Does anyone else have their best ideas when they are distracted, stressed or bored by something else?

I often do.

I have always had something of a scattergun mind when it comes to ideas. It’s what allowed me to make part of my income from selling them. Off the shelf or custom-made, it’s up to you.

This week, I was working on what became an onerous editing task. It just wasn’t working for me. So I took a walk.

Walking or bathing are the two things that I always recommend to students, mentees or clients who want to explore ideas. Only this time it didn’t quite work.

Catching up on social media worked. Doomscrolling prompted a thought unrelated to anything I saw, but held by enough thread to be able to pull upon.

That led to a quick bit of rabbit-hole digging, some frantic scribbles and an idea that could elicit enough work for six months to a year.

I don’t drive. Not for any high-minded environmental or ethical reasons, but mostly because I am easily distracted (that and living in London).

I’m the guy who is going to rear-end you while wondering what a cat is up to, or spying a squirrel.

Useless for road safety. Perfect for creativity.

Get in touch if you’d like a squirrel-gazing mind to get you or your business out of a creative hole, or you simply need a London-based thought leadership consultant: iain@thisidea.co.uk