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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Catching the brain rain

Warm, Partly Cloudy, 100% Chance of Brain Rain

I like James' ideas for catching the "brain rain" -- a way of setting aside a few minutes each day for firewalled creativity through idea generation and capture. This kind of habit could fit nicely into an end-of-day ritual, maybe before a quick review and daily cleanup.

Keys to catching the brain rain:

  • set aside 10 minutes, each and every day
  • have pen and paper handy
  • allow yourself the freedom to think crazy thoughts
  • don’t worry if nothing really productive springs to mind right away
  • periodically scan over your notes from these sessions as things may pop into your mind after they have “marinated” for a while
  • if no ideas pop into your head pick a fun topic and doodle a bit
  • use word association to get things rolling if you feel stuck e.g. thinking -> thoughts -> mind -> brainstorm -> brain rain
Project Simplify » Blog Archive » Daily time for's picture

[...] You can imagine my...

[...] You can imagine my delight when I saw Merlin Mann’s post recently about Catching the Brain Rain on his 43 Folders blog. He introduces this as “a way of setting aside a few minutes each day for firewalled creativity through idea generation and capture.” A techie way of saying, “time for you to develop and play with ideas.” [...]

 
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