photo credit: somegeekintn
Ideas are tricky little buggers: sometimes you have to step outside of your usual routines to trap the good ones. In the list below, steer away from actions you perform regularly. Try something new and you’ll discover a bunch of new ideas lurking!
1. Buy a book. Buying a book instead of borrowing it makes you more likely to think of it as important and pay attention to the information inside. (I use BetterWorldBooks.com because they recycle old books and give them a new life. Also, cheaper shipping to Australia, score.)
2. Chat to a stranger. Open up a conversation with the person in front of you in the line at the post office. If they’re unresponsive, try someone else. Why yes, it is awkward! But if you’re always talking to the same few people then you’re missing out on an awful lot of ways to see the world. And a lot of really awesome ideas.
3. Read a political blog. One that you violently disagree with! Spend some time trying hard to understand their viewpoint. Why do they feel the way they do? Do their ideas make sense, even if you don’t agree with them?
4. Read a magazine. Get something you’d never read in a squillion years. (Crotchet Monthly? Truck Haulers World? Mad About Mandolin?)
5. Go somewhere new. I don’t mean Guatemala, (although if you can afford it send me photos), even three suburbs over is fine. Have lunch, people-watch in the park, see what’s the same and what’s slightly different.
6. Eat a scary meal. Your idea of scary and mine will likely differ. (Internal organs? Shudder.) Choose something that is edible (in the sense that you can see people eating it), but that you’d never, ever considered putting in your mouth.
Did new actions bring forth new ideas? Tell us in the comments!