Capture the thoughts from the brain 🧠

Original Photo by Gaspar Uhas

How often do you get stuck when trying to solve a particular problem? Or a few times have a brilliant idea that comes out of nowhere but a few days or even hours later you forget it completely? Many of us certainly experience it, including myself of course.

As a Software Engineer, when I’m stuck in coding, the only thing I do is to think in front of the computer. Staring at the code on the screen, thinking so hard and hoping for inspiration. This makes me really curious about how we can stimulate the brain so that it can produce good ideas more often.

There’s a research that I read on the Internet showing that when we exercise, blood pressure and blood flow will increase throughout the body, including the brain. More blood means more energy and oxygen, so it can make our brains work better so that it can produce new ideas.

Wendy Suzuki, a Neuroscientist through her TED Talk also said that exercise can help us improve mood, concentration, and memory. She also said that her ideas came when she started her routine exercises.

One that is interesting, the book Steal Like an Artist written by Austin Kleon has a slightly different opinion. Austin said that good ideas come when we are bored. If you need an idea, then try washing dishes, ironing clothes, taking a small walk, even staring at a small point on the wall that has no meaning at all.

The thing I can conclude is, it seems that good ideas do not come when we are thinking hard, but brilliant ideas come when the brain is relaxed. Exercise or doing boring things, for example.

If you think about it, it seems very illogical. How can washing dishes, walking, and things that are not related at all give a solution. Until I experienced it myself, once when I was stuck in my work, instead of focusing on finding a solution, I went to the ice cream shop to eat my favorite chocolate ice cream, I don’t know why, but at that time a brilliant idea came out of nowhere. In addition, ideas often come when I exercise at the gym.

Now I try to get used to exercising regularly and doing activities that relax my brain when I’m stressed.

One thing to note is, it’s important to capture the ideas. Always carry a tool to record the ideas that emerge. I personally like to note down all the ideas that come up anytime and anywhere via the Notion app. I note down even the most insignificant ideas. Being recorded doesn’t mean it has to be executed.

Maybe ideas that we consider useless now, could be very useful in the future. So never underestimate the ideas that pop into our heads ✍️😁.

I hope my writing here is useful.

Thank you for reading 👋