Here’s a fun technique that might help you out of a jam.
When you need to come up with a new idea and your brain isn’t cooperating, here’s what to do. Make a List of 20.
That means you sit down with a pen and a piece of paper. You leave your phone in the other room. You turn off any devices that might distract you. A glass of water is okay, but nothing else. You’re not allowed to get up from that chair until you have twenty.
And then you start to make a list.
The first few ideas will come easily. They were probably already in your mind. Then you will crank out a few more. Keep thinking. A few more ideas will come.
And then you will get stuck. You can’t think of anything else. This is where the fun begins.
You can’t sit there forever, so you start to get wacky. You start coming up with ideas that are off the wall or crazy.
And then a small miracle occurs. You look at one of those wacky ideas and you think–wait a minute. That could actually work. Maybe it’s not so bizarre after all.
And then it gets better. You realize that you could combine #3 with #18. And #9 is really too skimpy, so you add a dose of #11.
Keep doing this until you have twenty. You may not use all of them. Doesn’t matter. The point is that you have expanded your expectations and gone into uncharted territory.
This method works. Try it. Tell everyone around you that you are not to be disturbed and then sit yourself down. You may be surprised by what happens.
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