7 Effective Brainstorming Techniques

Problems and difficulties are faced by everyone in spite of their financial or social status might be. Learning how to face those problems is what ends up defining a person. Here are 7 effective brainstorming techniques that will help you reach the solution to a problem.

Free Writing

Free Writing, as the name suggests, is just writing things on a piece of paper. The steps to doing so are grabbing a piece of paper. Ensure that the paper is blank, without any marks, lines, or borders. These things can restrict or bound your thoughts to certain limitations and boundaries. The next step is to take a pen of a color you’re used to using, preferably blue or black. Start by writing an obscure thought or idea in just a sentence. Choose a calm environment. Set a 15-minute timer, and go all-in with the sheet. Just write things that come to your mind, as they are, without thinking too much about the grammar of the text, and so on. This will let your brain wander in various directions and think of newer and fresher ideas.

Free Speech

Free Speech is similar to free writing, except instead of doing it in a written format, you do it verbally. For this, you need a calm, quiet room, a phone or a recording device, and a timer. What you need to do here is, say your thoughts and ideas out loud onto the recorder. Once you start saying one thing, it’ll lead to another, then next, then next. Recording this ensures you have a record of your ideas. This works for people who do not like to write or simply prefer speaking over writing.

Word Association

Word Association is a fun game that can be played with friends, but in this case, it is beneficial in trying to find solutions to a problem or ideas. How this works is, that you have to write down three to four words that are related to the thing you wish to brainstorm. Make sure these words are a little open-ended, not restricted to certain ideas, and words that can be easily interpreted. Again the same set a timer, and write down words that related to one or more than one of the previously related words. After you’re done with this, you should go through the entire sheet of paper, word by word, and check in if any of those words help the purpose of your brainstorming.

Mind Maps

Throughout the day, you may come across various pieces of writing or things that might interest you, such as things in magazines, drawings in newspapers, textbooks, old notebooks, etc. In mind mapping, you have to get a huge piece of paper and start in the center of it. Start by writing the thing you’re brainstorming for, and then attach cut-up pieces from magazines, newspapers, etc. that are related to it. The difference between this and the previous methods is that this lets you bring in ideas from the outside, thus expanding your brainstorming process.

Question Brainstorming

Questioning and interrogation is the best way of procuring the answers to any question. The cause of many problems is that people do not know how to ask questions. Many times, in classes and lectures, people tend to avoid asking questions about doubts they have, due to feeling embarrassed about it. Knowing how to ask the right questions and when to do that is also an important skill to have. You can learn so much from simply just asking questions. Questioning Brainstorming is the process of asking different questions related to your problem and trying and answer them. When you answer those questions, you will realize the different possibilities of the situation, and can work accordingly toward the problem.

Sleep on It

Solving a problem requires a lot of time, effort, and mental energy. This can cause you huge amounts of stress and fatigue. Sleeping will help with reducing the amount of stress by a lot, so you can think straight later when you have to deal with a problem. Apart from that, we are the most relaxed when sleeping. However, our brains are still functioning the same amounts as when we are awake. This brings about more ideas and thoughts in dreams. Sleeping also relaxes the body a lot, which can help you overcome a roadblock while trying to think about something important but can’t find the solution due to stress.

Get a Brainstorming Buddy

There are chances that even after doing all of this, and much more, you might not find the right solution to the problem. The best solution in such a situation is just to talk to a friend, family member, or someone who you can trust. You can try to explain to them your problem, and they might have a completely different approach to it as compared to you. This will give you a new perspective on the issue. You could also try and explain the problem to your pet, or someone imaginary. While saying things out loud, you may have different thoughts about it, as compared to it just all being in your head.

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