Your goals may be very vague such as “find a new career” or “write a short story. ” They may also be very specific, such as “increase profits by 10%” or “start a flower garden in my backyard. ”

For example, if you are writing a paper for English class, you can write down the names of the novels you read in class. When you think of Jane Eyre, you may write down mystery, romance, madwoman, or governess. The word governess might make you think of strong female character, working women, or education. Continue writing down associated words until you have a strong concept in mind. If you don’t have a central idea yet, you can just write down a random word. Put down whatever comes into your head first. This is effective for creative activities.

A good way to start is to state your goal, and write “I want. . . " statements after it. For example, “I want to give a talk on effective brainstorming. I want this talk to be twenty minutes. I want to discuss in this talk how to freewrite. " As ideas come to you, you may start writing naturally. Even if you are thinking “I have nothing to write about,” jot it down. The goal is to start writing. Through the process of writing, you will think of new ideas.

You can try starting off by drawing a representation of how you are feeling. What does your current mental state look like?[4] X Research source You can also draw the shapes that you associate with the ideas you are having.

Allow your mind map to develop into any shape that occurs naturally.

For example, if you are brainstorming ways to make your office environmentally friendly, your first steps may be to identify office waste, educate your employees, and invest in clean energy products. You will then want to come up with four or five steps for each category. To invest in clean products, you may decide to buy LED lightbulbs, install solar panels, put in low-flow toilets, and recycle your paper.

Describe the problem. Compare it to other situations. Associate the problem with similar topics. Analyze the problem and its solutions. Apply it to real world situations. Argue for and against it.

If it helps, you can record yourself speaking to save any ideas that you might develop. Or you can listen to yourself to reflect on what you said. [10] X Research source