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b'In This Episode:\\n\\n\\n\\n* Why writer Kris Windley decided to learn how to illustrate her articles* How doodling has helped her work with her ADHD* How she finds the idea or image she wants to illustrate for each piece* The metaphor she uses to think about skill-building\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nI\\u2019ve become a bit obsessed with the concept of \\u201csensemaking.\\u201d\\n\\n\\n\\nReally, I\\u2019ve been obsessed with it my whole life, I just didn\\u2019t have a name for it.\\n\\n\\n\\nSensemaking is the process of taking sensory information and situational knowledge and creating a framework for meaning and decision-making.\\n\\n\\n\\nOkay, I know, that sounds kind of heady. But really, we do it all the time.\\n\\n\\n\\nImagine you venture into the kitchen after a long day in your home office. The kitchen is torn apart. You see dishes stacked on the counter, cupboard doors open, and pantry items covering the table. You smell a slightly chemical citrus scent in the air. Your spouse isn\\u2019t there to ask what the heck is going on.\\n\\n\\n\\nQuickly, you deduce that they got the idea to deep clean the kitchen and had to step away for a bit. The job is almost finished but there\\u2019s still a ways to go and you\\u2019re hungry for dinner. You take the initiative to order pizza.\\n\\n\\n\\nThat\\u2019s sensemaking.\\n\\n\\n\\nYou went from \\u201cwhat the heck is going on here?\\u201d To \\u201cdinner is on its way\\u201d in less than 60 seconds.\\n\\n\\n\\nAnyhow, I\\u2019ve always got my eye out for a new way to make sense of the world. A framework, a script, a visualization, a map, a diagram\\u2026 I love these tools. And I make good use of them in my own head.\\n\\n\\n\\nBut my sensemaking tools don\\u2019t always make it out of my head.\\n\\n\\n\\nIn the last year or so, I\\u2019ve really started to recognize that I have a unique strength for explaining how I make sense of things and that my frameworks are helpful for others, too.\\n\\n\\n\\nScore another for neurodivergence!\\n\\n\\n\\nThat said, it\\u2019s taken some practice find my public sensemaking rhythm. The way I write and speak has evolved quite a bit in a short time\\u2014at least from my perspective.\\n\\n\\n\\nBut the other thing that\\u2019s shifted for me is the ability to turn ideas into a visualizations and graphic representations. I\\u2019ve never thought of myself as very good at visual art or graphic design\\u2014even though I wished I was.\\n\\n\\n\\nThen, I had a conversation with writer, developmental editor, and communications consultant Kris Windley. Kris told me all about how she\\u2019d been learning how to draw to support her writing\\u2014and that helped manage her attention & focus as she navigates ADHD.\\n\\n\\n\\nI don\\u2019t think I can overstate how much this got my wheels turning. It wasn\\u2019t until January that I really got to work on the project finding ways to illustrate my ideas. But once I got started, I couldn\\u2019t stop!\\n\\n\\n\\nHere 8 months later and almost a year after that conversation, I feel like I have a really powerful tool in my toolkit. And that that tool leverages a strength I had only been using at half-power.\\n\\n\\n\\nThis episode is a rebroadcast but, if you follow my non-podcast work, I think it will have new meaning for you now\\u2014as it does for me. And regardless, I think it\\u2019s really encouraging to hear about how Kris has intentionally and methodically introduced this new skill into the way she works!'