Do you constantly have new ideas? Can’t say ‘no’ to others or yourself?… read on…

‘No more ideas! Have you got it? It’s a simple word, say after me…. noooooo. Come on, try again…noooooo. Say it, SAY IT!’

This was my husband talking, I was just giggling.

I keep having ideas, they don’t stop. I have buckets of them. When Noel sees me suddenly look up with a sparkle in my eye and hears the words, ‘oh, I’ve just had a… ‘ he instantaneously sticks his fingers in his ears and hums rather loudly.

Right now I am:

• Marketing two books
• Writing my third book (and forth and okay, planning my fifth and a bit of the sixth, and…)
• Setting up a training business
• Learning French
• Renovating a boat (currently living in a worksite and working with the rather noisy, smelly grinder ringing in my left ear)
• Keeping on top of blogging!

So, how do we say ‘no’ to others and, perhaps even harder, ‘no’ to ourselves?

My best tip is to be honest and forthright, if you have no time, or don’t like the idea/proposal, just explain it. Even if it is as simple as, ‘I just don’t have the time, I am helping others with different projects and can’t take on any more.”

There are hundreds of tips, tricks, ideas and advice on doing this. Here’s some great links.

How To Say No to Anyone (even a good friend)

How To Learn To Say ‘No’

10 Guilt-Free Strategies to Saying No

But, I couldn’t find any advice on how to stop myself having ideas. Am I the only person with this problem? I can’t be.

So what to do? Well, I can’t stop, I have no control on them, they pop into my head without any introduction, so I have to ‘manage them.’

Here’s what I do to try and contain some sort of sanity and order in my head:

• Write them down immediately – it maybe a goodie – don’t let it disappear
• Don’t carry the idea in your head (a lot turn up (uninvited) in the middle of the night) – so keep a pen and paper with you at all times, so you can jot them down
• Create a useable and simple filing system that you can refer back to – ideas maybe linked together
• If the idea is stretching it – e.g. Build another boat next week, finishing it by Friday. Then ditch it immediately, delete it (I get Ted (who lives in my head) to erase it. (oh, erm, is that too much information?)
• If it’s a similar idea or an expansion of another person’s idea, hand it over. An author friend is writing a help book – she probably has all the ideas she needs, but I have some of my own. I’ll pass them on, she can use them or ditch them, but they are gone from my busy little brain.
• Tackle one at a time (says she who is doing several at the same time). But, tackle one properly, keep the main idea as your focus. The rest, just mull them over, perhaps manipulate them bit and give them a ‘tickle’ – then see what shape they morph into. The idea maybe perfectly ripe when you’ve finished your current ‘idea’.
• If you have more than one idea running at once, get organised (see The 7 Highly Effective Habits of Me!)
• If all else fails, write them on scraps of paper and stuff them into an envelope and when you’ve consumed half-a-bottle of wine, open them up and have a good giggle (or start the new idea….)

• 

  By zirconicusso,
  Stock Image – image ID: 100257800
  Smart brain, creative Idea concept, flat style. (Free Digital Photos)