It is typically an organic multi-coloured chart laid out on a large sheet of paper. It contains words and drawings that are connected in various ways. A Mind Map can be used for keeping notes, or for developing a concept, or for getting an overview of an activity.
It is both rational and artistic, both logically ordered and spontaneously expressive.
Mind Maps use and stimulate the visual abilities of the mind. If represented visually, a bigger subject can be understood and remembered much more efficiently.
Mind Maps are an example of Radiant Thinking. A central idea branches off into many different directions. The branches themselves branch off into finer details or associations. Radiant Thinking is both Creative and Organised. Like a tree.
A Mind Map is not just a systematic chart of a subject. It is a fun and interesting expression of the way a subject is experienced. It is more important that it is workable and feels right than that it corresponds to any objective standards.
Mind Maps provide a way of relating to the world one lives in in a more meaningful way. They are a tool for making sense out of anything and for realising one's priorities.
Anything can be mind mapped. A birthday party, a book one is reading, one's plans for the day, flower arranging, the economy, the meaning of life, or one's experience of a piece of music.
Mind Maps
Before the web came hypertext.
And before hypertext came mind maps.
Mind maps were developed in the late 60s by Tony Buzan as a way of helping students make notes that used only key words and images. They are much quicker to make, and because of their visual quality much easier to remember and review.
The non-linear nature of mind maps makes it easy to link and cross-reference different elements of the map -- which is why hypertext was developed for computers (again initially by a student wanting to make note-taking easier).
Peter Russell joined with Tony Buzan in the mid-70s and together they taught mind-mapping skills in a variety of international corporations and educational institutions.
Notes. Whenever information is being taken in, mind maps help organise it into a form that is easily assimilated by the brain and easily remembered. They can be used for noting anything -- books, lectures, meetings, interviews, phone conversations.
Recall. Whenever information is being retrieved from memory, mind maps allow ideas to be quickly noted as they occur, in an organised manner. There's no need to form sentences and write them out in full. They serve as quick and efficient means of review and so keep recall at a high level.
Creativity. Whenever you want to encourage creativity, mind maps liberate the mind from linear thinking, allowing new ideas to flow more rapidly. Think of every item in a mind map as the centre of another mind map.
Problem solving. Whenever you are confronted by a problem -- professional or personal -- mind maps help you see all the issues and how they relate to each other. They also help others quickly get an overview of how you see different aspects of the situation, and their relative importance.
Planning. Whenever you are planning something, mind maps help you get all the relevant information down in one place and organise it easily. They can be used for planning any piece of writing from a letter to a screenplay to a book (I use a master map for the whole book, and a detailed sub-map for each chapter), or for planning a meeting, a day or a vacation
Presentations. Whenever I speak I prepare a mind map for myself of the topic and its flow. This not only helps me organise the ideas coherently; the visual nature of the map means that I can read the whole thing in my head as I talk, without ever having to look at a sheet of paper.
How to Mind Map
Use just key words, or wherever possible images.
Start from the centre of the page and work out.
Make the centre a clear and strong visual image that depicts the general theme of the map.
Create sub-centres for sub-themes.
Put key words on lines. This reinforces structure of notes.
Print rather than write in script. It makes them more readable and memorable.
Lower case is more visually distinctive (and better remembered) than upper case.
Use colour to depict themes, associations and to make things stand out.
Anything that stands out on the page will stand out in your mind.
Think three-dimensionally.
Use arrows, icons or other visual aids to show links between different elements.
Don't get stuck in one area. If you dry up in one area go to another branch.
Put ideas down as they occur, wherever they fit. Don't judge or hold back.
Break boundaries. If you run out of space, don't start a new sheet; paste more paper onto the map. (Break the 8x11 mentality.)
Be creative. Creativity aids memory.
Get involved. Have fun.
Advantages of Mind Maps
Energy and time wasted writing down superfluous words.
Other information may be missed while noting down one idea.
Take longer to read and review.
Associations and connections between key words and ideas not readily apparent.
Attention wanders easily.
Lack of colour and other visual qualities handicap memory.
Traditional notes aid forgetting not memory.
Using Mind Mapping techniques to put your goals on paper is the best method to use. Have a mind map of your goals on the wall so you can see it and update it.
