HN Explorer

Ask HN: How do you keep track of your ideas?

17 points by tectonic ↗ HN
I've never found a solution that I like for tracking and then later revisiting ideas.  I have Google Docs, spreadsheets, folders, and scraps of paper.  Are there web apps for idea tracking that you guys trust, and that hopefully allow both public and private ideas?  I'm also starting a Twitter feed for random ideas that I have: http://twitter.com/ideaperdiem

37 comments

[ 1.6 ms ] story [ 87.3 ms ] thread
linuxjuicer
Ideas are very important. Sometimes too important to digitize. I bought a black covered, blank, hardbound book that I use to write and draw out my ideas. And I lock it in a safe.
lien
i never keep track of my ideas. i only have a few that really stand out and those i never forget. if your ideas don't come back to you over and over again, then those aren't good ideas. also, i try to be proactive about finding out whether they're good ideas by talking to people - anyone - old bosses, old friends, new friends, guys who hit on me at coffee shop, etc.

Why do ideas have to be private? if you have an idea, you can be sure that you are probably not the only one who came up with them, so feel free to discuss openly.

there's nothing worse than being paranoid about keeping your ideas to yourself.

johnnyjustice
How do you balance that with the culture of patenting and fear of ideas being stolen?
caw
While that's possible I would say that's extremely unlikely, so you're better off getting the feedback.

Think of this way, on the spectrum of loathing to loving your idea, they have to be on the top end and have either the resources or technical knowledge to execute, and now they have to pass you who has a hypothesis already and is looking for feedback. They don't know how much or what you've already gotten, so if they flat copy/paste based on what you've spoken to them about they could be heading off in a different direction. If that's the case they're not really competing with you because they're somewhere else in a different niche.

dpatru
One of the best ways to protect yourself from patents is to have the idea first and publish it. It's hard for a patent applicant to argue the he is the first inventor and that the idea was non-obvious if it was published in a blog.
lien
corporations care about ideas being stolen because hundreds of millions are at stake. When you are a startup you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. that includes telling everyone about what you are doing.
rada
I use GQueues, project management loosely integrated with your gmail account.
SeMeAntoja
I use pivotal tracker works great. I like pivotal more cause i just attach the documents ive written and come back to them later on and its better organized. Recommend you do that.
ammmir
i used to have a draft message in gmail, but it grew too unwieldy.

now i use a private github repo and have all ideas in one markdown file that's easily editable via github's web editor. i already spend a good amount of time in github for other projects, so this is pretty good for me.

ryanstout
I like workflowy.com, the outline format is nice to keep things in groups.
M83
thanks for this, hadn't seen it before
rorrr
Email to myself, tag with "idea".
buttzmcgee
I use this and will often reply to the emails whenever I want to expand an idea. It allows me to track the growth and trends of specific ideas.
theitgirl
I do the same. If I want to keep track of additional notes or resources, I reply to the thread.
ppjim
I use a text file and I have an 'ideas' folder in dropbox. One folder per idea. If I need to add more information like photos or a business model canvas. I just put into that folder. It's works for me.
OpenAlgorithm
I have a section on my desk for all my scraps of paper, I prefer paper, because it is physically in front of you reminding you of your ideas and to take action on them.

Plus writing seems to be less mechanical and more creative, which helps me get the juices flowing when I come up with a new idea.

fabiandesimone
Have you tried Evernote?

Is fantastic. I can't imagine not using it.

darkmethod
Evernote is a fine tool to retain content for later retrieval.

I use http://www.evernote.com/about/download/web_clipper.php and later add additional comments where needed.

I also use a pocket size Moleskine to keep ideas/thoughts/daily-journals. Some of my coworkers/friends refer to it as my Dr Jones journal.

fjw
I use Evernote as well. I have one journal that is only devoted to my ideas and expanding on them. When I'm on the go, I sync on my phone using the Evernote iPhone app.
sahil_lmn
A combination of things that isn't optimal: - Text files, named by date, in a directory called "notes" - Items in my to-do list in Astrid (app for Android) - For things I've thought a lot about, either text files of their own or pages of a notebook (the latter being rare).

I was actually thinking about building an app to deal with this. However, EverNote looks appealing and I should try it out . . .

Zakuzaa
I have been using trello lately.
DrData
I email myself from my iPhone and #tag the email with the topic in the subject line.
rpwilcox
If the idea seems viable I'll put it in my personal Kanban board (in a "Waiting" swim-lane). This Kanban board is a project level queue - one card per project.

If my "Active Projects" kanban swim lane has some space, I'll pull from the "Waiting" swim-lane.

This way I can schedule those ideas, if I have some time (shown by the swim-lanes on the Kanban Board)

sathishmanohar
Evernote + Google Docs. Thats it.

When ideas include sketches, I just draw it on a paper, and take a picture of the paper with evernote, and throw the paper away, that way I get the best of both worlds.

strick
ideas.txt and dropbox is my primary system.

I've also played around with Simplenote on iOS plus the mac software Notational Velocity. They sync nicely.

ccarnino
A Springpad memo. I always tray to describe the idea at lease in 3 key points. Problem, Solution, Business model.

Then I write down everything else.

bradleyland
I would suggest that if your ideas are so numerous that you need anything more than a simple notebook to track them, you're probably working on the wrong problem.

Ideas die in a vacuum. Don't be the guy that retires with a notebook full of ideas that no one ever tried. Talk to people and develop your ideas. If it doesn't work, toss it and move on.

sairam313
I have been trying to find an optimal solution myself for a while. I used to have a google spreadsheet before. I like evernote/springpad. But all 3 are blocked at my work location and that's where I get most ideas that I want to record. IPhone form factor/keyboard doesn't allow for a quick note typing. For now, I am using a plain Google tasks list to record all ideas. I can access it from gmail or calendar and the google calendar is not blocked at my workplace. I would love to use evernote extensively, but till I get access to it at work, Google tasks does it for now.
M83
I use http://www.google.com/notebook, however it is closed to new signups and has no new development being done.

I'll probably move to Evernote or checkout some suggestions in this thread.

mrzerga
the same thing that im using for planning and keeping my notes - ToDoList, similar to evernote, but much more customizable. freeware obviously.