Productivity Toolbox: Mind Mapping
Posted: August 2nd, 2010 at 8:29pm
What Is It?
Mind Mapping (also known as "brainstorming") is a creative way of putting thoughts and ideas onto paper in a semi-organised manner. There are a multitude of uses for this technique, from generating ideas to organising notes and articles. It’s a great place to start if you want to create a lot of ideas, or if you want to explore different ways of doing things.
When Do You Use It?
The great thing about mind mapping is that it’s so free. There’s no right or wrong way to use it. For some people, it’s useful when trying to come up with a list of ideas, but for others it’s a good way of organising and idea they’ve already got and clarifying the various pieces.
As a general rule, if your task involves ideas of any kind, creating a mind map is a good place to start.
How Do You Do It?
If you can draw on it, you can pretty much mind map on it. I prefer to use paper as it is more flexible (you can doodle or use colours to add extra context easily), but there are some good software solutions out there too.
The PAPER method
The best way to get started is to take a piece of plain paper. Draw a bubble with your topic in it in the center, and then add anything that comes to mind in bubbles surrounding the main one. Add more related items as you go along, and add lines to them to signify relationships.
There’s no real "end" to this process, so go as long as you need to. I find it helps to rewrite the diagram later in the day when my subconscious has had time to stew on things, but it’s purely optional.
REMEMBER: Mind maps are as individual as the people that write them, so if you feel drawing emoticons next to something would add meaning, go for it. If you feel something is in the wrong place, it doesn’t really matter. Either draw some extra lines or scribble it out and move it somewhere else. The whole process is very organic, so just go where it takes you.
The DIGITAL method
There are plenty of great mind mapping applications out there, but here’s a few to look at:
- Freemind — It’s free, cross-platform and easy to use, and you can produce good looking mindmaps easily. It’s also quite keyboard friendly, so you can get ideas onto the screen quickly without having to fiddle with the mouse.
- XMind — A little more heavyweight than Freemind, but still good.
- LucidChart — An online charting app that supports mindmaps and multiple users at the same time, so good for teams.
There’s a much larger list on the wikipedia page “List of mind mapping software”.
What Are The Benefits?
In some ways, mind mapping is like a form of exercise for your creativity. It allows you to explore new ideas quickly and easily, and is good for overcoming mental blocks or finding alternative solutions to problems. More importantly, because there’s no set structure you don’t lose any creative juice trying to stick to a methodology or set of rules. Just grab a pen and paper and go for it!
Starting Your Day In A Positive Way
Posted: August 4th, 2008 at 7:18am
Have you ever noticed how the first few hours after waking up can determine how you feel for the rest of the day? If you’ve ever found yourself saying "It’s going to be one of those days", you know exactly what I mean. A few bad experiences in the early hours can drag your whole day down, to the point where everything seems to be going wrong.
Here’s a few strategies for preventing this from happening.
1) Wake up earlier than you need to
If you travel any distance to work, it’s important to wake up earlier than you need to. A stressful drive to the office, or missing your bus by a few seconds can really ruin your day. Leave plenty of time for getting ready and eating. As a rule of thumb, if you don’t have time to eat a proper breakfast before working, you’re not leaving enough time.
2) Review your goals and task lists
The more in control of your life you feel, the happier you are. Keeping a close eye on your goals and tasks keeps everything fresh in your mind, and you’re much less likely to forget about them. Not only that, but it allows you to review things and to quickly spot troubles. And it puts you in a positive frame of mind.
3) Read your affirmations
Before I tried using affirmations, I thought they were a waste of time. However, having experimented with them I’ve found them to be an invaluable tool for improving my mood. Stick to two or three simple ones, such as “I have abundant energy” or “I make effective use of my time”.
Think of affirmations as a kind of mental scaffolding. They’re useful for keeping you internally positive and uplifted until you can change your external situation.
4) Read something uplifting
Rent autobiographies of people you admire from the library. When you come across a good article on the Internet, print it off and read it later. Not only will this help reduce the amount of time surfing the net, but it creates your own personal library that you can refer to time and again.
Keep a highlighter handy when you’re reading them, so you can mark any important points. Review these later and make your own set notes.
5) Listen to something uplifting
If reading isn’t your thing, rent some audiobooks or listen to podcasts. There’s a wealth of personal development podcasts out there, and the advantage is that you can do something else whilst listening to them. Such as exercise…
6) Do some exercise
Twenty to thirty minutes of simple exercises in the morning gets your blood flowing and improves your mood. It doesn’t have to be too strenuous, and some light skipping or a gently jog around your area is just as effective.
Remember what you’ve achieved
So you’ve been up for just over and hour, and you’ve already managed to review your goals, read your affirmations and done some exercise. Sounds much better than stuffing down a slice of toast and running for the train…