When you are thinking about goals or projects you want to accomplish, you may have many things on your mind. It’s great to write these down and organize them on paper so you can see a visual picture.
A helpful tool that I’ve found is a funnel list. It’s a very basic document but it works well to organize your thoughts and create a flow to complete your project or accomplish your goal.
The basic funnel list consists of three columns of boxes that funnel into one large box where you write your goal or project title. You can use the document in many different ways, but here are some suggested uses.
- Vertical Column Flow Funnel: Use each column of boxes for a different thought flow. In the top box put your first item, followed by the box underneath with the next item in the flow. Follow this down to the goal box. Here is an example…
- Horizontal Row of Ideas: Instead of using the vertical columns for your similar ideas, use the horizontal rows. This gives you five rows to work with and may work well for some projects. You can use a right to left flow if needed.
- Random Boxes: Use all 15 boxes to capture ideas on your mind. Just put your random thoughts or ideas in the boxes. You may want to work from the top in a right to left fashion or work from the bottom up. This free flow mind map can be usefully for collecting all of your ideas in one place.
I’ve created a Basic Funnel List that you can print out using Microsoft Word. Just download the template and open in Word. You can fill in the boxes using Word or you can just print it blank and use a pen or fine tipped Sharpie to write in your information. I’ve included both Word 2007 and Word 97-2003 templates in the zip file.
I have found this to be a great tool when I’m brainstorming an idea. Since it is easy to add flow to the document it really helps to put the steps together to complete a project. It’s a simple way to funnel your ideas into useful action.
You can also use our Five Minute Flowchart to create a similar funnel list on your desktop with cards. Have Fun!
