Maximizing Each Brainstorming Session

 Want a quick way to come up with a wealth of great ideas?

Then one technique you can try is to build the brainstorming habit.

It doesn’t matter how you brainstorm. You can do it on your own or in a group setting. What matters is setting aside at least 30 minutes to think of multiple solutions to a single problem that you’re experiencing in your personal or professional life.

In this article, I will define brainstorming, talk about why it’s a great habit, and provide a six-step process to maximize your results during a brainstorming session.

Let’s get to it.

What You Will Learn [hide]

What is Brainstorming?

5 Brainstorming Examples You Can Try

6 Rules for Maximizing Each Brainstorming Session

Rule #1: Define the problem that you’d like to solve.

Rule #2: Give yourself a time limit.

Rule #3: Focus on quantity over quality right now.

Rule #4: Withhold criticism.

Rule #5: Welcome unusual ideas.

Rule #6: Select the best ideas

Where to Record Your Brainstorming Ideas

1. Whiteboard

2. Journal

3. Evernote

5 Top-Rated Brainstorming Apps and Software Programs 

1. Bubbl.us

2. Coggle

3. Lucidchart

4. MindMeister

5. Scapple

Final Thoughts on Brainstorming

What is Brainstorming?

Brainstorming is a technique used to generate as many potential solutions to a problem possible in hopes of figuring out what will solve the problem best.

The word brainstorming usually brings up mental images of a bunch of people sitting around a table in an office (like you’d see in the popular medical shows as they’re discussing a new patient with mysterious symptoms).

Find out what is brainstorming and why having many ideas will help you solve problems. #businessquotes #learn #learning #planners #planning #entrepreneurs #tips #career #productivity #success #leadership

Brainstorming can be applied to every aspect of your life: your career and professional skills; as well as your personal life, relationships, your health, and more.

The importance of brainstorming was first recognized back in the 1940s and 50s when Alex Osborn, an advertising executive and writer, included the term in a book titled Your Creative Power. Osborn was pretty much a genius in the advertising field, working for companies such as General Electric, Chrysler, BF Goodrich and Dupont among others.

Brainstorming was a procedure used for several years at BBDO, a major advertising agency where he served as executive vice president, before the release of his book.

5 Brainstorming Examples You Can Try

If you’ve only dealt with brainstorming at work you might disagree with me, but I think brainstorming can actually be pretty fun. It’s a great way to get creative and let your mind wander.

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Besides, you never know what sort of great ideas you’ll come up with. It’s particularly useful when you want to come up with new patterns of thinking and new ways to make improvements in your life.

If you understand the importance of brainstorming, you can use the method to produce different possible solutions to just about anything.

For instance, here are five examples of brainstorming you can use in the various areas of your life:

Your Professional Life 

​Is someone or something bothering you at work? Are you considering going back to college to increase your earning potential but not sure how you’d swing it? Maybe you have concerns about being your own boss and running your own business.

Your Personal Life

​Most of us have a lot of “personal” stuff we’d like to resolve. Are you always so busy it seems like you never have any free time left for yourself?

Maybe you’re thinking about buying your first home and need to figure out how to save up a down payment. Would you like to take up a hobby but you’re scared to give it a shot?

Find out what is brainstorming and learn from these brainstorming examples to resolve personal issues.

Use brainstorming if you have “personal” stuff you'd like to resolve.

Relationships with Others

​Relationships can be really tricky. Some people take advantage of one another, some couples always mange to make each other angry … toxic relationships can do more harm than good, but they’re often difficult to end. What should you do?

Your Health

​Weight loss, starting a workout routine and making wiser eating choices can be really hard, but sometimes “baby steps” are the best way to get started. What can you do to start improving your health?

Your Skills

​There are certain skills that can improve upon your personal and professional life. This can include public speaking, learning a foreign language, learning to touch type, improving your writing.

To get started, think about the things that you think are holding you back and what you can do to fix them.

Hopefully you can see how brainstorming can help with multiple areas of your life. If this sounds like a habit you’d like to build, then I recommend following these six rules to get the most from each session.

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6 Rules for Maximizing Each Brainstorming Session

Rule #1: Define the problem that you’d like to solve.

In order for brainstorming to be beneficial, you need to define the problem at hand in order to have a clear understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish.

I suggest sticking to one topic at a time, such as “How can I make my work day run smoother?” but if in the midst of it all you have some fantastic vision of an amazing household product that could make you rich, feel free to scribble that down, too.

Learn the advantages of brainstorming and effective brainstorming techniques to help you solve problems.

When brainstorming, you need to define the problem at hand in order to have a clear understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish.

Rule #2: Give yourself a time limit.

It might just be a personal thing, but I’ve found that brainstorming works best when I give myself a time limit. Besides, if something has been bugging you long enough that you’ve decided to brainstorm about it and come up with a solution, you’ve probably thought about it quite a bit already.

