me if I do it at night, even though I don't always do it. Coding sometimes works better in the morning, sometimes at midday.

Because I became aware of how changeable my ability to be productive is, I now know that I cannot rely in myself to come up with an idea for an article the day I actually have to publish it. Sometimes I can come up with an idea in a few minutes, but other times it can take me hours.

I cannot afford to let myself get to that point, because all the time that I spend trying to think of an idea could be invested into another activity and into making progress in another area, such as reading, coding, learning new things, etc.

Therefore, knowing what I want to write before I even begin is a huge relief and it helps me create more, a lot faster.

Now, how can you constantly search for ideas? How can you come up with things to write about without staring at a blank page for a long time?

Well, I mentioned one method multiple times in the past - consume new types of content, as often as possible. Read different types of books, watch different YouTube videos, watch different movies, play different games, etc. Don't just watch or do the same type of things that you know you like, again and again, because you'll be stuck thinking about the same ideas and nothing else.

Another strategy is to pay a lot of attention to what you're watching, or reading, or whatever you do. When you pay close attention to what you do, you allow your mind to get a good understanding of that thing, and that will result, in time, in more ideas for articles.

For example, I do that with movies and books. I try to pay close attention when reading, by trying to not get distracted by anything. When I feel like it, I also take a lot of notes using Notion to make sure that I will not forget key points that I might want to think about in the future. And when I watch movies, well, I just watch them on full screen and I try to not do anything else.

Having notepad opened on your computer, or an agenda near you, to write possible ideas on them as you go about your day is also extremely important. I sometimes get a good idea while I'm in bed, and as annoying as it is to get out of it, especially if it's nice and cosy in there, I do it, I write down my idea and then I get back in bed.

Another method would be to use websites such as Pinterest to increase the chances of getting a good idea. I cannot even count the amount of times that Pinterest helped me come up with something to write. The same applies to websites such as ArtStation, Medium, Hive, and others that expose you to a multitude of pieces of content and images to look at.

The important thing is to try and build a habit out of always searching for ideas. Almost everything you do can be a source of inspiration if you know where to look, and if you focus properly. And trust me, coming up with your ideas before you need to sit down and write is gonna make your entire experience a lot more pleasant and your work a lot easier.