Using simple drawing techniques, you can add extra depth to your mind maps so that they emphasize or highlight a particular branch or idea.

Instead of me waffling on about these techniques, check out the mind map below.

Right it’s only 4 branches but these four branches represent 4 different techniques that many people don’t use in their own mind maps.

3-D

The world we live in is full of 3-dimensional shapes and objects. Yet when we mind map, we usually represent these objects as a 2-dimensional object.

Next time you’re mind mapping and your adding an image to your mind map, think how that image can be represented in a more 3-dimensional way. Depending on your image, it might only require you to add just a couple of extra lines to add that extra depth.

Perspective

My perspective branch represents distance. In your mind maps you may want to convey that a branch or topic is more important by placing it “nearer” the reader.

In order to do this, think of your main branch as a road or path disappearing into the horizon. The main branch should disappear into the distance. Then you can make your sub-branches appear closer by making them bigger.

Texture

Another thing that is common in mind maps are solid blocks of colour that people use for their branches and keywords. It’s great to add colour to your mind map, but that’s all it’s ever going to be. A solid block of colour.

To add texture to your mind map, consider using something other than a marker to fill in your main branches. Using pencils or crayons lets you add texture to your branches that can really make them stand out.

Shadow

Finally we have shadows. When you think about it, shadows are merely an extension to something that is 3-dimensional. When you shine a light on an object, it creates a shadow at the back of that object.

Pretty obvious, but it’s something that you don’t see often in mind maps and yet all objects have shadows where there is light.

When your adding shadows to an image or keyword, think about where the light source is coming from to create the shadow. Once you know where the light is coming from, it’s straight forward enough to add your shadow.

When you have a particular topic in your mind map that you want to emphasize, consider adding that extra dimension to your mind map to really make it stand out. It might take some practice but it’s something worth adding to your own personal style to really make your mind maps stand out!

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However instead of solely focusing on links in the mind mapping community, I thought it would be a good idea to highlight a few mind mapping articles that highlight the benefits of mind mapping and would serve as good starting points for those new to mind mapping.

The My Child website has interesting article about how mind mapping software can be used to help kids with dyslexia. The article points out that dyslexic learners are often conceptual and very creative.

As a learning aid, mind mapping software is being seen as an excellent tool for children to communicate ideas through a less linear medium.

Nathan Morris has written an excellent guide to at the Free Articles Directory website. His post entitled, “How To Prepare For Exams Using Mind Mapping Software“.

Starting from mind mapping what you already know, Nathan covers how mind mapping well for learning and recall. Well worth a read if your student looking to use mind mapping in your studies.

Michael Tipper has an excellent video on his blog answers the question, “What is Mind Mapping?”. In the video Michael talks about what mind mapping is and describes it as the software for for your brain, which is the hardware. At just under 4 minutes long, it’s a great introduction for those new to mind mapping.

You can download this months links mind map that contains more great links from here.

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This is a simple exercise that anyone can do with their children and the variations on it are only limited by the imagination of your children.

Recently Paul Foreman created a mind map for children that asked “What would you do if there was a monster in the bed?”

I said a few weeks ago that I would try this with my own son to see what his reactions would be and to see if how his imagination works.

Using the popular theme of monsters in the cupboard, I created a mind map with 4 main branches with each of these main branches having 3 branches of their own. I left each of the branches blank so that we could simply fill them in during the exercise.

I then asked him what he might do if he found a monster in his cupboard.

Here’s what we came up with:

The great thing about young children is that there are no constraints in the world. Anything is possible. Just by asking my son questions, he was free to think of things he would like to do if he found a monster in the cupboard.

This exercise highlights an important lesson in brainstorming thoughts and ideas in mind mapping, in that anything is possible.

If you feel that your yourself don’t have the imagination then why not try this mind mapping exercise yourself? You might be surprised just how imaginative you can be.

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As a mind mapper I think it’s important to have a good mix of tools for mind mapping using both software and pen and paper.

Software

I use Mindjet MindManager 7 on OS X almost daily. I run a personal dashboard mind map that links to other projects and ideas that are located in group or individual mind maps.

Having come from a Windows environment where I also used MindManager, the OS X version isn’t as feature rich. Hopefully with the new version coming out soon and a raft of new features, MindManager fans on the Mac won’t feel left out!

Paperware

Most of my mind mapping is done on paper. It’s easier to mind map more freely and there’s no constraints on what you can accomplish.

