Capture Your Thoughts

This is not really a security blog though many security people will appreciate it.  This is for all the people who have good ideas; all the people who think "you know, this would work better if ..."; all the people who can't help but think about solving every problem they hear:

CAPTURE YOUR THOUGHTS

There are very few things which can not be created w/ time & money.  Thoughts and ideas are one of them.  No matter how much money you spend, it will not make the award winning idea appear.  No matter how long you wait, you will not simply outlast the idea.  It will not get tired of being hidden and jump into your mind (or the mind of another).  But once it's there, it is the most precious commodity in the world.  It has real value. And you will lose it if you don't do something about it.

The first step is to have the facilities to capture it.  Do you tell yourself you'll just remember it later?  You won't.  Whether you always carry pen and paper, have a phone with something like evernote or springpad, or even twitter, make sure you have something with you.  If there's some place you are particularly creative (hiking, in the shower, or right before bed), make SURE you have something there.  I especially like aquanotes!

The second is to commit to writing it down.  It's very easy to tell yourself you'll do it later.  Or to try and file it in your head for when you really need it.  Don't.  You might as well be pouring a Duval down the drain.  You're wasting something of value.  Even if you aren't going to use it right then, write it down.  Tag it with some metadata.  Capture it!

You may never use your ideas.  You may never tell anyone about them. You may forget you even had them.  But when it comes time to solve problems, you'll always have them and the world will be better because of it!