Other tools that are particularly helpful are structured brainstorming, mind mapping and making forced connections.

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Instead of another endless vertical list, mind-mapping organizes concepts and tasks in a colorful web that looks a bit like a public transit map.

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But now, NeuroSky (a fab(u)less startup of US chip designers and Russian neuroscientists chillin' in NorCal) claims a "breakthrough" in non-invasive neural sensors allowing low-cost, dry (no contact gels) neural mapping solutions to be applied to those things you'd most like to mind control (spouse, voters, TV, game console, cellphone).

ENGADGET: NeuroSky to offer thought control without those pesky brain implants