I can't remember the last time a good idea magically appeared on my desk.
I have no need for a screen saver on my computer. Most of the time my screen is blank, the cursor patiently waiting for inspiration to strike.
It's tough to be creative on demand, yet creativity is what drives business. Creative ideas allow small start-up companies to compete with established giants. Michael Michalko, author of Cracking Creativity, says the first step is allowing yourself to be creative.
Fortunately, mobile devices can make it easier for anyone to harness their creativity, whenever and wherever inspiration strikes. A Windows Mobile device can help you organize and record your seemingly random thoughts.
"A lot of creativity is random," says Michalko. "The thing is, when you start recording all your thoughts and ideas, they start to combine with each other. Combination synthesis is the core of all creativity."
Typically, problem solving involves thinking about what has worked in the past. He says that method of thinking usually results in the same mediocre ideas over and over again. It's better to let your imagination run wild, and to do that, you should set an idea quota.
Force yourself to come up with as many as 250 ideas. You will have to stretch to meet that quota, and as a result, you won't censor any of the thoughts you have at this stage. Self-censorship, says Michalko, is the "biggest turn-off to creative thinking there is."
"Creativity works like a water faucet," says Michalko. "What comes out first is brown and murky. Later, it becomes crystal clear. That's the way creative thinking comes."
At this stage, it's important to write every idea down, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. It's also the stage where your Windows Mobile-based device can be the greatest help. Odds are the best ideas will come as you're out and about – not at your desk.
Mobile devices are much more effective than cocktail napkins and the back of envelopes. Recording all your thoughts in a Pocket Word document or dictating them into your Smartphone is a great way to make sure you don't lose any ideas. And having all your ideas together also makes it easier to organize your thoughts and find the gems later on.
Pocket PCs can also help you develop mind maps, which are diagrams that help you brainstorm ideas and show how they're related to each other. At the center is the concept that's the subject of your brainstorm. Attached to it are related concepts, which can form new clusters of related ideas.
Think of mind maps as a tree. The trunk is the central concept and ideas branch out in every direction – above and below ground.
Michalko says if you begin to think about a problem by simply listing ideas as they come to you, you will eventually want to organize those thoughts in a mind map.
"Once you cluster and start relating all of these thoughts together, you start to think of additional thoughts," he said.
There are several ways to create mind maps with a Pocket PC. The first is to use the Notes program and draw one. It's easier than using a desktop computer, because you can write down ideas as though you were writing on paper, but because it's on your Pocket PC it's easier to retrieve and review later. You would have to use flow-charting software on a desktop computer to accomplish the same thing, and it probably couldn't keep up with you.
Avoid the temptation to convert your handwriting into text. You'll lose the associations between ideas.
One problem with drawing your mind map in Notes is that you can add only roots to your tree. There's no way to scroll left and right or add extra space above your central concept if you decide you need more room later on.
If you plan to do a fair amount of mind mapping with your Pocket PC, you may want to consider a specialized program. You can choose from several.
