Have you ever found yourself trying to write a paper or craft a speech, staring at your computer screen, trying to line up words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs – struggling to find the structure of what you want to say? Searching for the path to take your reader or viewer on?

Have you ever tried to learn something new and the ideas just don’t stick? The lesson goes into one ear and out the other? *poof* The learning is lost?

Have you ever been deep in the middle of a difficult decision that you feel surrounded by it? Trapped? You’ve longed to rise above it so you could see the big picture and clearly see the decision you need to make?

Have you ever found yourself tackling a REALLY BIG problem, so complex that it feels like a giant, complex tangle? Have you wished you could tease apart the tangle, to pull into apart into solvable pieces?

Have you ever felt overwhelmed? All the to-do’s and ideas buzz around in your head like a swarm of bees. The mental noise is so pervasive you just can’t think straight?

I'm not a good writer.

Why is writing so $@#^! hard?

No one is going to listen to me anyways...

I feel stupid.

I am stupid.

Why can't I get this?

Sheesh! Decide already!

It doesn't matter, I'm going to make the wrong choice anyways.

This problem is going to EAT ME ALIVE.

What made me think I could do this?

Where do I even start?

It's all too much!

Why even try?

❌ The speech falls flat or the paper is unpersuasive.

❌ It may be as concrete as one bad grade...

❌ ...Or big, but amorphous, as not getting your message out into the world.

❌ The time, energy and money you invest in your education is wasted if you’re not truly learning

❌ Your lack of knowledge is keeping you from getting where you want to go, being who you want to be.

❌ That spark for learning goes out.

❌ At best you’re stalled out by that pesky, not-yet-made decision.

❌ At worst, the unmade decision creates a domino effect of bad stuff, or folks frustrated with you.

❌ You lose your sense of agency because you've convinced yourself you're bad at making decisions.

❌ That REALLY BIG problem goes unsolved, wasting your time, stacking up stress, costing you money, losing opportunities.

❌ You stop looking for the difficult-but-oh-so-worthy projects and default to the simple, but shallow stuff.

❌ The sense of overwhelm stops you in your tracks before you even get started.

❌ Over time, the overwhelm wears you down physically and erodes your confidence.

❌ You just stop trying.

⭐ Push around the parts of your presentation on sticky notes, til you find just the right flow.

⭐ Draw out and share your visual structure with your audience to make your message stick.

⭐ Banish writer's block with the humble index card.

⭐ In class, take visual notes that shift you from human tape recorder to real live learner.

⭐ Sketch visual mnemonics to lean on visual memory in test-taking.

⭐ Make a drawing of a tough subject to create higher levels of meaning on Bloom's Taxonomy.

⭐ Nothing wrong with a Pro/Con list, but a 2x2 matrix may map out more nuance in your decision.

⭐ Making a physical drawing often elicits physical cues. Tune into your body's signals as you draw. Where is the tension? What causes goosebumps? These gut reactions may make your decision clear.

⭐ The complexity of visual thinking is a worthy partner to a complex problem. Even with simple shapes and lines, you can turn a tangle into a clarity.

⭐ Iterate your drawing to take a problem from mess to murky to maybe-this-works to mastered.

⭐ Just get that swarm of ideas, feelings, possibilities, worries out of your head and away from the Inner Critic!

⭐ Even the messiest of drawings makes your inner thoughts tangible, and easier to navigate.

⭐ Erase overwhelm and take the first step in making great things happen, by making a drawing.