Last week, I spent the whole workweek in bed with an awful cold that not only kept me coughing, but fogged up my entire brain so badly I couldn’t write. It wasn’t just that I didn’t have the energy to write – I literally didn’t have the mental capacity to do so. I couldn’t think of ideas or put anything intelligent down on paper.
You’ve probably had times like that too. When you’re sick, or having a really stressful time, or even just struggling to get your normal work done, creating something new is awfully hard. A even found that study by researchers at Ohio State University people who are under stress are physically unable to think laterally and come up with new ideas.
The hard part about feeling like this is that you can’t just put your personal branding efforts on pause whenever you’re not feeling good.
So, how do you come up with ideas for your personal branding efforts when your brain won’t let you? (And all you want to do is curl up in bed.)
Retreat back to what you know
When you’re having a hard time, don’t pressure yourself to push the envelope. Concentrate instead on writing about something you already know a lot about – and either take a new angle or expand on a past post. Going back to what you know well will give your brain a break when it needs one, while still doing what you need to do. (This is why I’m writing about how to come up with ideas!)
Steal ideas from other people
By this, I don’t mean you should steal someone else’s content. Instead, look for concepts you can steal. This is done in innovation all the time. The idea for the auto assembly line came from the way clothing makers assembled shirts. The inventor of Velcro stole his idea from the burrs stuck to his dog’s fur. Look for a good idea in other areas, and figure out how you can use that same concept to create your own material. (It’s a lot easier than coming up with a brand new idea.)
Make your head hurt more
If your brain is absolutely refusing to work, you need to make it so uncomfortable that it has to think of something new for relief. Do this by opening a book, pointing randomly at the page, picking the closest noun and then asking yourself how it fits with what you’re trying to think about. If the word is completely unrelated to your challenge, your brain will force itself to come up with a new idea on its own in just a few seconds. It feels awkward, but it really works. (Don’t believe me, go here for info on how it works.)
So, if you’re having a rough week, like I did, try using these techniques to move your personal branding forward. Those are the easiest ways I know to come up with ideas and to jump-start your brain when it is completely unresponsive.
And take comfort in knowing that when you get better, or the stress goes down, your ability to think of brilliant personal branding ideas will go right back to normal.
Author:
Katie Konrath writes about “ideas so fresh… they should be slapped” at getFreshMinds.com, a top innovation blog.
