Great post! I completely agree that new ideas spark when you can let your sub-conscious mind roam. When I first started grad school, I feared that I wasn’t creative enough to come up with original ideas. What I later noticed though is that I was trying too hard. New research ideas come to me when I’m hunting, fishing or doing some other activity that doesn’t require complete focus. So, I began a “notes” entry on my phone labeled “research ideas” and will pull out my phone as soon as an idea comes to me, regardless of where I am. A notebook would work too, but I can never remember to keep it with me (and I always have my phone).

Thanks for sharing!