If you were to ask Wikipedia what the term ‘brainstorming’ meant, it would tell you that “Brainstorming is a group creativity technique designed to generate a large number of ideas for the solution to a problem.”

Generating a large number of ideas can often take up a large amount of space. Some people go for whiteboards, flip charts, large mindmaps, post-its on a wall. Me? I go for envelopes, your standard letter (1/3 A4) size in white.

It is a small quirk, but I’ve launched one or two blogs off the back of planning on an envelope or solved entire project problems by working off an envelope.

It happened by accident the first time. I had been standing in the bank, queuing to make some lodgements when an idea hit me. I had my lodgement book, a pen, and an envelope containing a statement. With the envelope being the only viable thing to write on, off I went from top to bottom and fit everything on it - the initial problem, all the workable options and the final solution as everything flowed into space.

The first time was maybe a year ago. Now when I look at my desk I’ve got a neat stack of envelopes with a massive amount of information and ideas on them. I had actually turned around on the phone last week asking my business partner for an envelope so I could jot down ideas flowing into my head off the back of the call I was taking.

Why an envelope?

I think it’s a space issue. A letter envelope isn’t bulky, folds neat into your pocket and I also happen to have a massive carton of unused ones so maybe there’s a paper-saving plan in place. Everything fits into a much more manageable space that’s highly portable and when compacted (in comparison to using a large whiteboard or post-its) feels much more approachable. There is an element that you’re restricting the space you’re working in, so you’ve got to be a bit more thought out before the pen hits the paper.

Other people go the notebook route, a refill pad, maybe a trendy moleskine, but I choose envelopes.

Have you any quirks when it comes to brainstorming or getting an idea on paper? Beer mats? Loo roll?

Popularity: 13% [?]