Brain Storm

Totally biased, try it if you buy it, idea.

Do you remember brainstorming? Thought bubble in the center of the page, lines projecting outward, big mess on the paper? Last year I discovered that that is exactly the best way for me to take notes. Take any word or idea and stick it in the middle. And then start branching out from that. When a branch stops being useful or another idea barges its way in, start a new branch. Think about the links in logic. Is the first branch connected to the second? Are they separate entirely? Does the second thought follow from the first branch and not the central item? Create yourself a system of notation (lines, arrows, dashes, dots) that signify these types of links. And just watch how idea spiral outwards and lead their own lives. Eventually the center might not be the most important part. That's even radder.

Bene's:

• Maximizes space from the outset. You have optimal space to move out in any direction and to change course whenever.
• Best chance for redirection. If your first idea in the center turns out to be totally off the mark any other region of the paper is able to become the focal point.
• Not limited by heirarchical, temporal categories. You write down idea as you have them and in their relationship to previous ideas. Not by how they match up in time.

Other than that I can't really tell you why this system is so ideal for me. It certainly frees you from a sense of taking down what someone is dictating to you. Keep you working with in the realm of ideas and their linkages.

I'm really serious that you should at least give this a try. Try it for note taking. Try it for life planning / list making. Try it for thinking in general. Maybe it isn't the best way for you. But maybe it is.

The brain storm is just like it sounds, a muddle. But it is electric. Chances are that is what your results will look like to. So maybe my bias is that those are the things that excite me most. It creates a picture of thinking. Of how I think thinking is.