Originally I was a fan of the Moleskine notebook for mind mapping, but with them being quite expensive, I decided to opt for a cheaper alternative. I’ve been using Asda’s own Executive Notebook with thicker paper and a perforation on each page, so I can easily remove pages if I require.

While it is handy, the perforations and paper quality does add thickness to the notebook and it means that I have less room in my bag for a book or something else. In time I think I’ll return to a Moleskine notebook.

Any mind maps that need to be published to MindMapSwitch are done on a A4 notebook similar to the smaller one I’ve just mentioned. The great thing about this is that the paper is really thick and suitable for thicker pens and markers that might bleed through thinner paper. While the pad is quite thick, it’s never carried about and usually remains in the house.

I’ve got a box full of pens and pencils for mind mapping that I add to every 6 months or so. Primarily I use Staedtler pens for mind mapping as they allow for greater detail when adding images to your mind map, but recently I’ve started using thicker pens for the bigger areas of the mind map such as my basic ordering ideas.

In my recent climate change mindmap I used a few Sharpie pens to add emphasis to my basic ordering ideas. They’re great for a big bold map, but they don’t allow you to draw with detail.

Good Tools, Great Mind Maps

As a tool, mind mapping is versatile in that it can be done using software or paper. The tools that you use for mind mapping can really help you add more value to your mind maps.

Having a good mixture of tools is important and really lets achieve more with your mind maps so why not review your mind mapping tools and see if there’s an area of your tools you need to add too.

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Rather than bog you do with my rants on climate change and what we should be doing, I thought it might be a better idea for me to instead present my mind map on climate change.

Enjoy!

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However, I’ve always given different answers as to why mind mapping is great. Is there a common set of reasons as to why mind mapping is so awesome?

Here’s my 4 reasons why mind mapping is awesome!

Mind Mapping Is For Everyone

Whenever I introduce someone to mind mapping, the most frequent reason I get for people resisting is this:

“I can’t draw.”

When I first seen a mind map, I initially thought it was a drawing. Once I read some background material on mind mapping, I started to see that mind maps were not drawings. They were more like a mix of drawing and writing.

Not being a skilled artist myself, I initially created my mind maps with keywords only. It’s was my first step into mind mapping and I loved the idea that I could create mind maps with basic branches and keywords.

This is why mind mapping is so great! No matter how much you think you can’t draw, a mind map can be created from just a few keywords and lines.

We can all write, so sticking to keywords and changing colours for different branches is a great way to make your first mind maps really stand out.

Mind Mapping Is Flexible

People quiver when they hear that mind mapping has its own laws. People have visions of their mind maps being burned at the stake for not adhering to the laws. It doesn’t sound very flexible does it? What if we used another word instead of laws?

Remember Captain Barbossa’s quote from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie when Miss Swan unsuccessfully tried to negotiate her return to shore?

“And thirdly, the code is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Turner”

Right I know I said Miss Swan, and the line from the movie mentions Miss Turner, but you need to watch it to see why! Anyway, it’s a great quote that really sums up the laws of mind mapping. When I started mind mapping, I committed to using three of the mind mapping laws:

1. Use a central image
2. Use colours
3. Use 1 keyword per line

As I created more and more mind maps I became more confident in my abilities to encompass the remaining laws into my mind maps.

The mind mapping laws are more like guidelines because the laws are there to help you aspire to a certain level in mind mapping. Given time you’ll grow from using the basic laws of mind mapping to using all of them.

Mind Mapping Is Re-Useable

I’ve seen lots of uses for mind mapping over the years. Popular applications of mind mapping include brainstorming, knowledge management, project management and outlining. Not only does it fit these well, but it can also be used for a number of different applications depending on your need. This is largely due to the unique way in which information is presented in a mind map.

Mind maps are organic by nature, with branches that start from the seed, or central theme. This allows us to create a simple one level branch mind map or a detailed mind map with several levels of branches in it.

Having such a flexible way of associating branches within a mind map means that we can re-use mind mapping for lots of different applications.

Mind Mapping Is Portable

Anywhere and everywhere. That’s the best way to describe how portable mind mapping is.

When the mind mapping concept was first introduced by Tony Buzan, people took up mind mapping using pen and paper. Since then it remains a popular way to mind map despite the number of great software applications on the market. Pen and paper are the basic tools of mind mapping and allows us to produce mind maps far beyond what software can do.

In recent years, we’ve also seen a steady rise in the number of mobile mind mapping solutions available to people on smart phones. Although not as flexible as pen and paper, mobile solutions are providing a portable way to mind map without tying the mind mapper to a desktop or laptop.

