"Kogu": What you need when thinking things through
Mandalart, as introduced in Masaharu Kato's book "Kogu."
The term "Kogu" (thinking tools) was born from this book, referring to tools used by people who create plans and content to efficiently generate a large number of ideas.
Tools used for self-reflection and for thinking through both personal and professional matters.
While paper notebooks are very plain tools, LACONIC's CREATIVE series notebooks are designed to be used as "Kogu."
Mandalart is a technique for organizing and expanding thoughts by writing ideas into grids. It's said to be named "Mandalart" (Mandala + Art) because the grids resemble Buddhist mandalas. Recently, the Mandalart created by Shohei Ohtani when he was 18 years old to set his goals became famous.
The creation process is simple. Prepare a 3x3 grid and write a keyword in the center.
Then, write 8 other keywords related to the central keyword in the surrounding squares. Once all 9 keywords are filled, repeat this process using each of the generated keywords as a new central keyword.
This will result in a total of 9 Mandalarts. The idea is to view these side-by-side and combine keywords from different Mandalarts to generate a large number of ideas.
Nature provides the best environment for generating more creative ideas.
Relaxation of the Brain
Being in nature relaxes the brain and reduces stress. With less stress, the brain is thought to become more flexible, making it easier to generate creative ideas.
Increased Visual Stimulation
Nature offers a rich array of visual stimuli, including various colors, shapes, and textures. These stimuli are believed to spark the brain's creativity and help in producing innovative ideas.
Enhanced Concentration
In nature, one can focus on the surrounding sounds, smells, and scenery. This heightened state of concentration stimulates the brain and creates conditions conducive to generating ideas.
Abundant Information
Nature contains a wealth of information about plants, animals, and landscapes. This information can stimulate the brain and serve as material for creating new ideas.
As described above, being in nature is believed to relax the brain, enhance visual stimulation and concentration, and provide abundant information, thereby making it easier to generate creative ideas.
Handwriting is best for adding depth to ideas
There are several reasons why thinking things through by hand makes it easier to come up with creative ideas.
Brain Activation
Generating ideas by hand activates the brain more. Research shows that handwriting stimulates more parts of the brain than typing on a keyboard.
Visual and Motor Integration
When writing by hand, the hand and eyes work together, simultaneously activating the visual and motor parts of the brain. Stimulating these brain functions at the same time is thought to make it easier to generate more flexible ideas.
Free-form Outline
When generating ideas by hand, there are no restrictions on how you write, allowing you to freely jot things down. This free-form outline makes thinking more flexible and helps generate new ideas.
Intuitive Approach
Handwriting allows for an intuitive approach. When generating ideas by hand, you can intuitively write down ideas, which makes it easier to produce intuitive and creative ideas.
As mentioned above, thinking things through by hand can activate the brain, promote visual and motor integration, and make it easier to generate flexible ideas through free-form outlines and an intuitive approach.
Solo camping has it all.
Solo camping is the ultimate environment for achieving all of these things.
You set up your site nicely, start a campfire, grill some meat, have a little drink, and then relax in your Helinox chair. Your stomach is full, and you wonder what to do next. At this point, opening your smartphone feels like a waste, especially when you're in the great outdoors.
That's why we recommend opening a notebook and writing down whatever is on your mind.
In nature, pick up your favorite pen and carefully write. By the time you've completed your Mandalart, your mind and heart will surely feel refreshed.
