Back in the fall, I wrote about creating an “idea lab.” The premise was that we all need a way to push ourselves to brainstorm, think creatively, and come up with new ideas.
I still stand by that. This newsletter is my “lab” — the place I come to experiment and gather my jumbled ideas.
But I read something this week that stopped me in my tracks and made me rethink the “idea lab” concept.
In her newsletter about B2B writing (is this meta enough for you?), Sarah Greesonbach wrote about our generation’s new survival skill: wading through the abundance of our world. In other words, we live in a time of plenty, of noise, of millions of ideas and distractions and shiny things vying for our attention and creative energy.
We get “sucked in” to our phones, and of course we do! They hold a universe of information that we’re basically defenseless against.
How do we live in that reality of abundance, while also discerning what’s most important, separating the signal from the noise, and (here’s the kicker) listening to our own small voice amid all of the jumbled, jargony chaos?
Phew. Do I relate to that struggle.
Sometimes I don’t need a messy, crazy idea lab where explosions are happening and potions are bubbling over onto every surface. I need a stripped-down, silent idea meditation garden where I can cut through the noise and focus.
Anyone else relate?
As my three-year-old says, “I need some peace and quiet here!”
For many “thought leaders,” the act of clarifying, filtering, and simplifying is a true superpower. That’s why we look to the people we respect when we need guidance — we want their perspective on all of the competing factors beeping and buzzing around us. We want them to help us make sense of it all.
Can you do that? Could you be an information filter? Are you able to cut through the noise and give your calm, steady take? If you can, you may have a real gift to give yourself, your team, your clients, or your audience.
Here’s how I quiet the noise and clarify my ideas:
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I work in a different physical space. Pre-COVID, I would often work on big writing projects in a coffee shop. There’s something about getting out of your routine and your familiar physical environment that unlocks a new level of focus and creative honing. These days, those long coffee shop mornings aren’t possible, but I still try to somehow shift my workspace when I need to shift mental gears.
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I go analog. The internet is, by design, infinitely distracting. And my natural tendency is to read everything I can and to keep looking for new research and information and perspectives. But when I need to stop the information-gathering process and switch to refining and polishing, I put away my phone and computer and write on paper. This week, I’ve been working on a web copy project for a client. I’d spent weeks asking questions and gathering information. But finally, I printed out the web pages I needed to rewrite and went to work with paper and pen. Without a million browser tabs to flip through, I found focus much faster.
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I think like a kindergarten teacher. My oldest daughter is in kindergarten this year, and it’s been a fascinating chapter of parenthood for me. Since September, her little brain has exploded with new information (“Mom, do you know about the Baroque period?”). She’s constantly asking me hard questions, and I’ve had to improve my skills at explaining big concepts, simply and briefly. I use that same skill in my work when I’m refining complex information. So much of our corporate messaging is jumbled, jargony, and much more complicated than it needs to be. If you’re struggling to define your message or your perspective, pretend like you’re explaining it to a six-year-old. Get super simple. You might find a breakthrough in the simplicity.
How do you focus? I’d love to hear your tricks.
