Dream Weaver – Organizing your Ideas and Thoughts

I feel like a mental drain has been attached to my brain.  I am in the process of updating my website and blog. I have had this WordPress blog for over a year and wanted a more custom look.  I wanted my blog to stand out!  I love to look at blogs with style.  I wanted that!  I  found a great designer who only designed on Blogger, so not knowing much of anything, I moved my blog (www.afreshstarttheblog.blogspot.com).  I LOVE the design but was uncomfortable on Blogger.  I am not saying Blogger is bad, I am just more familiar with WordPress and this change has been tough!   I have decided Iwill be moving my blog back to WordPress and my website, too!   This process will take time. (Ugh, patience is not my strongest asset!)   I am hiring a designer to handle both the Blog and Website, since again, I want a more custom feel.  I have learned that I am NOT good at digital design…no matter how hard I try! 

In the process of this change, I have found a lot about organizing ”ideas”.   This has been a challenge because you don’t physically see and touch these ideas floating in your head.  How do you organize something that isn’t physically here?   But really, if you don’t organize them, they will get lost in your mental clutter!  I have been wasting time trying to make these changes because I didn’t have a game plan in place.  I was just searching for ideas, but not placing the ideas I have or found in an organized home!

My project has been critiquing my website and blog, as well as other websites in and out of my industry.  I have been making notes, printing of pages for likes and dislikes, and thinking about what I want from my site.  I found that my designer really helped guide me in organizing my thoughts.  His questions helped me to understand what I should be looking for as well as how to help guide him in understanding what I want.  I have had a file of “Web Ideas” filling up for months now as I have been getting ready to take the plunge.  I had a cluttered file of ideas and no real master plan as to what to do with it.    I wound up sorting through my papers and creating a chart of what I like and dislike about each site I have visited.  This helped me to articulate what I wanted.  I had a clear path to the finish line!

I have many clients who have this same problem with ideas they want to do with their home projects.  Whether it is remodeling, redecorating or a dream home file, they have all these ideas (scraps of papers, magazine clippings, photos, catalogue pages) all stuffed into one file with no rhyme or reason.  I work with them on creating a binder or accordion file folder to keep their “ideas” in an organized manner.  If using a binder, we use page protectors and dividers (easily found in discount stores or office supply stores).  I personally like the binder because you can flip through the pages, remove things you no longer like, add to each section and protect the pages as you look at them.  Use the dividers to break the “ideas” project binder down into bite size pieces.  For example, you may be renovating a kitchen.  You would want to break it down by counters, cabinetry, appliances, decorative accents, paint colors, fixtures and flooring.  One thing I realized in my project is that you need a way to communicate to others what you really like, by showing them what you don’t like.  I really have found it helpful in guiding me to what I want!

What project are you working on that could use an idea binder?  We would love to hear what it is and how organizing your ideas will benefit your project!  Leave us a comment.