Did you know the average person goes through more than 6,000 distinct thought transitions every single day?

That’s over six thousand times your brain flips from one idea to another.

No wonder so many good thoughts get lost.

A clever phrase you think of in the shower…

A flash of inspiration on a walk…

A solution to that problem you’ve been mulling over…

Now let me ask you this:

How many of your ideas actually survive?

I’ll be honest. For years, most of mine just disappeared into thin air.

By the time I’d finished a walk, made a coffee, or even switched browser tabs… the idea had gone.

And that’s one of the most frustrating feelings in the world, isn’t it?

You know you had something good.

You can feel it hovering there.

But you can’t quite reach it.

The Little Habit That Changed Everything

A while back, I decided I needed a system – not just for the “big” ideas, but for the little sparks that often turn into something important later.

That’s why I now do two simple things:

• When I’m out and about, I carry a pen and a stack of index cards. They live in my pocket. If something pops into my head, I write it down right there and then.
• When I’m on my laptop, I use Notion as my “digital capture net.” Articles, headlines, stats, stories… if something sparks a thought, I clip it straight in.

That’s it. No fancy software.

No complicated filing system.

Just two “nets” – one analogue, one digital.

And it’s transformed how many of my ideas actually make it through to become articles, emails, business projects, even products.

Why Our Brains Just Aren’t Built For This

Here’s the science bit… and it’s fascinating.

Our short-term memory is notoriously fragile.

Back in the 1950s, a pair of researchers (Peterson Peterson) showed that people forget 80% of new information within 18 seconds if they don’t capture or rehearse it.

Eighteen seconds! That’s about the time it takes to put the kettle on.

Modern studies go further: our working memory can only hold 4–7 chunks of information at once. The moment a new one arrives, it pushes out whatever was there before.

And more recently, fMRI studies have shown the average person goes through around 6,000 distinct thought transitions every single day.

That’s over 6,000 moments where your mind flips from one state to another.

So when you think, “Oh, I’ll remember that later” – the truth is you probably won’t!

It’s not your fault. It doesn’t mean the idea wasn’t good.

It’s just how our brains are wired.

Which is why so many “great ideas” vanish before they ever get a chance to exist in the real world.

The Magic Of Writing It Down

Here’s what happens when you do write it down:

You’re not just keeping a record.

You’re performing what psychologists call cognitive offloading – taking the pressure off your brain by storing the thought externally.

It’s like creating a second brain. (Oh, that reminds me! Check out the excellent book Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. Highly recommended!)

The act of writing forces you to slow down and crystallise the thought.

Once it’s there on paper (or in your app), your mind relaxes.

And now it has more space to generate more ideas.

A 2011 Princeton study even found that students who took notes by hand remembered concepts better than those who typed. Not because they wrote more – but because the act of writing anchored the memory and improved processing.

That’s why a £1 pack of index cards can sometimes be more powerful than the latest £2,000 laptop.

How To Build Your Own “Idea Net”

You don’t need a museum archive of notebooks.

You just need a simple system that works for you.

Here are a few options:

1. Carry something. Pen and cards. A small notebook. Even a folded piece of paper in your wallet. If you’re not carrying it, you can’t use it.
2. Use voice notes. Driving? Walking? Cooking? Just record a quick message to yourself. Don’t worry about making it perfect or detailed. Future-you will understand.
3. Set up a digital inbox. Notion, Evernote, or even a private email address. Make it a one-tap action to send something there.
4. Review weekly. Go through your captures. Sort them into: “Act now,” “Explore later,” and “Discard.”
5. Act on one. Don’t let them all sit there. Pick one and take a small step — send an email, test an idea, draft a paragraph.

Why This Really Matters

Look, ideas are cheap. Everyone has them.

But ideas you capture, shape, and use?

Those could be priceless.

In a world of constant distraction, you can’t expect your brain to hold onto everything. The best thoughts often come when you’re least expecting them – walking the dog, brushing your teeth, halfway through a boring meeting.

The difference between people who complain about “never catching a break” and those who build something extraordinary… is often nothing more than this: a system for catching ideas before they vanish.

One Last Thing…

Later this month, Heloise and I are hosting a very special two-day online training weekend. We’ll be sharing so many strategies, insights, and practical tools that you’ll definitely want a capture system in place.

Because when the right idea strikes you – and it will – you’ll want to be sure you don’t lose it.

Find out more here.

Don’t forget! 😉