Where do you come up with your best ideas?

Over my adult life and career I’ve found that when and where I come up with my best ideas has changed multiple times, and also tended to go through phases before evolving into a new source of ideas.

In my 20s when I was on the seven-year college plan and I worked more than 30 hours a week at squeegee factory, the doldrums and repetitiveness of assembling squeegees was my impetus for song lyric and movie screen plays idea. I listened to the radio with headphones and kept a notebook with me and would write down the ideas while I worked.

Then when I got my first professional job (in public relations) I would keep a notepad next to the bed and often wake up in the middle of the night and write down business and work-related ideas.

And somewhere in this period I also found that showers provided inspiration for new ideas. The key was to remember them and write them down afterward.

Then in the 90s I started to fly a lot for work and found that the ideas just poured like lava from a volcano when I was soaring through the air at more than 30,000 feet and I was inspired by the clouds, horizon, and the land below.

And then from 1998 through 2007 I had long commutes in my car to work. I kept a notebook on the passenger seat and would scribble notes while driving (with eyes on the road or when stopped in traffic). The challenge with this approach was trying to decipher my scribbling when I got to work or home.

From 2008 to into 2020 I worked from home but averaged 100,000 or more miles on planes per year, and flying returned as a place and time for idea generation. But the real source of inspiration were the clients I would meet with or speakers I listened to at conferences. Planes now became more where I reflected on and made sense of what I heard — and then converted the inspiration into ideas.

Then COVID hit in 2020 and I lost my corporate job. But I increased the number of walks per day. Instead of just walking the dogs once per day, I often added 1-2 more walks - without the dogs – and these walks became my new time and place of idea generation. And now I simply dictate my ideas into Apple Notes as I walk (which still requires a lot of cleanup). And while I no longer keep a notepad next to the bed, I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and go into my den and jot down ideas on a note pad. But interestingly, I dictated the first draft while sitting on the bed before going to sleep. The idea hit at that moment, and I didn't want to lose it.

As someone who has always been an “idea person,” I’ve thought a lot about this process over the years and have often reflected on what the above places and times have in common.

For me at least they all have a sense of solitude and the ability to reduce the number of outside inputs. Flying with headphones on, driving alone in the car, falling asleep, showering, walking by yourself, or working a monotonous job. In all of these approaches I am able to close out the world around me at varying levels — with and without headphones.

But to be clear, the input and source of the ideas usually had their actual inspiration from listening to and learning from other humans. Whether a client meeting or call, reading a book, listening to a speaker at a conference, podcast, or TEDTalk.

The key for me then has been first and foremost to prioritize time to listen and learn - but then marry the input source with quiet time where the ideas can blossom, take shape, and become MY OWN ideas.

What do you think? Where do come up with your best ideas?