How to break through mental blocks when you’re mind mapping
Jan 22nd, 2009 | By Chuck Frey | Category: Tips & Techniques
Sometimes, when you’re in the middle of developing a mind map, you may come face to face with a mental block that prevents you from thinking through the problem, challenge or situation any further. When this happens, there are a number of techniques that you can use to smash through these mental barriers and re-energize your thinking in fresh, creative directions.
Here are some blockbusting tips culled from the writings of mind mapping expert Tony Buzan and my own experience:
Add blank topics: This will challenge your brain to complete what is unfinished and will tap into its powerful associative capabilities. These blank lines in essence become “hooks” upon which you can hang fresh ideas. It’s a curious fact about our powerful brains: They don’t like to view pictures that are incomplete; our subconscious minds instinctively try to complete the picture, catalyzing your thinking in the process.
Ask questions: Questions are the main tool that the brain uses to accumulate knowledge. By asking questions, you challenge your brain to come up with block-breaking responses.
Add images to your map: Images represent powerful triggers for creative association and recall, and can take your thinking in fresh new directions. Review your program’s image library for inspiration, or conduct a Google image search on the topic or challenge at hand. Whatever strikes you or appears to have meaning to you, add it to your map, and spend some time thinking about its relevance to your map’s topic.
Take an incubation break: Walk away from your mind map for several hours or several days. While you are away from your map, your subconscious mind will continue to mull over your situation or challenge, generating fresh insights, associations and ideas, which you can then add to your mind map.
I wish you much success in breaking through your mental blocks!
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Great ideas. I like to use MindManager map parts that are pre-loaded with questions like “Why is this happening”, “How often does this happen?”, “Who does this impact?”, etc… The questions help me explore a topic more fully.
I like that – sounds like a very structured approach to thinking things through, Michael!
Show your map to someone else and explain its purpose to them. Ask for their opinion about what might be missing.
You’re right Chuck, thanks.
What I like to do also is print the mind map on an A3-format and put on a place where I can add extra associations as they come (next hours, days, …). Sometimes I put this map on my white board – just walking around gives new inspiration!
Dear Chuck:
Great topic. I love the Hans Terhurne’s suggestion to print and hang over time.
I, too, print out my maps and look them over in bed the night before a writing or teleseminar interview. When reviewing them, I find myself adding lots of ideas using pen and paper, which I add to the MindManager file the next day.
It may sound like a cliche, but in most cases, I wake up with even better ideas ready to be added to the maps I reviewed the night before!
Roger
I usually walk away and leave it for a while and go do something else. When I come back then the block has gone!
Back to work……………
When faced with a “blank page” block or mental block, I break it very easily by opening a new mind map (I use Freemind 0.9) on a tab and then begin just playing with the tool. Adding items, writing nonsense, asking questions, moving items around, anything that moves the mind on to something new other than the block that has caused the mind to fixate or get stuck in a mental cul-de-sac.
Once I free myself from the cul-de-sac, I find the ideas begin to come, and I can’t wait to get back to the mind map where I got stuck. I usually wait until the urge to move back to the blocked map is great enough that I break through the block and on I go. Has worked for over 20 years even when I was doing pen/paper mind maps.
Good luck,
Paul Nanouk