If you’re brainstorming at the office, it’s most likely happening during a scheduled meeting which is only set to last for a certain amount of time.

20 or 30 minutes is probably sufficient time to come up with a bunch of ideas.

Read about Parkinson's Law to find out why time constraints are important to both creativity and task completion. (Scroll right down to learn what is Parkinsons's Law)

Rule #3: Focus on quantity over quality right now.

Record every single idea that comes to you. Try to come up with as many ideas or solutions to your problem as possible. In some situations, “less is more,” but when you’re brainstorming, “the more the better.”

Quantity is your friend.

The primary goal of brainstorming is to come up with a creative solution that will actually work for you, so the odds of finding something great increase if you have more ideas to choose from. Write all the ideas down so you remember every single thing that came up.

Rule #4: Withhold criticism.

If you only have 20 minutes to come up with ideas and solutions, you’d better spend your time thinking of ideas instead of criticizing them. This is especially important in a group setting where people with big egos can easily scare others from speaking up.

If an idea wasn’t yours and you don’t agree with it, keep quiet for now. You can go over everything once you have a list.

If group members aren’t judging each other’s ideas at this phase, everyone will be more likely to speak up and keep offering suggestions—no matter how “crazy” they might sound.

Rule #5: Welcome unusual ideas.

Speaking of crazy ideas, unusual ideas are completely welcome during a brainstorming session. Be imaginative. If you think of something (anything!) related to the task at hand, write it down. Unusual ideas can become million dollar ideas.

Like: I’m willing to bet that somewhere out there is a guy who used to eat plain M&Ms and pretzels at the same time for years, and he’s really ticked off when he tells people “I thought of that first!” now that Pretzel M&Ms are on the shelves.

Learn what is brainstorming and importance of brainstorming in business.

Remember that unusual ideas are welcome during a brainstorming session. Be imaginative.

Rule #6: Select the best ideas

When time is up, go through your list of thoughts and ideas and evaluate them. If you weren’t too sure about something after you thought about it and wrote it down, now is the time to criticize and pick things apart.

Select the best ideas to narrow down your options, asking yourself which actually seem feasible. Do you honestly see yourself following through with any of them?

Where to Record Your Brainstorming Ideas

There’s really no right or wrong place to record your ideas, but I have three great suggestions for recording your ideas:

1. Whiteboard

​If you’re brainstorming with a group, then the best tool you can use is the classic whiteboard that’s available in most business settings.

If you don’t have one, then I recommend this OfficePro Dry Erase Board because it’s slim and lightweight and it also includes a whiteboard pen, pen tray, 3 magnets and an eraser.

2. Journal

​If you want to preserve your ideas for the future, then you should consider investing in a durable journal like the Moleskine Journal ; which has 240 blank, lined pages and measuring 8.2 x 5.2 x 1 inches, which makes it very extremely portable.

3. Evernote

​If you want to keep all your ideas in “the cloud,” then the best tool you can use is the Evernote app. Used correctly, Evernote can act as your “second brain,” where you store all your great ideas.

Regardless of what tool you use, it’s important to pick one and stick with it for all your brainstorming efforts. That way, you’ll have a central place where you can access all the sessions you’ve done in the past.

5 Top-Rated Brainstorming Apps and Software Programs 

In addition to brainstorming the old-fashioned way with paper or a whiteboard, there are several different brainstorming computer programs on the market.

I’m not completely familiar with all the details, but a lot of large organizations use electronic meeting systems so employees can share ideas over the internet without even being in the same room—similar to a conference call.

Brainstorming software offers the ability to categorize ideas and eliminate duplicates rather easily, and then eventually allows you to rank ideas in order of priority.

Learn what is brainstorming and use these brainstorming tools to maximize your brainstorming sessions.

If you're not crazy bout brainstorming using pen and paper, there are many available brainstorming apps you can use!

This could obviously be done with a pen or a highlighter, but an advantage of brainstorming software is that it gives you the ability to save everything in one place and come back to it later.

When it’s used by national or global businesses, the participants don’t even have to “meet” on the same day—they can submit their ideas over an extended period of time.

In my opinion, I don’t think you need a fancy piece of software to do brainstorming. I feel this gets in the way of creativity. One of the things my dad has taught me that the only “technology” you need is a good pad of paper and some pencils.

All that said, I’ve done a bit of research and here a few of the best brainstorming apps and software programs that are available:

1. Bubbl.us

Bubbl.us is a web-based brainstorming app that makes online brainstorming and mind mapping simple.

Bubbl.us is a web-based app that makes online brainstorming and mind mapping simple.

You have the option to create a tree, grid or circle to organize your ideas. There’s an auto-save feature and you can share your mind maps with others too.

