One of the greatest rock songs came about through a simple system you can use too…

It was May 1965, Keith Richards of famed ‘The Rolling Stones’ was between girlfriends and shored up in his flat in Carlton Hill, St. John’s Wood.

Richards said in his book: “I wrote ‘Satisfaction’ in my sleep. I had no idea I’d written it, thank God for the little Philips cassette player. The miracle being that I looked at the cassette player that morning and I knew I’d put a brand-new tape in the previous night, and I saw it was the end.”

Curious about his own night-time behaviour, he rewound the tape and found 30 seconds of the famous riff and the lyrics that would become the song’s title.

Richards had dreamt the song, woke in a zombie like state, picked up the guitar lying next to the bed and pressed record on the cassette player, before strumming and singing away for 30 seconds.

Mick Jagger then wrote the rest of the lyrics by the pool in Clearwater, Florida, and four days later The Rolling Stones recorded it. The rest is history!

Obviously, I’m not saying you can write a No.1 hit. But by having some type of recording device with you all the time, you can capture those ideas and thoughts that otherwise just drift away.

Eventually it becomes a habit…

I use the notes section on my iPhone or send myself an email when an idea pops into my head, then it’s there in front of you when you next check mail.

For me, ideas come whilst I’m asleep or when walking the dog in the mornings and evenings, as this is my clear head thinking time.

It could be something simple like how to improve a process, or a new service idea, like our free refurbished print & scan technology or our unlimited ink monthly subscription package.

…maybe tonight though, I’ll leave a guitar and a recording device next to the bed.