Friday, January 6, 2012

2-minute Lesson /or Pulling it together in 2012

True confession here! Things for me since the fall have been almost totally out of control. Amazingly good stuff on top of holiday stuff, but good or bad doesn't change the crazies you feel while being pulled in a hundred different directions. And, worse than anything, 2012 rolled in I was having a hard time focusing on just what I wanted to do with my time and energy.

Those closest to me will attest to Rose having the crazies, and I knew that it is time to take a step back and gain clarity, but HOW?

Luckily, a dear friend/ Roisin-Creative Dynamix, on the other side of the world helped me do this. Her two-minute lesson on how to mind-map has enabled me to find a pathway through the chaos. I had heard of mind mapping before but never really tried it. Roisin told me to get some markers and a big sheet of paper and drawn a circle in the center and mark it 2012/work. Then draw lines or arrows from that notating everything you can think regarding the various things related to 2012/work.

Just taking 10 minutes to start this mapping made a huge difference in how I felt. I now had cleared out the major areas that I know are part off my work life from my head, and each noted areas could now be seen, worked on, fitted in and generally (as I see it) dealt with. Opening up pathways of conversations with myself and others, too!

I am highly recommending that you give this a try, and there are a ton of resources out there that can help you open the gate and allow you to walk existing paths and carve out some new ones.

Each of these lines lead me off in a clear direction. Try it for yourself!
Just since yesterday I even found a couple of apps for my iPad to help with this mind-mapping journey... I can hardly wait to get going!

5 comments:

Kathleen said...

I used mind mapping this year too. I agree, it really helps you organize your thinking. Getting it out of your head and down on paper (or computer ap) is a good thing!

Rose Hughes said...

it seems like we just have to keep sharing this idea... for as you say Kathleen it is a good thing!

Mary said...

What a great idea! I've never tried it, but I do know that when I'm feeling overwhelmed, I make a detailed to-do list, and very often the tasks look much more manageable on paper than they do banging around in my head. Thanks for sharing!

Valerie Kamikubo said...

Must give this a try. I am thinking that this probably works especially well for a visual person who maybe needs to see the thoughts rambling around in their brain.

Rose Hughes said...

I like Mary and many others am a list maker, but as you said Val seeing it in this way made visualizing the connections and levels involved made 'this' visual person very happy.

hope to hear how it works out once you try it!