

Ask HN: What would you do if you run out of ideas? - liuliu

I consider myself as a man with creativity. But recently I suffered serious drain of ideas. I have no idea what to do to improve the result of my research interest. When read an article, I can get every word of it, but that's it. I cannot derive any thoughtful idea from what I read even the total amount of my daily reading hasn't changed.<p>Because cannot find any interest idea to implement, I didn't write serious code (&#62; 100 lines) for half a month and I don't feel comfortable about that.
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nostrademons
I did run out of ideas, and I ended up taking a job at Google as a result.

If you're really out of ideas, I'd suggest you permute your life as heavily as
possible. Take a different job. Move to a different city. Hang out with a
different group of friends. Get interested in topics that you've overlooked
until now.

Most good ideas don't just spring fully-formed from someone's head. They come
from the random recombination of a bunch of strains of experience. You're
doing something, and you're doing something else, and you think they have
_nothing_ to do with each other, and then suddenly they kinda juxtapose and
you realize there's a really good third idea hiding in there.

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CyberFonic
I get like that when I'm in the same environment day after day. I got over the
ideas drought by taking a notebook (dead tree variety) with me on walks,
dallying in art galleries, coffee shops, park, etc. When I'm in a "different
space" the creativity flows again. I then take my notes and return to the
computer and implement the ideas. Rinse and repeat ;-)

Talking to people and hearing about their problems / challenges is another
great source of inspiration.

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e1ven
One thing that I've found is that a change of environment and work helps
dramatically. One TED Talk I enjoyed discussed why he tales every 7th year off
at his consulting business- It lets him recharge his mental battery of ideas
for the next 6.

<http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/649>

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davidedicillo
I came up with the best ideas just talking with friends. I think "evolution is
a result of contamination", so the more your thoughts are "contaminated" by
conversations with other people, the more are the chances that they sparks
into real ideas.

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davidw
Go for a bike ride! I find exercise is a great way of clearing your head. Long
walks and bike rides and things like that do wonders for letting my mind
wander.

