The Shep posted:

I hum melodies in my head all day at work and record them to an audio app on my phone when something catchy comes to mind. Then when I have time, I go home and jam out a guitar riff to match the melody or chorus. Then I build the verse and song structure around that. Lyrics are always last and I just fit them in around the song structure, they're the least important part of the song to me.

I'm far more productive this way than when I used to just sit down with a guitar for hours and have nothing to show for it. Time is too precious nowadays to waste doing that. I only sit down with instruments when I have a clear idea in my head of what the song should sound like.