One great way to break creative blocks

I first learned about it in 2014, at a very simple session while at ad school and I literally haven't looked back since. When I mean "looked back", it's just me saying I have only used it twice since then, until recently.

We now use it at the office to declutter complex projects that need to be finished quickly.

This is specifically for creative work. There's definitely more information about it if you do more research but simply put, Mind Mapping means "mapping your mind into potential possibilities". You're probably wondering if I understand what I just defined, but slow down. It's just how I make sense of it in my head.

You basically just fill your page or board with a lot of words and start picking words that are relevant to your goal. Making any sense yet? Let me break it down a little further before going into the steps. It's like planting a fruit tree. There's a plant you start with, then you add some water and it grows over time into a big tree filled with juicy fruits. Mind Mapping is quite similar, only that this plant is an important word that births other words and it won't take years for its "fruit tree" to grow.

Making some sense now? Let's get to the steps.

1. Pick a central word

Every project has a goal. Think of a central word that captures the goal you're hoping to achieve with your project. Think of what you want your audience to feel once you're done deploying the project - is it an emotion or different emotions?

Sum these emotions up in a word that's really important to your project.

2. Create your first branch

Never planted a tree? Not to worry, you can go straight to the branching part and brag about being an agricultural specialist! Okay, moving on. After picking the central word, write it at the center of your word or paper and draw a circle around it.

Then, think of the first word that comes to your mind when you think of the central word. Draw a branch on the circle; write it at the tip of this branch. Think of another word that comes to mind when you think of this central word. Draw another branch on the circle and write it at its tip. Repeat this process till you can close out the circle.

3. Create your extended branches

By now, you will have a certificate in agriculture to show you're an agriculturist because this second branch will help in filling out the page. Simply pick each word from the first branch, writing out series of words that come to mind first when you think of them, for example:

Let's say you want to branch out on "Family". The first word that comes to mind for me is - love. I will branch out on "Family" and write "love". Another word that comes to mind is "community". I will also branch out from "Family" and write "community". If any other words come to mind, I will keep branching them out till I'm exhausted. Then I will move to the next word from the initial branch and the next one and the next one till I have exhausted the entire initial branch. By now, your page or board should be filled with words.

If you think there's space for more words, you can repeat the process from the second branch on to a third one. One thing to note is that while creating your branches; do not worry about writing down completely irrelevant words. They sometimes will surprisingly help you to reach a fantastic idea or even lead to a word that will. So, forget about your goal once you've picked the central word.

4. Start Crossing

Don't worry, there's no traffic light here. Remember how I told you to forget about your goal? It's time to remember. So, you start picking these words one-by-one, thinking about their correlation to your goal/project. There will be completely irrelevant words, strike them out. However, think really well about these words with an open mind to be sure you want them to stay or go.

5. Collate

Now you have an entire word bank. Look through it, pick anyone that sparks an idea in you that will help your project's success. You don't have to use all these words and they don't have to come up in your strategy. They are just there for directions.

Have any questions at all? Let's talk in the comments; I'd love to hear from you!

Article by Lola Ogunnypebi

Lola Ogunnupebi is a freelance writer, poet, and entrepreneur. She melts at everything artistic - regardless of understanding. She's also a graduate of human resources management and hopes to someday, balance management and the arts. She blogs at and is on Twitter & Instagram @lolaogunnupebi