I have had a serious case of writers block this month. It is not that I have not had some great ideas for this column, rather it is that I got all those great ideas while driving or sleeping this month, and they were promptly forgotten as soon as I had pen and paper in hand or keyboard to write them down. I never used to have that problem. I could easily remember the ideas until I could write them down before. So what has changed this month?

Some of you may think it is because I turned 47 in June, but I just refuse to believe that is the cause, also not the cause of my needing reading glasses almost all the time either! Regardless of the reason, I have this need to figure out a solution so that all those great ideas of mine get captured. Feel free to grin over that line!

I thought of a few ideas but I cannot seem to figure out how to make them work while I am driving. If I use the voice recorder in the phone I have to remember to listen and then transcribe it. I guess I could put a daily reminder on my calendar to listen to voice recorder. I have also called and left myself voicemails. That has definitely bailed me out a few times. Especially since the office voicemail appears in my email inbox as another reminder to listen.

Ideas in the middle of the night are easier as I always keep an idea pad near my bed. The only time it does not work is if I don’t wake up and write it down. Sometimes the notes are hard to read as I write them down without turning on the light. I think I should keep a small flashlight handy so I don’t use the bedside light and wake up my husband.

Slowing down a little might help and blocking out some time each day to debrief myself is another possibility. My mom and dad always said to try to remember what you were doing when you had the thought you forgot so sitting down and trying to mentally recreate my day could also be a good exercise. I used to do that each year when I wanted to figure out how the year went in business. It would often give me great information on how we did, what we did and what we should or should not be doing in the future.

Do you have any great ideas for how you sharpen your memory or capture those fleeting ideas that you thought at the time were keys to wisdom or profit? If you do, send them my way. Oh wait, what did I just ask you for?

While no animals were hurt during the making of this article, I do regret to inform you all that there were a few egg casualties as they burst during boiling due to my totally forgetting about them!