Pricing: Free and Premium ($4.91/month)

2. Coggle

Coggle is a brainstorming app that helps break down complex information through mindmaps.

Coggle allows you to brainstorm and break down complex information through mindmaps.

This web-based app lets you drag and drop images onto your diagrams and customize colors.

Pricing: Free; Awesome ($5/month); Organization ($8/month)

3. Lucidchart

Lucidchart is an online diagram app that you can use during your brainstorming sessions.

Lucidchart is an online diagram app that helps you sketch and create professional-looking flowcharts.

It’s use is not only limited to brainstorming and mind mapping but also extends to project management and communication.

Pricing: Free; Pro ($8.95/month)

4. MindMeister

MindMeister is the perfect app for real-time collaborative brainstorming.

MindMeister boasts an intuitive, easy-to-use interface that facilitates real-time collaborative brainstorming.

It is web-based and you can also access projects through mobile devices.

Pricing: Basic (Free); Personal ($4.99/month); Pro ($8.25/user/month); Business ($12.49/user/month)

5. Scapple

Scapple is the brainstorming app made by and for writers. 

Scapple is the brainstorming app made by and for writers. It is created by the folks at Literature & Latte, the same people behind Scrivner. It allows you to take notes, drag and drop them around, and make connections between ideas.

Unlike the other apps on this list, you need to download and install it in your computer.

Pricing: Free trial; $14.99

Final Thoughts on Brainstorming

If you currently feel stuck with an area of your life, then one of the best ways to get out of it is to take time to do a bit of “deep thinking” with a quick brainstorming session.

The truth is:

You probably already know the solution to your problems. All you have to do is come up with a series of possible answers and then narrow down to a few potential winners.

If you implement the six rules that I’ve just outlined, then you’ll maximize the results that you get with each brainstorming session.

Now it’s your turn:

Have you tried brainstorming before?

If so, comment below and discuss some of the lessons that you’ve learned from implementing this habit.

What Is Parkinson's Law?

In 1955, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a famous British historian, management theorist, and author, claimed that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

This suggests that if you proactively give yourself time constraints, you will be able to get more work done in less time. For example, if you allow yourself a week to finish a task that should take three hours, then (psychologically) the task will expand in complexity and seem more difficult, and it will fill the entire week.

While it might not fill the entire time with more work, you will have an increased amount of stress and tension about finishing the task for the entire week.

This may explain why students choose to cram before exams, or why people complete projects at the very last minute. But if you can assign the right amount of time to each of your tasks, you can gain back time, and the tasks will not seem so complex.

Consider Tim Ferriss' book, The 4 Hour Workweek. In this book, Ferriss talks about the mental impact that a deadline has on people.

If you are given just one day to complete a project, you will be forced by the time pressure to focus on getting it done, and you will focus on completing the bare essentials. After all, remember that 80% of your success comes from just 20% of your efforts.

But when given a week to do the same task, you will likely spend the first six days just overthinking the project. In the end, both end products would likely be the same. You would be surprised at how much work you can fit into just a small amount of time.

With this in mind, Ferriss poses two questions. Should people limit tasks, and only do what is most important to decrease the amount of time spent on work? Or should people shorten their work time so that they are forced to limit their tasks to only what is necessary?

He argues that it is best to do both. Pick out only your most critical tasks, and then give yourself short and clear deadlines.

Parkinson’s Law in Time Management and Productivity

As you can see, the more time you allow yourself to complete a task, the longer you'll put it off. In order to manage your time in the most effective way, you have to shorten the amount of time you are willing to allow yourself to finish something. If you need to accomplish something in a year, it will take you a year to do it. If you have to do something in a month, then it will get done in a month.

One might argue that if Parkinson's Law were an accurate observation, you could assign a task a time limit of two minutes, and the task would become easy enough to do within that time limit.

But Parkinson’s Law is an observation, not a form of magic. It has been observed because people tend to allow themselves to have more time than they actually need to get something accomplished.

This is often because they want a buffer, but also because people have an inflated idea of how long it should take to finish a task. People don’t realize how fast some tasks can be finished until they test this observation.

7 Ways to Apply Parkinson's Law to Your Work

When you are assessing your own capabilities, or the capabilities of the person you are assigning a task to, you have to be objective and stick to the facts. Where do your strengths and weaknesses lie, and how much of this project is likely to trip you up?

This will help you determine the right amount of time needed to complete a task or finish a project.

You also want to aim to under-promise and over-deliver. People make and fulfill their promises because it builds the foundation that is needed for maintaining relationships. Large promises mean large obligations and big expectations. If the expectations are not met, people get upset and feel let down.

Promises help signal to others how trustworthy you are. The human brain expects consistency, so when someone makes a promise, your brain finds comfort in believing whatever was promised will happen.

But when the promise does not get fulfilled, the consistency your brain expected goes away. This leads to disappointment and alters how people perceive you.

