These moments can really suck, because no matter how hard you try, you’ll likely forget whatever great idea you had.

The solution? Start recording your ideas as they happen, and stop forgetting them!

Great Ideas: Gotta collect em’ all!

The practice of collecting thoughts as they occur is a fundamental part of Getting Things Done (David Allen, 2002), a system I was introduced to back in September. The primary purpose of the GTD® system is to increase productivity and reduce stress, but a huge side benefit is simply having a common area to dump all your ideas into.

A post on DailyBlogTips (How Do Your Come Up, Store and Organize Ideas for Blog Posts?) also has some good feedback in the comments from folks who have their own methods of keeping track of ideas as they occur, be it through emails, drafted posts or good ole fashioned pen & paper.

It’s all common sense, but one of the biggest problems is finding the tool that fits your personal requirements.

My suggestion? Use Google Tasks.

I use Google Tasks for all of my side projects and day-to-day task management. If you have yet to find a system that works, give this a try.

Why do I use Google Tasks? Multiple lists, calendar integration and mobile support are the primary reasons.

No matter where I am, I can whip out my phone and quickly type in a reminder. The newly-created “task” will automatically sync with Gmail, any due dates will appear on Google Calendar and everything will be reflected on iGoogle.

And since I use 5 different devices (my office workstation, my home PC, my laptop, my netbook and my iPhone), this centralized system is a huge help.

If you’re in a similar situation, this could be an ideal solution for you.

Here’s a quick introduction to Google Tasks, directly from the folks at GOOG: