Oftentimes, our creative minds can feel overwhelmed. We live in a digital world surrounded by stimuli, and our minds have gotten used to operating at top speed, often making it difficult to process information at the rate at which it is being created. Our thoughts can race at a hundred miles an hour, and creative ideas can get lost amongst the chatter, so how can you make sure to capture moments of innovation and visualize your ideas to give you some much needed mental clarity? 

No. 1

Carry a small notebook with you to capture your thoughts

Creativity and moments of genius can strike at any moment—on the bus, over a coffee, while you’re in the supermarket or sitting at your desk answering emails. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’ll remember these ideas later, write them down straight away and then revisit them when you have time to properly consider them and give them the attention they deserve. The easiest way to make sure you’re always prepared to take note of any inspiration is to carry a small notebook with you in your pocket or handbag or to install a note-taking App that can be easily accessed on your phone. Whether you choose to write your notes down or type them into your phone will largely depend on what kind of person you are. Some people find that the action of writing something down can help to solidify it in their brain, whereas others find that they are more efficient using a digital device. Most phones have note-style Apps built-in, but be sure to put the shortcut on your home screen to make it easy to access on-the-go.

No. 2

Write to-do lists to stay focused

With so many things on our minds and new stimuli coming in every second, it can be all to easy to forget our everyday tasks and live in a perpetual sense of catch-up. Make room in your brain for creativity and new ideas by writing down your daily to-do list. This will not only free up your mental space for moments of inspiration, but it will also ensure that you don’t keep missing important deadlines and dates or letting daily chores rack up. Along with a to-do list, another great tool to make use of is a calendar, whether that be on your phone or combined with your to-do list. Calendars are lifesavers for people from all walks of life, and the best way to store important dates and set reminders for events or deadlines, which you may otherwise forget.

No. 3

Make use of mind maps to visually organize information

Freeing up your mental space for new ideas and creativity is all well and good, but how can you expand on those ideas and make sure you efficiently and effectively digest them when they arise? The answer is through the use of mind maps. Mind maps are diagrams that can help to organize information and show relationships between ideas or concepts. One of the most common types of mind maps is the spider diagram, but mind maps come in all shapes and sizes depending on the type of information you are trying to display and the relationship between its parts. Because of the sheer volume of ways in which information can be displayed in a mind map, they can seem a little daunting, so check out this article if you want to find out how to get started creating one for yourself - https://setapp.com/how-to/how-to-create-a-mind-map.

No. 4

Slow your mind down

The speed at which our minds are working, and the sheer volume of stimulus they need to work through in a day, can make it hard to capture our thoughts and visualize our ideas, so it’s important to find ways to help our minds slow down and focus on what matters. Mindfulness and meditation are two of the things that people tend to turn to when slowing their minds down. Mindfulness is the practice of living in the present, switching off thoughts about the past and future, and connecting with the hear and now and often revolves around a connection with your breath. Meditation can sometimes incorporate mindfulness and involves the practice of achieving mental clarity by focusing the mind on a particular object or activity, such as your breathing when practicing mindfulness.

No. 5

Practice visualization techniques

Although mind maps are a kind of visualization, you can also practice visualization without a diagram through the practice of visualization techniques. In essence, visualization is like creating a mind map in your mind; you may picture a scene, object or idea, and then explore it mentally in the same way as you would on paper. Alternatively, visualization can also be used in collaboration with meditation in order to allow your thoughts to organically do what comes naturally. These visualizations that occur during mediation are a great way to gain insight into your brain as they are not constructed and instead occur through their own merit.