I have always considered myself to be a resourceful person. One who can move a good idea along to the next stage until it becomes a killer app or useful tool. Here’s my method for making it happen.

My week begins 4:00 am  each Sunday. For 31 years, I’ve used a Franklin-Covey Planner with the 2 letter-size pages for each day because my handwriting is large. One page has 2 columns: Column 1 for my 3 each, A-type Priorities identified Prioritized Daily Tasks and column 2 for time from: 4am – 8pm.

The opposite page is for ‘Daily Notes’. This page is further divided into 4 sections. The top 14 lines are for Communications which include: phone calls, voice-mails, e-mails and, even snail-mail correspondence to be completed this day.

The next 18 lines are for Action and include my hand-written notes concerning the 3 A-type Priorities from the opposite page, as well as any addition remarks from the Communication section. I’ve learned to only schedule 3 A-type Priorities each day to manage those must-do activities which will move my goals forward.

My Monday Pages always include another category: New Idea, which I write any idea worth consideration that will promote my book sales and consulting services. During the Week, I return to this New Idea section and write timely, relevant notes.

The last Section is Food, where I record my daily menu. I’m a Type 2 diabetic, so what goes into my mouth goes onto this page together with the time of consumption.

At month-end, before I summarize my month’s activities and remove the pages which are then saved in a past months binder, I go back and review each Monday’s New Idea and my notes for that day.

Then, I select the Best Idea of the month and I create a Projects-in-the-Works Action page where I time-line what steps to complete to move this Best Idea out of the idea stage and into the action stages.

Some of my past Best Ideas included: converting my printed books into ebooks; authoring blogs for each ebook and my consulting services; and cross-platform marketing concepts which increased revenues.

Since I prefer to use a paper-based appointment planner system instead of an electronic PDA or smart phone, I know there is some duplication writing and re-writing. While re-writing may appear tedious, I think best on-paper plus, by re-writing I conceptualize my thoughts more effectively. It fits my particular comfort zone.

My good ideas capture system makes certain good ideas don’t fall through the cracks since I have an orderly but  hectic daily schedule. What works for me may not fit your work ethic but I encourage you to create your system to capture your Best Ideas.

Ok, so what works for you?