The best way to clarify your thoughts, is to write them down

Following on from a very interesting conversation in the Stacked Facebook Group this morning, I wanted to share a few thoughts for the benefit of anyone who may be feeling overwhelmed or generally struggling to organise their thoughts. 

In my experience, when you're feeling overwhelmed or you're unsure of the best way to approach a challenging situation, the best thing you can do, is to start writing your thoughts down. 

Perhaps you can phrase the problem as a question and start writing down the first thoughts that come into your mind. 

Don't overthink it. The key thing is to start the process of getting the thoughts out of your head. 

The amazing thing, is that once you start writing, you will find that it all starts to come pouring out of you. 

You will organically bump into ideas, which you hadn't previously considered. You will discover gaps in your thinking and identify other problems, which you haven't fully appreciated the significance of.

Don't let this overwhelm you further. Quite the opposite. Take comfort in knowing that you are pro-actively taking control of the situation and anticipating / resolving problems before they ever have the chance to manifest themselves in reality and catch you off guard. 

Writing things down will force you to really clarify your thought process. Overwhelm is a form of anxiety, which is normally triggered by not feeling in control.

By writing down the challenges you're facing, you will reclaim control of the situation. You will identify the things that are troubling you.  Once you've identified them, you can organise them. Then you can start to brainstorm ways of tackling them. By this point, rather than feeling overwhelmed, you will feel a strong sense of calm because you have a clear understanding of what you're up against. 

The other major advantage of writing things down, is that you can openly share your thoughts with your friends and colleagues. As the old saying goes "a problem shared is a problem halved." 

I would go further than that. When you articulate a problem in writing and start to propose ideas for solving it, rather than bringing an end to the matter, you are in fact starting an extremely powerful process of creative discovery.  

By openly sharing your thoughts with others, in a spirit of transparency and collaboration, you are starting a conversation, which could lead anywhere. Let that sink in and excite you! 

These kinds of conversations, present the most incredible opportunities for learning and generating new ideas.

The conversation will evolve naturally and across all manner of different mediums. What starts as an email or an article, can gradually evolve, both through written dialogue and verbal discussion.

Many brains are better than one, especially when you surround yourself with high performance individuals, who enjoy supporting others and seeing them do well. 

So .... dispense with all your concerns and anxieties!

Start hitting the keys and prepare to be amazed by what happens, when you open your mind and openly share your thoughts with the world around you.