Generating Blogging Ideas and Staying Motivated

A reader recently inquired how I manage to consistently come up with article ideas and stay productive. The weird thing is, repetitively coming up with fresh ideas for articles is my toughest challenge by far. Along with being a part-time author, I have a full-time career and a family. This creates a dual challenge of producing ideas and having the time to plan out and deliver them.

I have to make my own time to get the work done. I try to work when everyone is asleep and when I get on a role with something I don't stop until I finish or crash. As for the task of producing new ideas, I have a few methods that have helped me out a lot.

Here are my best pointers for staying motivated and generating content:

Create More Ideas than you Need

Greater numbers of ideas = more production - period.

You need to bring in as many ideas and concepts as possible. Then, pick the best stuff from that pool. I am constantly looking for ideas, inspiration, questions, dilemas, arguments, and anything else that makes me want to write. Sure enough, these things are everywhere; whether we're paying attention or not.

Capture, Store, Process, and Use Ideas - All Day - Every Day

Like I said, great ideas are going on all around us. You need to record these things in a way that you can take action upon them at a later date. My two main tools for capturing and acting on content are a paper notebook and Evernote (www.Evernote.com) software. Evernote works on a Windows or Mac computer along with all smartphones. They also have a browser plugin that will quickly send information from web pages to your notebook. Whenever I get an idea or see something useful, I immediately capture it somewhere. If I have my notebook, I write it down. Later on I snap a picture and send it to my Evernote app. If I just have my phone, I snap a picture and quickly type in something to help me remember what I thought. All of these notes get sent to folders like "article ideas" or "marketing" or "productivity".

Consume as much Information as Possible

If you want to get ideas and inspiration then you need to read, watch, or hear inspiring works. I read mountains of information every day. The best tool that I have found for massive, efficient information consumption is an RSS Reader. RSS Readers allow you to subscribe to information updates from blogs, news sites, and just about anything else on the web.

I prefer using Google Reader because it is web-based and available everywhere. I am currently subscribed to upwards of 200 RSS feeds. I get articles, news stories, videos, shopping deals, and more pouring into buckets that I rapidly sift through. I group all of these feeds together by topic (Productivity, Gadgets, Sports, Finance, etc.). When I have a few minutes to read, I can quickly bang through 30 or so fresh articles on a given topic.

For most articles I just scan the headlines and pictures, for others I read, star, and share them. I send the really good ones, to Evernote for future use. I have never seen a swifter way to digest reams of information, plus get a quick feel for how a topic is trending.

Step Away from the Computer and Meet Some Real People

Nothing puts ideas in your brain more rapidly than interesting communication. I regularly force myself to find local functions where I can get out and meet real people. Some of these people might read my blog and others are involved in things that interest me. You get a surprising number of ideas that way. One of the places that I go to find interesting events in my area is Meetup.com. If two or more people want to get together and discuss a topic, you'll find them there.

Look for Ideas in the Scenarios and Challenges Around You

Think about your daily life experiences. What kind of things make life more complicated, easier, more fun, scary, or frustrating? Take those experiences and the emotion that they generate and try to relate them to your topic. I probably write some of my best stuff when I'm energized about something annoying.

What to do with all of these Ideas

I take action on some of my captured ideas right away and others I just save for a rainy day. Whenever I have writer's block or I'm just tapped out, I comb through my notes and look for ideas. This has gotten me "unstuck" plenty of times.