We are familiar with people using both the right and left hand with great dexterity. They are ambidextrous and have no problem using either of their hands in a great variety of work. Interestingly Michelangelo, Leonardo Vinci, Einstein, Fleming, Harry Truman, etc., who are renowned the world over for their extraordinary level of intelligence, were ambidextrous.

We could use the analogy of ambidextrousness to also mean the ability to do different tasks simultaneously. We talk over the phone, cook, and attend to the washing machine all at the same time. In these days when time is a highly critical resource, we are all the time multitasking. Just like our hands, we are basically using the right and left hemisphere of our brain to help juggle our work. We hear people being called 'right brained' or 'left brained', which essentially refer to the right brain thinking activities such as ability for strong intuition, easy comprehension and subjectivity, while logic, analytical and highly rational thinking are the attributes of 'left brained' persons.

When we use both the right and left hemisphere of our brain we are said to display whole-brain thinking or an ambidextrous mind. Since each hemisphere has its own special attributes, by using both the hemispheres we will be optimizing the capacity of our brain. Such whole brain thinking enhances our brain output apart from increasing our awareness. We can make conscious attempt to use whole-brain thinking, by analyzing, reasoning and reflecting on the task at hand. It helps in deepening our logical ability, kindle imagination and creativity and find associations and links between different aspects of our awareness arising from our cognitive processes.

Mindmapping is a highly useful technique that propels us towards developing whole-braining thinking. In mindmapping we focus on a single topic and allow the mind to have diffusion of thoughts so there is vertical and lateral thinking. This helps us to think through a problem, situation or issue comprehensively and help find creative solutions or responses. Since mindmapping is based on the functional mechanism of our brain, it evokes all the power of our super brain and helps in triggering our thought process to a highly dynamic level. Mindmapping process is thus found to be an excellent tool for fostering ambidextrous or whole brain thinking.

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