Have you ever had a brilliant idea only to forget it later? Ideas can be fleeting creatures. Some will stick with us, while others will be gone forever. Getting your brain unclogged is easy when you take the time to put your ideas on paper.

Writing your ideas by hand activates something called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), which is another reason it’s so powerful. Essentially, this filter separates information based on urgency and importance. When you have a goal to achieve, this part of the brain helps. If you write it down, it gives it urgency, makes it specific, and makes it more important.

Additionally, it lets you take advantage of what Neuropsychologists call the Generation Effect, which says that ideas we generate are more easily remembered and, therefore, more likely to be actionable.

The benefits of writing down your thoughts are multiple:

• Unclog, free up headspace space, reduce stress, and make room for new ideas.
• Preserve, recollect your thoughts, even those that appear in fleeting moments.
• Operationalize, create tangible records to review, refine, and methods for implementing your ideas later.

Follow our in-house recipe for getting better at writing and organizing your ideas:

1- Always carry a logbook or have a digital tool like Klient (voice memos are also good options) at your fingertips.
2- When a good idea pops into your mind, jot it down immediately, don’t wait.
3- Don’t judge or overanalyze the raw input at this stage. Just write it down as it comes.
4- Review your idea log periodically and determine which to develop further (Explore > Eliminate > Execute).

Use these simple tips to relieve your mind and ensure your brilliance isn’t forgotten! This is how we generate the insightful topics we explore in our Klient Tips series, by simply writing down our ideas immediately, wherever we are.

Keep another great idea from slipping away into oblivion! Start writing them down now by establishing a consistent method of recording so you can always retrace and develop them later. Teams can also use Klient to organize their ideas and transform them into actionable items.

Losing a great idea can lead to frustration and, who knows, great opportunities. Remember, an idea not written down is an idea lost forever. Unburden your brain, empower your creativity, write your best ideas, and witness the wonders of ideation done right!