🧐 Are You Focusing on the Right Things?
Less is more. These mini Epiphanies provide practical prompts to help you apply Mind Mapping to daily life with a bonus Mind Map template in each issue. This week’s topic is Focus and Stress Management.
Life is a book, but we can only live one chapter, one page, one sentence at a time.
Even though our minds can exist in the past and future, we can only take action on the present.
After I map out my day, I put my blinders on and handle just one task at a time. After it’s done, I cross it out, and move onto the next one.
There’s no need to expend mental energy to hash out the exact details in future chapters because things always change. You can’t rewrite past pages either - only read to learn.
Mapping Prompts:
What’s my focus for today?
What are my next immediate steps?
How will I stay focused today?
What's my win for today?
Focus Map Template:
💡 Instructions:
1) Put today’s Date in the center and break out each node in the recommended sequence.
2) Use the Facilitate node to identify focus amplifiers and distractions. What’s the best environment for you to be able to focus? How do you remove distractions from your work environment?
3) Today’s Win is intentionally set to conclude your day on a high to remind yourself of what you achieved. It should ideally be aligned with Today’s Focus.
The mind follows Newton’s 1st law.
A mind in motion tends to stay in motion. In simple terms, it’s incredibly difficult to get a chattery brain to shut up.
I personally rely on meditation and exercise to be more in my body. Writing and mind mapping are sometimes double edged swords as they facilitate (and hence accelerate) thinking.
Mapping Prompts:
What calms my racing mind best?
How often do I use my calming techniques?
How can I balance productive thinking and mental rest?
When you are overwhelmed with chaos, go do something that replenishes your agency.
Agency is the power to make choices and take action, a fundamental human need. In peak chaos, it's easy to feel helpless and out of control. To counter this, I remove myself temporarily from the chaotic setting and shift over to activities that remind me of my ability to influence my surroundings. This could be as simple as tidying my desk, going to the gym, or setting a small goal and achieving it.
Mapping Prompts:
What activities makes me feel most in control?
What small goal can I achieve right now?
Make the most of your mind maps
Thanks for reading this article. If you found it useful, you can get a new mind map in your inbox every week. Epiphany is your dose of structured thinking and ordered chaos.
