9 Lessons from Writing 10 (Bad) Ideas Daily to Become an Idea Machine

23 Mar 2025 #misc

Since October 2024, I’ve written 10 bad ideas every single day and it has transformed my creativity.

I started this practice inspired by James Altucher. I found it on his blog and books. Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth covers it in-depth. He calls it: becoming an idea machine.

The point of writing 10 ideas isn’t to come up with 10 perfect ideas, but to exercise your creativity and possibility muscles. The goal is to write 10 bad ideas about anything every single day.

Here’s what I’ve noticed after writing thousands of bad ideas in six months:

1. You can’t run out of ideas

One of my concerns when I started was running out of subjects to write ideas about. But the more I practice it, the more subjects I find to write 10 ideas about.

2. A 10-idea list could be a post

Most of my social media and blog posts start from a 10-idea list. This very post was a 10-idea list.

Writing 10-idea lists is the first step of my content wheel: 10-idea list, then a social media post, then a blog post.

3. It’s easier to execute ideas starting from 10-idea lists

Starting a big project may feel daunting, with too many moving parts and too much uncertainty.

But it’s easier starting with 10 bad ideas, then writing another 10 to execute one of them.

For example, do you want to write a book? Write 10 subjects you can write a book about. Then, write 10 titles for a book on one of those first 10 subjects. Then, write 10 ideas for chapters. Then, 10 stories to include…and so on and so forth.

4. The first 5 or 6 ideas are the easiest ones

The other 4 or 5 are when you start sweating and stretching your idea muscles. After those 4 or 5, that’s when the aha moments happen.

5. Give away 10 ideas to connect with others

Instead of reaching out to ask for anything, give away 10 ideas.

Since I started this practice, my favorite way to connect with someone on LinkedIn (or via email) is giving away 10 post ideas the other person could write. It surprises them and makes the connection more meaningful because you’re giving, not asking.

6. Writing 10 ideas works like note-taking

After consuming anything, a book or podcast episode, I write 10 ideas I learned from it. It works like taking notes. It helps me recall the main points of what I consumed and remember them more.

7. It’s a perfect exercise to quiet your mind

Write 10 ideas about anything and give your mind a productive task instead of letting it wander off imagining lions behind bushes trying to attack you.

8. It’s a perfect replacement for a to-do list

Since this year, I’ve ditched my to-do lists and replaced them with a done list. Guess how I do it? Yes, with a 10-point list.

At the end of every month, write 10 things you did in that month.

9. Write prompts for future days

As soon as I have a subject to write 10 ideas about, I write it as a prompt on a new page of my idea pad. Otherwise, I forget about it. It’s easier to sit down and write 10 ideas the next day when you already have a prompt ready.

Writing 10 ideas a day helped James Altucher get out of bankruptcy and change his life. For me? It has given me lots of ideas for new content. It helped me with my 100-daily-post challenge. It made me more creative. Because creativity isn’t just about art. It’s also coming up with bad ideas. It’s about becoming an idea machine.