Steven Berlin Johnson, author and well-known DEVONthink user, recently described what he calls his spark file. It’s a rambling document with no organization where he stores his hunches and questions.
This is why for the past eight years or so I’ve been maintaining a single document where I keep all my hunches: ideas for articles, speeches, software features, startups, ways of framing a chapter I know I’m going to write, even whole books. I now keep it as a Google document so I can update it from wherever I happen to be. There’s no organizing principle to it, no taxonomy–just a chronological list of semi-random ideas that I’ve managed to capture before I forgot them. I call it the spark file.
This inspired Alex Hillman to elaborate on his perception and use of a spark file. > The Spark File, Steven describes, is a process/tool that he uses to collect “half-baked ideas” and then revisit them. For 8 years, he’s maintained a single document with notes & ideas with zero organization or taxonomy, simply a chronology of thoughts. He calls this document his Spark File.
Once a month, he revisits the ENTIRE Spark File from top to bottom, revisiting old ideas and potentially combing them with newer ideas.
I’ve adopted this process for the last 30 days and it’s had a remarkable effect. The most astounding part is how often I find myself writing the same thing in different ways. I’ve taken that pattern as a clue to explore a concept further, and see if it merits more investigation.
(via Better Answers & How I Learned to Defrag My Brain | Alex Hillman)
This concept of sparks, coupled with a recent article by Federico Viticci at MacStories about Faster Markdown Editing with Nebulous Notes Macros, then multiplied by integration with Launch Center Pro, puts Nebulous Notes back in the lead on my iOS devices. With all of the pieces in place I can now tap a shortcut in LCP, tap the microphone icon on the keyboard, dictate my thought, tap go, and my thought is appended as a new bullet in my Spark File.
I feel like a mad genius watching his creation take its first wobbly steps. This is so simple and makes so much sense. I have already started my spark file; a single plain text document automatically synced among all of my devices where my ideas can percolate. I look forward to seeing what brews in there!
Note: Following links to buy the apps mentioned here help me out.