If you’re a creative who always seems to have too many ideas and too little time, read Scott Belsky’s Making Ideas Happen. (Actually, first read Seth Godin’s The Dip — don’t worry, it’s very short — then read Scott Belsky’s Making Ideas Happen.) I used to really struggle turning my inspiration into finished works, but I’m getting better at it. For me, making my projects public and structured provides both motivation and direction. I now look for ways to build these characteristics into all my creative endeavors.

I would have loved to have this book 10 years ago, but as it is, there’s still plenty of value here for me, a reformed procrastinator. After all, even us productive types are always looking for ways to get even more done.

To give you a taste, here’s the 17 ideas from the book that hit me the hardest:

1. Someone with average creativity and great organization will have a greater impact than a creative genius with no organization skills.
2. No action steps = no action = no results.
3. Throw out your reference material, if possible; translate as much as you can into Action Steps.
4. Energy is your most valuable commodity.
5. Compromise is a necessity; choose the five most important projects to you and focus on those.
6. Select several Action Steps to tackle each day; don’t go to bed until they’re done.
7. Through windows of non-stimulation, you will reclaim the power to focus on what projects are most important.
8. It is only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.
9. Constraints (deadlines, budgets, briefs) help us manage our energy and execute ideas.
10. Surrounding yourself with visual proof of progress (e.g. “Done walls”) can help you focus.
11. Perspiration is the best form of differentiation.
12. Other people always play a role in pushing your ideas forward.
13. Sharing ideas increases the odds of gaining momentum and making ideas happen.
14. When you make a mistake, continue down that path a little way. The alternative perspective can be hard to get.
15. Leaders of any creative endeavor should focus first on only the things that they can do — things that simply can’t be delegated to others.
16. Use happiness, games/fun and success to motivate creative teams.
17. A.A. Milne: “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience — well, that comes from bad judgment.”

How do you make your ideas happen?

Scott Belsky’s Making Ideas Happen
Seth Godin’s The Dip