Create an Incubator File

• Ever have a fabulous idea ... and then, poof! ... it was gone?
• Ever have a wonderfully keen insight ... and then, snap! ... lost forever?

I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate that feeling of knowing I knew something. So a number of years ago I started keeping an "Incubator File" to capture all these little nuggets. You might want to, too.

There are all sorts of ways that Incubator Files can take shape:

• You can capture your ideas in a manila folder.
• You can capture your ideas in a special file on your computer's desktop.
• You can captte your ideas on a set of index cards.
• You can capture your ideas on different-colored Post-it notes.
• You can capture your ideas on a yellow legal pad.
• You can capture your ideas as an Outlook Task, or Note.

The point is, though, that you do capture them (or just get used to that vague sense of having had a brilliant idea ... no more).

Here's how to "incubate." Whenever you get a flash of a great idea, or inspiration, write it down and put it in your incubator file. Done.

How's that for easy?! (Now I also like to include the date and a little context information to help me remember when the idea came to me, but that's completely optional.)

Then, on a monthly basis, take a half-hour, or so, and visit your file. See if any of the kernels inside are ready to pop! Don't worry if some of your "incubatees" lay dormant; sometimes it takes time for Seeds of Brilliance to properly germinate. And your Incubator File will insure that they're not forgotten in the mean time.

After all: "Even the best ideas still have to be remembered."