Gathering Information

I place this first in my list of 7 Tips to being more creative. It's important to have a lot of information for generating many ideas. If you don't know enough about the subject area, it will be difficult to see all the possibilities. Even if you THINK you know a lot about the subject, take the time to gather information. There may be new information added in the last few months, new developments and research.

The challenges in the information gathering phase are organization and memory. How do you organize all the information that may be new to you and how do you remember most of it when it comes time to brainstorm?

A key activity is visualizing. Mind mapping is a great diagram information. This will help you remember it.

Tony Buzan, a proponent of the techniques of mind mapping and mental literacy, suggests using mind mapping to take notes. Some of us may not want to change our note taking habits. We can still use a mind map to organize all the information available so we can visually see what we know.

Take a look at the Wikepedia entry about Mind mapping:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_mapping

Basically, you are diagramming your thinking. You are also able to represent your thoughts in a non-linear fashion. Instead of a neat list where each point is placed one by one, a mind map is organized in a circular, radiating fashion. Ideas can then flow from the central theme in a series of branches extending form the central focus.

Keep in mind that a characteristic of creative geniuses is their ability to create wide ranging associations between concepts, ideas and subject areas.

Mind mapping can help you organize and remember information. Mind mapping can also help you create new associations with the information you have available.

If you are truly interested in changing how your brain works and the thoughts you think regularly, take a look at this program called Holosync. It actually changes (for the better!) how the brain functions. If you find that you have difficulty practicing what you know will help you, this may offer a solution. The Holosync program has been of great benefit to me, allowing me to have less anxiety and worry, which then allows me to think more clearly.

Click the link to find out more:
Instant Meditation