Learn what is Parkinson's law and how to use deadlines to your advantage to improve your productivity at work.

In order to under-promise and over-deliver, give yourself artificial limitations to your work.

In order to under-promise and over-deliver, give yourself artificial limitations to your work. When you are working on a project, make yourself a personal deadline, and then announce a later deadline to those who are counting on you. This way, you will have the work done before they expect it.

Josh Kaufman has created a business from his ability to refine the core principles of business and teach them quickly and concisely to anyone in the working world.

In his book, The Personal MBA, Kaufman recommends using Parkinson’s Law as a counterfactual simulation question (also known as a “What if” question), asking what would it look like to complete a task in a very short amount of time.

If you can visualize yourself doing this and the steps you would need to take to get there, you will be able to do it. Mentally cut out any extra steps that are not necessary.

Here are seven quick techniques for adding Parkinson’s Law to your busy workday:

Learn what is Parkinson's law and how to use deadlines to your advantage including using the Pomodoro technique.

Use the Pomodoro Technique to increase your productivity. Break up each of your tasks into 25-minute time blocks.

1. Use the Pomodoro Technique.

The idea behind the Pomodoro technique is to break up each of your tasks into 25-minute time blocks. Every 25 minutes, take a five-minute break. After finishing four 25-minute sessions, take a 15- to 30-minute break.

This strategy is effective because you fully concentrate on one task for the 25 minutes without changing your focus or multitasking.

During those 25 minutes, you ignore incoming emails, text messages, or other distracting activities such as social media. You are just completely focused.

If you want to get started on using the Pomodoro technique, read our review of the best Pomodor apps to help you improve your productivity.

Or you can also check out this video that explores how the Pomodoro technique can help you become hyper-focused on important tasks.

2. Track how you spend your time.

In order to be more productive, you have to know exactly how you are spending each hour and minute of your day. 

You may think that you need to get more accomplished, or that you never have enough time to do everything, but if you make the effort to actually track how you spend your time, you will likely realize that you are spending a lot of time on unnecessary tasks. These tasks can then be eliminated.

3. Take breaks frequently.

You will likely be surprised by how often and how long you should take breaks in order to increase your productivity.

In fact, the top 10% of the most highly productive people take a break for 17 minutes after every 52 minutes of focused work.

This may seem like a lot of downtime—and if you’re working a 9-5 day, it is. But this time ratio was proven to increase productivity through an experiment using the time-tracking app DeskTime or RescueTime.

Learn what is Parkinson's law and how to use deadlines to your advantage including working with an accountability partner.

Having an accountability partner is an effective way to help you stay on track toward achieving your goals.

4. Get an accountability partner.

Having an accountability partner is an effective way to help you stay on track toward achieving your goals and getting the results that are the most important to you. 

An accountability partner can help you with a lot of things, such as dealing with unexpected challenges and setbacks, creating a positive and lasting change, carrying out action plans, and improving your personal effectiveness.

5. Make a time limit rule.

Make a rule for you to get things done before [insert time here].

For example, say there is one task that you have to do every day, and you can't really be productive until you get it done. 

Maybe this is checking your voicemails on your work phone, or reviewing a traffic sheet for your company. Whatever it may be, make a rule for you that this will be done within 30 minutes of arriving to work.

You can also make a rule that you will be done with your work for the day by 5:30 pm. This way, you will have a clear cut-off between when your professional life is over for the day and your personal life begins.

Learn what is Parkinson's law and how to use deadlines to your advantage including limiting your email time.

Limit certain activities to 30 minutes each day to give yourself enough time to get the work done that you need to do.

6. Limit certain tasks to 30 minutes a day.

Think about the things in your life that are time suckers. Scrolling through social media, checking your emails, and texting are a few examples.

Limit these activities to 30 minutes each day to give yourself enough time to get the work done that you need to do, and have time left over to spend with your family.

7. Stop working late.

Don't work past working hours. With the Parkinson's Law in mind, create time boundaries and deadlines that prevent you from having the time during the day to sit around and think about doing things.

This way, you will only be left with time to actually get them done. This will reduce stress in you life and increase your productivity.

Use Parkinson’s Law to Prevent wasting Your Time

Using Parkinson's Law is important because it will prevent you from wasting time or making tasks more complicated than they have to be.

Trim your responsibilities down to the bare minimum, and do those tasks with the most effort that you can give. This will result in high-quality work and more free time to either take on more projects or spend more time on personal activities.

Start to create short time constraints on your goals, and see how productive you can be and how much the quality of your work changes.

When you start to see results, come back to this article and leave a comment below with how you applied Parkinson’s Law to your life, how you use time constraints and the specific ways it has helped you increase productivity and reduce stress.

With your specific results, you will be able to help other readers find the inspiration they need to become more productive themselves.