What would you say?

Recently, I was asked for some practical tips about idea generation, specifically around daily practices. Below is my advice. What would you tell someone?

• Know yourself. I am an extrovert and need to say things aloud to help sort through and generate ideas.

• Keep a list of ideas and where/when ideas hit you. Maybe you can find some patterns. During grad school, I kept a document with all the paper ideas or research questions that hit me. This gave me a nice little place to go if I needed a topic. My dissertation topic came out of that list. 
• Work hard not to censor yourself. It's hard, but writing down every idea, even if it wacky can help get the gears going.

I had some other, but I think these were the most practical. What practical advice would you give? What methods have worked for you?

Comments

[Kurt]

Ask Questions.

Most of my ideas come from lunch conversations with people where we are talking about normal things. Asking questions to get more details will get you thinking about how things work (and will lead to them asking questions - which leads to more ideas).

[Tammy Carroll]

I really liked Kurt's comment because that is my favorite way to generate ideas and learn new things. Being relentless in your curiosity about topics/issues can be so enlightening. You discover so many different ways to think about things and create so many new ideas

I would now add: Get outside your "comfort zone".
Don't use the same set of resources or talk through things with the same group of people all the time. Go to a new place, read a book outside your own favorite style, have talks with people that aren't your closest comrades, or search the internet without going to your most frequently-visited websites. I think if you step outside your normal environment in any way, it will generate new ideas.