1
00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,080
Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

2
00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,760
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to get new ideas. Everyone

3
00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,200
Speaker 1: likes to talk about innovation as this big, fancy concept,

4
00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,560
Speaker 1: but if you think about it, innovation just means coming

5
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,439
Speaker 1: up with new ideas, preferably lots of new ideas. Because

6
00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,040
Speaker 1: creativity turns out to be a numbers game. Some stuff

7
00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,479
Speaker 1: will work and some stuff won't, so we've got to

8
00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,240
Speaker 1: throw a lot of stuff at the wall to see

9
00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:33,040
Speaker 1: what sticks. But very few people build much thinking time

10
00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,560
Speaker 1: into their lives. Instead, most of us spend our days

11
00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,599
Speaker 1: responding to emails, tramping to status meetings, and leaving precious

12
00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,080
Speaker 1: little time open. Then we wonder why our brains feel

13
00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,879
Speaker 1: so fried. Unfortunately, the cycle of reactivity is incredibly counterproductive.

14
00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,640
Speaker 1: By responding to everything immediately, we don't carve out the

15
00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,160
Speaker 1: space to come up with the ideas that make people

16
00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,360
Speaker 1: want to email us in the first place. Some people

17
00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,280
Speaker 1: might be able to go off into a it in

18
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 1: the woods for months at a time, but I think

19
00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:04,319
Speaker 1: most of us need to come up with more realistic

20
00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,960
Speaker 1: ways to build strategic thinking into our lives. Fortunately, there

21
00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:09,959
Speaker 1: are simple steps we can take to get our brains

22
00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:14,200
Speaker 1: into churning mode quickly. In my time management fable Juliette

23
00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:18,000
Speaker 1: School of Possibilities, Riley, the heroine comes up with her

24
00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,800
Speaker 1: career saving idea while she is biking on the boardwalk.

25
00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,520
Speaker 1: She's so busy, but she's reluctantly pulled herself away from

26
00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 1: her inbox. Then, almost by magic, she figures out an

27
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,319
Speaker 1: answer that had eluded her before. That scene is fiction,

28
00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,720
Speaker 1: but I wrote it because it feels so true to life.

29
00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,720
Speaker 1: How many of us get our best ideas while driving,

30
00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,160
Speaker 1: or in the shower, or while hiking or biking somewhere.

31
00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:45,920
Speaker 1: I can sit at my desk and feel like I'm

32
00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,880
Speaker 1: banging my head against the wall for hours, But then

33
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,280
Speaker 1: I get up and go run. I don't listen to music.

34
00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,840
Speaker 1: I just let my mind go, and I almost can't

35
00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,320
Speaker 1: stop the ideas from coming. Indeed, I figured out a

36
00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,160
Speaker 1: lot of the major points for Juliet's School of Possibilities

37
00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,440
Speaker 1: while I was running around my neighborhood. The key is

38
00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,200
Speaker 1: creating space in our lives. When we aren't in reactive mode,

39
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,639
Speaker 1: our minds are free to wander. Then our brains prove

40
00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:18,400
Speaker 1: pretty smart. They wander into some amazing places. So figure

41
00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:20,600
Speaker 1: out how you might build in some brain breaks into

42
00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,960
Speaker 1: your life today. Maybe after you're done listening to this podcast,

43
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,400
Speaker 1: you don't listen to anything else in the car. In

44
00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,920
Speaker 1: the silence, you let your thoughts go where they will.

45
00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,160
Speaker 1: Or when you find yourself stumped at work, you get

46
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,720
Speaker 1: up from your desk and go walk outside. I'd say

47
00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,440
Speaker 1: don't bring your phone but you might need it to

48
00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,320
Speaker 1: send notes to yourself about all the great ideas I

49
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,639
Speaker 1: promise you're going to get. And here's the thing. Our

50
00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,240
Speaker 1: brains are creatures of habit, like anything else. If you

51
00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:54,760
Speaker 1: go into each bike ride or shower thinking I get

52
00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:58,920
Speaker 1: my best ideas here, then your brain will start doing

53
00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,160
Speaker 1: what it knows to do, and soon you'll find yourself

54
00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:07,040
Speaker 1: feeling very innovative, or at least cleaner and in better shape.

55
00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,360
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

56
00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:19,480
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

57
00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,760
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

58
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,480
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

59
00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,919
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

60
00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:35,840
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four then Breakfast Pod. You

61
00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,320
Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast

62
00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,760
Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot Com that before breakfast is spelled out

63
00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,520
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

64
00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:46,280
Speaker 1: to staying in touch