Mind Mapping

[Mike Ragnarok]

My tdoc suggested using mind mapping software to organize complicated things in my life. Things like my career. I'm ADD, I need all the help I can get.

A mind map is a chart where each concept has a blob and there are lines connecting them.

Sounds all abstract, but the concepts in using are pretty concrete and specific. The map I use most starts with "teaching" and has a branch for tests I need to take, one for the residency program, one for my volunteer job, etc. On the residency branch I have a branch for each entrance requirement, one for the tuition, one with the name and phone # of my contact. There is a lot more there, but that is the general idea.

His suggestions were FreeMind or FreePlane. But those are Windows/Mac/Linux programs, and I can't see something that lives on my desk doing me much good. So I looked around and went with SimpleMind. It doesn't seem quite as powerful as the other two, and it costs money for some features. But it runs on my iPad and my android phone. Costs like 5$ each to share data between them. The Windows version costs something like 25 euros, so I haven't installed it.

Anybody else using mind maps?

[Mike Ragnarok]

Here's the mind map I use most. I blurred some things for privacy.

[WinterRosie]

I draw similar lists (or maps) with a paper and a pen. I don't mean to sound unsupportive. I just don't find technology to be all that helpful for me, generally speaking. I like them on paper because I can bring them to my tdoc.

[Velvet Elvis]

I've been using Freemind for years.

 

Before than I used A pen and paper.

[Wooster]

I'm a big fan of mind mapping. It's easier for me to manage than linear outlines.

 

I'm not currently using a program, though, because I like the tactile process of pen and paper.

 

I also recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen for organizing plans and projects. I use a hybrid system that I've created over a couple of years, but mostly based on that. There's a site called 43 Folders that taught me a lot about how to use it after I read a book.

[Velvet Elvis]

Yeah, I use GTD as well along with some linux software written for it.  The book should be in the ADD section of the crazystore.

[kateislate]

I use iThoughtsHD on my iPad and love it. Mainly I map my goal plans and tasks.

[Emettman]

I've tried that,and mind maps have been useful to me for depressive illness, helping to spot "black and white thinking" etc.  but if I kept going on a static map too much linked back to other places elsewhere on the map...

Snakes and ladders by M C Escher.

Almost "Everything connects to everything else"

 

I once saw a dynamic mindmap /encyclopaedia where when you clicked on a node it came to the centre, and the web arranged itself so the one-step connections were around it,  however far away they would have been (with a great big looping line) on a paper or static mapping,  

 

I could never find it again when I needed it, either free or to purchase.

I suspect I just couldn't recall the key search term or brand name.

 

Chris.

[Mike Ragnarok]

That dynamic recentering sounds interesting.

I'm not using mine for anything that deep. For me (at least so far) is all about being able to find my notes and reminding myself of related things. So far I only have one cross link. Otherwise it's really just a different way to look at an outline. In fact, I can export it to an outline if I want to. But the graphic layout makes it easier for me to find things.