Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is about how to get new ideas. Everyone likes to talk about innovation as this big, fancy concept, but if you think about it, innovation just means coming up with new ideas, preferably lots of new ideas. Because creativity turns out to be a numbers game. Some stuff will work and some stuff won't, so we've got to throw a lot of stuff at the wall to see what sticks. But very few people build much thinking time into their lives. Instead, most of us spend our days responding to emails, tramping to status meetings, and leaving precious little time open. Then we wonder why our brains feel so fried. Unfortunately, the cycle of reactivity is incredibly counterproductive. By responding to everything immediately, we don't carve out the space to come up with the ideas that make people want to email us in the first place. Some people might be able to go off into a it in the woods for months at a time, but I think most of us need to come up with more realistic ways to build strategic thinking into our lives. Fortunately, there are simple steps we can take to get our brains into churning mode quickly. In my time management fable Juliette School of Possibilities, Riley, the heroine comes up with her career saving idea while she is biking on the boardwalk. She's so busy, but she's reluctantly pulled herself away from her inbox. Then, almost by magic, she figures out an answer that had eluded her before. That scene is fiction, but I wrote it because it feels so true to life. How many of us get our best ideas while driving, or in the shower, or while hiking or biking somewhere. I can sit at my desk and feel like I'm banging my head against the wall for hours, But then I get up and go run. I don't listen to music. I just let my mind go, and I almost can't stop the ideas from coming. Indeed, I figured out a lot of the major points for Juliet's School of Possibilities while I was running around my neighborhood. The key is creating space in our lives. When we aren't in reactive mode, our minds are free to wander. Then our brains prove pretty smart. They wander into some amazing places. So figure out how you might build in some brain breaks into your life today. Maybe after you're done listening to this podcast, you don't listen to anything else in the car. In the silence, you let your thoughts go where they will. Or when you find yourself stumped at work, you get up from your desk and go walk outside. I'd say don't bring your phone but you might need it to send notes to yourself about all the great ideas I promise you're going to get. And here's the thing. Our brains are creatures of habit, like anything else. If you go into each bike ride or shower thinking I get my best ideas here, then your brain will start doing what it knows to do, and soon you'll find yourself feeling very innovative, or at least cleaner and in better shape. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then Breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeartMedia dot Com that before breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch

Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is about how to get new ideas. Everyone likes to talk about innovation as this big, fancy concept, but if you think about it, innovation just means coming up with new ideas, preferably lots of new ideas. Because creativity turns out to be a numbers game. Some stuff will work and some stuff won't, so we've got to throw a lot of stuff at the wall to see what sticks. But very few people build much thinking time into their lives. Instead, most of us spend our days responding to emails, tramping to status meetings, and leaving precious little time open. Then we wonder why our brains feel so fried. Unfortunately, the cycle of reactivity is incredibly counterproductive. By responding to everything immediately, we don't carve out the space to come up with the ideas that make people want to email us in the first place. Some people might be able to go off into a it in the woods for months at a time, but I think most of us need to come up with more realistic ways to build strategic thinking into our lives. Fortunately, there are simple steps we can take to get our brains into churning mode quickly. In my time management fable Juliette School of Possibilities, Riley, the heroine comes up with her career saving idea while she is biking on the boardwalk. She's so busy, but she's reluctantly pulled herself away from her inbox. Then, almost by magic, she figures out an answer that had eluded her before. That scene is fiction, but I wrote it because it feels so true to life. How many of us get our best ideas while driving, or in the shower, or while hiking or biking somewhere. I can sit at my desk and feel like I'm banging my head against the wall for hours, But then I get up and go run. I don't listen to music. I just let my mind go, and I almost can't stop the ideas from coming. Indeed, I figured out a lot of the major points for Juliet's School of Possibilities while I was running around my neighborhood. The key is creating space in our lives. When we aren't in reactive mode, our minds are free to wander. Then our brains prove pretty smart. They wander into some amazing places. So figure out how you might build in some brain breaks into your life today. Maybe after you're done listening to this podcast, you don't listen to anything else in the car. In the silence, you let your thoughts go where they will. Or when you find yourself stumped at work, you get up from your desk and go walk outside. I'd say don't bring your phone but you might need it to send notes to yourself about all the great ideas I promise you're going to get. And here's the thing. Our brains are creatures of habit, like anything else. If you go into each bike ride or shower thinking I get my best ideas here, then your brain will start doing what it knows to do, and soon you'll find yourself feeling very innovative, or at least cleaner and in better shape. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then Breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeartMedia dot Com that before breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch