Exploratory Writing: Everyday magic for life and work

Analogy is essentially a metaphor on steroids: it’s a more conscious usage, expanding the comparison to draw out the connections and in the process helping someone understand the thing being described more fully.

In this writing session, your Chimp gets its day. Think about a situation that’s causing you some negative emotion – it could be a conflict, a frustration with yourself or others, or something you’re angry or ashamed about. (Be sensible here – this is everyday magic for everyday frustrations, so choose something manageable, not real trauma where su

Think about something you need to produce that you’d usually look up online: a presentation, a report, a job description, a meal plan. Instead of reaching for the search box, pause a second. Grab a notepad and pen instead, and spend six minutes or so freewriting about what it is you want to achieve. Who is this for and what do they need? What’s the

The If Only/At Least Flip. This is a quick thought experiment that supports mental resilience and can be used on the fly every day as necessary. It works best for low-level regrets, but can be used, with caution, for the bigger-ticket items too. Take one of your ‘If only’ statements and flip it to find a complementary downward counterfactual. For e

What do you need? A pen or pencil. A big scruffy pad of paper (more on this below). Somewhere comfortable to write. Some way of timing yourself. No distractions – from people or devices – during that time.

In this exercise, we’re going to explore how these objects shed metaphorical light on an issue you’re facing. So that’s the final step: select a live problem or situation that you’d like a fresh perspective on. It could be a tricky relationship, a resourcing or structural issue, anything.

set the timer for six minutes and freewrite in response to this prompt: My work is… Now look back over what you’ve written and have a go at picking out all the metaphors you’ve used. Remember they can be hiding in plain view – be ruthless in identifying anything that is not literally true; there’ll probably be more than you imagine. What do you not

Brian Eno put it beautifully: ‘If you want to end up somewhere different it is a good idea to start somewhere different.’2 What we’re doing here is giving you somewhere completely different to start, and that does something magical to your brain.

But there’s a cognitive cost attached to metaphors too: it’s easy to forget that the metaphor isn’t actually the thing itself. If we use them intentionally, they can help us be more creative and solve problems, not to mention communicate our ideas more effectively to others. But if we’re not aware of them, they can trip us up.