As if…
A large portion of my job as an entrepreneur and leader is to come up with crazy and sometimes random ideas. I know, sounds fun, right?
It’s actually a lot of work and to not only identify an opportunity but formulate a business model that somehow extracts value out of an existing ecosystem requires a lot of brain power. There are some people where this comes incredibly natural to them but the problem that I’ve encountered with these types of people (and they admit it) is that they often fail to actually do something with it.
Identifying opportunity is easy – we all do that biologically as it’s part of our natural order to self-preserve, but capitalizing on one is an entirely different matter.
What I’ve discovered over time is that it’s quite possible to fabricate an environment that helps facilitate innovative thinking; in other words, construct and manufacture variables in your circumstance to produce more signals than noise in your very already-busy mind.
What are some of the mechanisms that I use to help construct these very vibrant ecosystems of thought and ingenuity?
There are a few but one of the key ingredients for me is simple: Rest. Lots of it.
I’m already exhausted from the previous day’s demands and the demands of the current day and even tomorrow – so it requires an intentionality that few afford but let me tell you that it works.
Margin creates opportunity for rest and rest is the garden in which ideas can grow. If you’re constantly tired how will you ever have the energy to produce that game-changing idea? I can’t tell you how many times I wake up from a nap fully refreshed and the idea that I’ve been wrestling with is fully clarified in my mind’s eye or after a well-rested night I wake up with an entirely new thought.
If you’re limiting your amount of rest than you’re limiting your ability to think with innovation. Sure, you may be getting a lot done but you know as well as I do that you’re still sadly unsatisfied when you flop into bed completely spent.
Great stuff John! I am sold on the need for rest. Over the last 6 months, I have made a nap apart of my daily route (most days!) and as you have seen, it makes a big difference.
My productivity and creativity has increased. A mind too stressed to just “get by” isn’t free to create.
tell me good sir – what project(s) are you working on now?
One of them is to continuing to build my blog and find a voice within it. I have set some lofty goals for the year, which will require me to focus more time and energy into my blog. I also work on a team that is giving direction to our organization after some major organizational and staffing changes. It has been fun and challenging and giving me the chance “to come up with crazy and sometimes random idea”.
have you shared those goals publicly?
I have with my wife! I have not put them online, although I have thought of putting them up on a blog post. A few of my goals regarding my blog site are to double my Twitter followers (from 350 to 700) and to hit 100 email subscribers (I currently have 12).
Maybe we should adopt like so many other cultures around the world and everything is shut down for “siesta time”
This makes sense, but sometimes I feel that I am more product when I just go and go and go, but I will admit it does finally caught up to me. But I am usually only need a day or two get caught back to start going again!
I also have a friend who things he has all kind of great ideas….which some of them might be. The probably is not the ideas, the problem is never acts, executes, or even gets anything off the ground past the idea. Maybe he need more rest!
it’s always up to the individual… everyone’s different, that’s for sure. the thing is that we spend so much time not focused in the right areas… and that’s disappointing for everyone because everyone loses out on that innovation.
So true!! For years I had been running too hard and getting 3-5 hours of sleep a night while not modeling this well to my team. After realizing what you just said I sat down and wrote out my tentative daily schedule for the next 6 months, specifically to schedule in more sleep. I sent an email to my team letting them know that I was sorry for not modeling this well and explained the reality is that we’re better with rest than we are without it. I also informed them of my commitment to get better at this and invited them to say something if this didn’t happen. Thanks John for your encouragement here.
wow, that is so brave of you. dang son.
…rest is the garden in which ideas can grow! Awesome line John. Started the year programing my 168 hours of the week and first thing I did: 168-49=119… Took out 7 hours of sleep for 7 days a week. No excuse… At whatever time I go to sleep – my next alarm is 7 hours ahead. So far; 23 days strong!
Also cleaned out lots of things from my schedule! Simplify…
Great word Jorge. I think I’ve noticed that by programming a consistent schedule, i’m more free to be present in the moment and not worry about the thing i’m not doing since that thing is scheduled to be handled later. This is especially true when spending time with my wife and kids, that i’m not as distracted. It also helped me see where i’ve been wasting time, re-prioritize, and simplify. Good on ya for sticking with it!!