Productive Brainstorming for Moms in Business: 3 Steps to Success

HeyMamas, we’ve all been there: we’re firing on all cylinders, shouting out ideas left and right, making strides on one project and then another, feeling inspired and motivated, and then BAM! We are stopped in our tracks, whether because of interruptions, time constraints, or a plain ole’ “creative block”—we just can’t seem to get it back. 

Frustrating, right? What’s more, it can be stressful. As moms in business, we may feel pressure (or pressure ourselves) to constantly have the next big idea. And while some ideas and solutions may strike like lightning, more often ideas develop over time, and in many different phases. With our already hectic schedules and one thousand and one things constantly running through our minds, we have to put ourselves in the right conditions and even have a strategy when it comes to generating ideas. 

That’s where brainstorming comes in. Most of what makes us efficient (time management skills, attention to detail, self-awareness, prioritization) can actively work against our ability to produce good ideas. Brainstorming is important because it requires us to dramatically shift gears, while opening the door to new ideas. 

Here’s our 3 Step Plan for a Successful Brainstorming Session to help get you started.

1. Flow

The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. So when brainstorming, it’s important to be in a generative frame of mind. Think about 4-5 things you are most passionate about – things that bring up extremely negative or extremely positive feelings. Think about topics that excite you, anger you, or scare you. Things you can’t stop talking about or thinking about. What do you love? What do you hate? What makes you happy? Makes you laugh? Makes you cry?  What is driving you crazy? They don’t have to be lifelong passions. Just where you are right now at this moment. Jot these passions down.

Starting from your passion place gets your juices flowing.   You’re more likely to be generative when you are excited, challenged, motivated – when you’re “in flow.”

According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” (1990). 

When was the last time you were so engrossed in an activity that you lost track of time (and didn’t even check the phone!)? It’s different for everyone. As moms, we may not always have time for “flow”, but there are moments that may come to mind—maybe it’s during bedtime story time or cheering our kids on at a soccer game, or it’s a 15-minute daily meditation, or maybe listening to our favorite podcast while taking the dog out. A brainstorming session is successful when you’re in flow. When you list ideas while thinking about passions, you make connections.

2. Freewrite

Once you’ve found your flow, it’s time to freewrite. Remember, brainstorming is not to find the big idea, it’s to find all the ideas. 

At the top of every brainstorming session, begin with a 15 minute freewrite. You can go longer if you’re in flow, but 15 minutes should be the minimum. This starts the process of *channeling* your creative energy.   

A successful freewrite is:   

• Completely unmoderated – you have to rid your mind of self-judgment. No one sits down and writes the perfect sentence. Creativity is about self-acceptance, free association, and the willingness to shape and guide your own ideas. This takes confidence. In a way, our ideas are like our kids—they might misbehave but they deserve all our love and attention, and it’s our responsibility to guide them. Maybe that’s a stretch, but you know what we mean.    

• Devoid of sentence structure, proper grammar, and riddled with spelling errors. If it looks like something you could publish or present, you did it wrong. 

3. Let it Settle 

Once you’ve flowed and free written, it’s time to let it settle. This is where the magic happens!  Letting it settle is when you step away from half-formed ideas, and give your brain time and space to ambiently make new connections and develop. Right after you freewrite, go do something physical for at least 10 minutes. Go on a walk, hang out with your kids, read, organize your sock drawer, whatever. Through the next couple of hours, days, weeks or even months, go back to your ideas. Revisit them. Change them. Add to them. Nurture them. These could be pictures, doodles, phrases, words, screenshots, feelings, or fully formed concepts.  A good idea isn’t picking a needle out of a haystack, it’s carving a sculpture from a block of stone. We can’t wait to see what masterpiece you come up with next!

Tell us what tips you have to get those brainstorming ideas going at @heymama.co!