Borrowed Brainstorming Techniques

In my ‘old j-o-b’ I worked on a variety of different projects. Most of these projects were ones I chose to work on or ones I developed and proposed. The two things they all had in common were that they all revolved around one central theme-logistics and distribution.

Since I was very good at what I did and had a history of high performance and success I was given the leeway to structure my day and my projects in whatever way I needed to reach my goals and my teams goals.

Leaving my career to work for myself and to be available to my family when they need me most has created a similar opportunity, except that I have even more leeway to structure my time and projects.

The themes my work-from-home-life will revolve around are: writing, learning, sharing and teaching.

In regard to structure, so far my days seem to flow one into another with no regard to whether it is Wednesday or Saturday.

The only things I need to work around are medical appointments and scheduled family events. The rest of my days revolve around periods of high productivity, early AM to midday and late evening, and less productive periods which usually occur in the afternoon. Since I find myself sometimes going to bed at 10 or 11pm and getting back up at 3, 4 or 5am, some afternoons are spent taking a nap. (One of the many benefits of being my own boss.)

Once I identified the theme of my new work-from-home-life and my preferred way of structuring my day I had to decide what projects I wanted to work on. I like to be involved in a variety of things and have several things going on at one time. Dividing my work into projects is the best way for me to approach my work whether it’s writing a blog post or developing a new product or service.

To brainstorm a list of projects I used two techniques. The first one is the brainchild of Barbara Winter and the second one belongs to Jonathan Fields.

Borrowed Brainstorming Technique One - borrowed from Barbara Winter “The $100 Hour”

Brainstorming:
–Spend an hour a day brainstorming ideas that will generate at least $100
Action:
–Choose one and act on it
–Stick with it until it earns a least $100
–Re-evaluate and decide if to keep doing it, or not
–How can I expand it, make it better or do it faster
–Repeat often

Spending an hour everyday this week brainstorming and making a list of ideas has generated several pages of ideas and numerous projects I can act on immediately, as well as, several projects that will take longer to implement.

Now, I am working on prioritizing my list and creating action plana. This is as much fun as generating ideas. I spend some time brainstorming a list of action steps and different ways I can implement my ideas and then begin to take action.

Taking action is fun, too. The next several weeks will be spent in setting several projects in motion.

Borrowed Brainstorming Technique Two – borrowed from Jonathan Fields

–Make a list of everything I think would be insanely cool to do for a living.

Simple, but effective.

Plus, I love the phrasing, “insanely cool“!

Asking myself again and again “What would I think would be insanely cool to do for a living?” generated a long list containing some old ideas as well as several new ones.

Most of these ideas were bigger in scope than the ones I generated using Barbara’s “$100 Hour” technique, but all the ideas fit together and this exercise has helped me in forming a longer term vision for my projects.

Both of this borrowed brainstorming techniques are effective and fun. Give them a try and let me know how you liked them.

In the meantime, you can learn more about Barbara and Jonathan and their action-oriented ideas to creating and building a life on your own terms by inviting them into your home and reading their books.

Honestly, these are two ‘must haves’ for every entrepreneur’s personal library.

Another very cool way to help you brainstorm ideas and to get to know yourself better is to join me for the next “Journaling for Self-Discovery” workshop that begins on November 22nd.

As 2009 comes to an end, this workshop is a great way to prepare yourself in setting authentic New Year’s goals that align with who you are and what you want.

Since this is the last workshop of the year and to celebrate my participation in the Get Inspire Project I am offering a 50% discount to everyone.

Will you join me?

For more information and to register go to http://dreamingcafe.eventbrite.com/ and use discount code GIP1109 when you check out.

Related posts:
Journaling for Self-Discovery (2)
Journaling for Self-Discovery, Renee’s story