Never Loose a Thought

A few years back I attended a conference at Willow Creek. One of the things that Bill Hybels shared during his presentation was - "Never loose a thought." The main point here is that when you hear or see a creative idea make sure that you have a system to archive it.

There are really two parts to this process. First there is the archiving of the creative idea and secondly being able to retrieve the idea.

For me I carry my Blackberry with me most everywhere I go. Anytime I see something I will input a text memo and save. I also have a camera on the Blackberry that can serve as a portable scanner for printed materials. When I sync my Blackberry with my computer I will then save everything in a special "Never Loose a Thought" folder that is then organized by subject.

It comes in real handy that when I am looking to prepare a stewardship message, I can go into my "Never Loose a Thought" folder and find another folder labeled "Stewardship" where I can find an illustration I heard or read about sixth months previous.

It takes a bit of work and effort to maintain such a system - especially getting started. But it pays off in the long run when you are looking for a bit of inspiration but all you can do is draw a blank.