The System to Reliably Capture Every Content Idea (Even the Most Elusive Ones)
Beat the fear of running out of ideas with the technique I relied on for years.
For 14 years, I’ve been studying, talking with and helping content creators start their journey. One of their most common fears?
Running out of content ideas.
I’ve been creating content since 2010 and have the opposite problem: my ideas list is exploding.
Once you start publishing, consuming content intentionally, and talking with your audience, ideas will ambush you at every turn. The real problem will be capturing them.
So, we need a system to:
catch hot ideas,
quickly save them,
neatly archive them,
quickly retrieve them.
My system has been working for years. Here’s how you can use it, too.
Paper is not enough (sorry)
My system is centred around the smartphone. It’s the only tool I’m sure I have with me most of the time.
Even when I take a walk outside and commit to thinking without notifications, calls or podcasts, I have it in my pocket. I know I can draw it out quick as a gunslinger when an inspiring idea forms in my mind.
I’m fascinated by the people using paper notebooks. And I like the kinaestethic aspect of handwriting. But there are too many situations when taking it with me would be impossible or inconvenient.
Catch’em all
First of all, I need to record ideas as quickly as possible. They tend to vanish like dreams do in the morning. This is why Todoist is perfect.
Todoist is a todo list app. I use it to manage my time. But its inbox doubles as the perfect idea catcher.
I love its “quick add” widget. Saving any idea takes just a few taps:
draw out the phone and the screen turns on,
slide down the status bar,
tap the quick add icon,
type the idea,
send it.
The idea is then added to the inbox by default. At night, I review the inbox to organize my tasks.
It’s the perfect time to also archive, organize and maybe enrich the ideas I saved during the day. I will tell you how I archive them later.
You don’t need to use Todoist for this. Your inbox could also be a note document. The only requirement is that it makes adding ideas as quick as possible.
How to save an idea well
How many times did you find yourself in the following situation? A lightbulb goes off in your mind, you quickly jot down your thought, then forget about it.
One day, as you look for something to write about, you stumble into that thought and… For the love of God you can’t recollect what it’s about, why it was so exciting.
I made this mistake dozens of times. Then I said “enough!” and resolved to stop wasting ideas forever.
So now, when I save an idea, I spend an extra minute adding more details. How many details? Enough to allow my future self to understand that idea without the current context:
what is itabout?
Why is it interesting?
What do I want to say about it?
Sometimes a keyword is enough. For example, I recently described an idea with just two words: “permissionless comarketing”.
It doesn’t need additional info. I can just search on Google and the article about the topic is the first result. I want to publish a video explaining it to my audience, so I know I will be summarizing the article and adding some custom examples.
Other times, instead, I use a few sentences. It slows me down, but not so much. And it’s the only way to protect those ideas.
And if you are driving?
I added a recipe to my Google Assistant. I just need to say “Ok Google”, then “Todo”, then the text for the idea.
I created the recipe in IFTTT.
Daily review and storage
Keeping my ideas together with my tasks would be a mess. I sort them out in my daily review.
Every evening, before shutting down my computer, I review the content of my Todoist inbox. When I find an idea:
if after a few hours it lost its shine, I delete it,
otherwise, I consider if it needs more details,
then, I move it to a Notion database.
Actually, I have two separate Notion databases, one for Youtube videos on my Italian channel, one for my English articles. I recorded a video describing my Notion content system in detail. Here it is:
You don’t need to use Notion, but a single documenti won’t be enough. You’ll soon have hundreds of ideas. A spreadsheet, database or note-taking tool will make your life much easier.
But how do you recognize ideas in the inbox?
First of all, my Todoist inbox doesn’t have tens of items at the end of each day. Moreover, tasks usually start with a verb. It’s hard to confuse them.
But I also add keywords before the idea content. They help me recognize ideas and show me their destination.
Currently I’m producing three types of content, so I start my ideas with the corresponding keyword:
video indicates an idea for my Youtube channel,
article indicates an idea for an article,
note indicates an idea for a Substack Notes post.
Your next step
This system works, and it’s not complicated. But I’m a system geek, so maybe you feel differently.
If you want to try it, start simple:
find an inbox tool that suits you AND allows you to quickly capture ideas,
choose a simple tool for you archive, even just a Google spreadsheet,
get in the habit of saving everything with the right amount of detail,
get in the habit of reviewing the inbox at night.
Try it for a month and see how it goes. You will probably understand how to customize it to your needs.
And if you need help, comment on this article: I always reply.
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I mostly use Notion. But I also use Apple Notes as backup when I'm not near my computer.
I save my ideas to Apple Notes multiple times a day.