Creative Thinking Through Notebooking

Here's a really simple way to unleash your genius for creative thinking.

Let's call it notebooking because it involves getting a notebook and jotting down the thoughts and observations that meander through your mind during the day.

Go to your local supermarket or corner store and grab yourself a handy little notebook. It should be small enough to easily slip into your coat pocket or handbag. I've got one that has a little elastic band attached to it that slips over the front cover and keeps it secure when I am carrying it around.

You'll also need a pen or pencil that you can carry easily, like a Bic.

Okay. So your task is to start jotting down your observations... and your goal to get you in the habit of doing this, is to write 50 things down a day. You can do more, but don't do any less - at least to begin with. Now don't worry, although this may sound like a lot, you are really just making fleeting notes.

The fact is that great ideas pass throug your head all the time, and you entertain them without really being fully conscious of them... you just don't recognise the value of them and it is so easy to forget them and lose them forever.

With your notebook you will capture these ideas. But your focus is also upon observation.

So, you might be walking along the sidewalk and suddenly notice a dandelion that has pushed up between the cracks of the paving slabs - and you are hit by that "bright defiant splash of yellow" that contrasts so vividly against the dirty grey paving ... so you whip out your notebook, and write down something like:

Dandelion, bursting through the prison walls, bright defiant splash of yellow

... or whatever your particular observation about it is.

What you are doing is:

1. Training your mind to be more observant

2. Telling your mind that these observations and thoughts are important to you (important enough for you to note them down)

3. Providing a sense of inner space for ideas to flow and an inner security that you will recognise them and acknowledge them by writing them down.

The results this practice will have on you:

• You will become more observant
• Your intelligence will increase because you are capturing more information, becoming sharper and making more neural connections
• Ideas will stream into your mind on a regular basis
• Your creativity with words and images will definitely increase

The best times to practice notebooking:

• All the time!
• When going for a walk (or run, but its harder to notebook running!)
• When deliberately focussing on a particular creative challenge - your observations may seem completely unrelated to your challenge at first but press on... the brain has its own mystery and you'll never fully understand the way it makes creative associations.

For more creative thinking techniques and ideas on unleashing your creative genius, visit me at http://www.wilywalnut.com

Smart Regards,

Wily