Sometimes, our brain seems to have a mind of its own. When this happens, our imagination bounces ideas off each other, regardless of logic and reasoning. This is often referred to as the ‘monkey mind’a state of uncontrolled mind wandering. On one hand, the monkey mind can lead to overthinking and anxiety; which people try to silence with mindfulness and distraction. On the other hand, rather than trying to silence the monkey mind, tapping into it correctly can lead to great creative flow and problem-solving.
How do I tap into the ‘monkey mind’ for creativity? Mind mapping! Using a mind map to brainstorm an idea reaches beyond just note-taking. It can help you explore and organise different intuitive ideas. Mind mapping can generate innovative ideas and help create deeper meaning in a subject. Mind mapping is a great way to make the most out of your creative thoughts and can be used to aid anything from product designing to creative writing.
It’s easy! Simply start with a central idea, then expand on this with natural association (follow your ‘monkey mind’ and see where it takes you!). Asking yourself who, what, when, where and how, will open up new streams of thoughts and ideas.
ideamapper has many features to help you with this process. For instance, to help visualise ideas, you can add clip art images and charts. Visual data stimulates the imagination, as they say, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. You can also add colour, this can help you organise and code your ideas into categories, change the layout of your mind map, or view it in 3D. This is a great way to generate new associations by viewing your ideas from a new perspective. Afterwards, you should be left with a creative visual web of your ideas.
