001 / Launch Issue

Welcome to the premiere issue of instruments for ideas!

First, a big hello to the over 100 of you who have just recently joined me. And there are a few of you who I've hand-picked from my network (I'll ask for forgiveness later). A huge thank you and a big welcome.

By now many of you are done with the Tangible Thinking email course. And some of you are just starting. So what do you think?

I know there's a lot, but I'm giving away gold. And it could very well change your life. Anything you didn't understand? Anything you want me to expand on? Did you read them all?

Ok, let's get back to this newsletter.

"Sanj, what happened to your other newsletter?" Funny I thought you'd be wondering that. Well....

The Desk of Thinkable has left the stage

The Desk of Thinkable was started when I first brought Thinkable online. It was an email sequence to give a heartbeat to my early followers. I had zero time to write meaningful content - I spent all of it writing the Tangible Thinking book and course. Whenever someone joined, the automatic monkeys would just, put you in queue, and send an email to them.

Now that I've launched the book and course, I can be more intentional and write this newsletter. I can be the monkey.

Why Instruments for Ideas?

I believe the instruments we use influence and shape our ideas.

So let me play that back. Tools shape the things that they make.

And ideas shape the instruments we make and use. My entire focus with Thinkable is to make ideas matter. To help you make meaningful ideas and to help you turn ideas into matter.

The most powerful instrument we have is our minds. Tangible Thinking aims to free your mind and build your Creativity + Design OS so you can make ideas matter. To make your thoughts tangible (hello pen and paper).

So the name made sense. It classifies what Thinkable is building, making and shipping.
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​Shhh, secret talk.

This newsletter will also be the place I will launch something special I've been working on. An actual instrument for ideas. It's still in stealth, that's why you can barely read this.

Here on IFI, I'll be sharing thoughts on tangible thinking and expanding on the ideas shared or discussed in the course. I'll talk about ideas, creativity, design, and thinking tools. Mostly I'll be talking about whatever I fancy (on a semi-regular basis) or things like this...

1. Behind the scene
2. Objects I like
3. Design I like
4. People I like
5. Books I like
6. New Ideas
7. Old Ideas
8. Updates

If at any time, you have a question or comment, just reply.

Instruments in my Workspace

I make everywhere I work a space that inspires. I believe that having a well-organized space invites creativity. For others, it's the opposite. Collecting things that have a permanence to them, lets me feel grounded.

What about you? How do you orchestrate your creative space?

The card that started it all

This was the earliest card that inspired me to take what I know and share it with the world. I remember that I sketched this in 30 seconds. I was deep in thought, trying to express the moment thinking became tangible. What I was doing was drawing a Cognitive Loop, that helps anchor our thoughts.

Linear Capture

My thoughts and ideas aren't always stuck on cards. Sketch books like this one, occup every shelf. Now I bounce between both.

To forget, or to remember?

I'll say this over and over and over again. Whenever you put information into a digital format, you're telling yourself (brain/mind/body), to forget it.

Yes, to forget it.

Because you can always find it later.

Don't believe me? What's the last phone number you remember? Mine was when my parent's house, before mobile phones came out.

So if you want to deeply remember something, work through a problem, or express your individuality - don't immediately shove it into an app.

Find an analog mechanism to do so. Or slow down, try to hold onto the thought long enough, for you to get it down on paper.

Be more intentional with what you think. You'll have thousands of thoughts, you just need to tune into the most important ones.

Your mind is an instrument. Learn to play it.

New Ideas

Here are some early ideas. I've been thinking about our senses. I've realized that we modulate our senses to increase our flow state.

Take the Walking Mind. We get into a flow state when we simply go for a walk. It frees up our cognition, while we've limited our senses. Most of our visual cortex is used to process where we're going. This frees us up to think. To make it work, you have to walk, not talk (or listen to anything).

So we modulate our senses to tune our cognition.

We also create through our senses, for our senses. We use them to create things that express our individuality and unique experiences.

I find this fascinating. I wonder if there have been any studies done on the relationship between the senses we optimize flow state for, vs the senses we prefer to be creative in.

Things I like

Zen of Things I met Arun a few years back. His writing and eye for design are spectacular. Check out his new blog where he writes deeply about vernacular design. | zenofthings​

Designed by Apple in California A few years back, Apple produced a book that chronicled 20 years of Apple design. I play this video weekly, just to feel inspired. If you haven't seen go check it out. | Watch Now​

Behind the Idea

Creativity fills the soul. Productivity your wallet.

We all need day jobs. We have bills to pay, and mouths to feed. The secret is to balance it with soul-filling work. Creative work. How do you find time you say? It's something you have to do. You will always be waiting somewhere. Find wait time, and make it time to think about what you want to create. Take a pen and paper with you everywhere.

And take a long hard look at productivity. Should you be slicing and dicing every moment of your day? Should be constantly optimizing for delivering the facet of a quarter of a percent that will reflect on your OKR. I don't know. I think we work too hard at things that no one will ever see.

Have you purchased your copy of the digital book?

I've discovered so many things about thinking, creativity and your potential that I couldn't possibly capture it all in a 7-day email course.

That's why I wrote the book. Consider picking up your copy.

What do you think?

No really, what do you think?

All I ask is that you share your thoughts.

Engage wherever you see me.

Reach out to me on my socials. Share your work, share your progress.

Thanks again for supporting me. See you in a few weeks.