Being so portable means that as a mind mapper, you can draw inspiration from the environment around you when you mind map. Having a place to work is great, but sometimes the great ideas only come from having an inspiring environment around you.

So there you have it, four reasons why mind mapping is awesome. Do you have your reasons why you think mind mapping is awesome? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

Photograph by moonlightbulb.

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This is the third and final part of a series of posts looking at using features from mind mapping software in your paper mind maps. Previously we looked at

In this post we’re going to look at using boundaries in your mind maps.

In software mind maps boundaries are frequently used group branches of related information together. If your want to emphasize a specific part of your mind map then boundaries a great way of doing this.

To use boundaries in your paper mind maps, simply ensure you have identified the branches you wish to group and a boundary around around those branches.

Boundaries can also be extended to include a keyword or phrase that encompasses the branches your boundary surrounds.

In the recent 7 P’s of Success mind map, I used to boundary to group some branches with a common theme.

This post concludes the Mixing It Up series. Adapting features from mind mapping software is a great way of enhancing your paper mind maps. Try these techniques on a few mind maps of your own mind maps and see if it makes a difference!

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Paul’s mind map asks the question, “What would you do if you found an alien in your bed?”. This is a great activity to introduce younger children to mind mapping and let’s the creativity run free with whatever responses they want.

Tim Fulford has posted 3 mind maps that have been used by Year 5 pupils. This is a great example of how mind mapping can be used as a great education tool. These mind maps show how spelling and general knowledge can be taught using mind maps.

Mind mapping is a great tool for not only retaining knowledge but also for capturing information. During a typical work day you can be bombarded with so much information. This post highlights a technique from Michael Tipper’s e-course, Business Profit Productivity Blueprint. This mind map makes it easy for you to capture information on a daily basis.

The mind mapping laws define the best practices that we should follow when mind mapping, but people are rarely given more guidance on these laws. I was pleased to see the Mind Mapping For Success blog expand on the one keyword per branch law.

While most people might not follow all the laws, this article helps you to understand why the one keyword per branch is important.

One of the key selling points of mind mapping software today is the ability for multiple users to collaborate on a single mind map. Just to see how important this selling point is, the Mindjet blog asked people on different mediums what benefits collaborative mind mapping brings.

I was surprised by the different gains people got from collaborative mind mapping. Check out the article for yourself and see if your organisation could benefit from collaborative mind mapping.

You can download this months links mind map that contains more great links from here.

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This is the second part of a series of posts looking at using features from mind mapping software in your paper mind maps. Previously we looked at

In this post we’re going to look at using links in your mind maps.

Today’s software mind maps allow you create hyperlinks to not only website addresses, but also files and folders accessible from your computer.

If you want to link to a website address from your paper mind map then you’ll need to familiarise yourself with a hyperlink shortening service such as is.gd or bit.ly. These services take standard hyperlink address and condense it down into a smaller, more manageable hyperlink. When you click on the shortened hyperlink, it will redirect you to the original hyperlink. You’ve probably seen these in heavy use in sites like Twitter.

An example of a hyperlink from the 7 P's of Success Mind Map.

To use links in your mind maps, take the hyperlink you wish to use in your paper mind map and create a shortened hyperlink of your original hyperlink.

Now you can use the shortened hyperlink in your mind map using one of two ways.

1. Use the whole whole hyperlink and append it as a label to the branch you want.
2. Use the shortened code from the hyperlink, and append only the code to the branch you want. If you have multiple branches then append the name of the shortening service as a label underneath your central image.

I also like to use  a marker on each label to signify that the code is a hyperlink to a website. Something like a small drawing of Earth usually works for me but you can use your own style of marker.

In the final post of the Mixing It Up series I am going to look using boundaries in your mind maps.

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This is the first part in a new series of posts looking at how you can adapt features from software mind maps in paper mind maps. In this first post we’re going to look at using labels.

In mind mapping software, labels are traditionally extra little bits of information that you add to a topic. They can contain anything you want like a date, a name or a reference.

To use labels, simply draw a little box underneath your branch with enough space to write additional information in.

Don’t let yourself be limited by straight lines though like the labels appear in mind mapping software. Experiment with different styles of labels to reflect the theme of your mind map and the content of the label.

I recently used a cloud shaped label to add a note to the 7 Platforms of Astonishing Productivity mind map.

Labels are excellent for adding additional information to your mind map that relate only to a specific branch.

To further enhance your labels, color code your labels or add your own map markers to each label to indicate a category or importance.

In the next part of the series I am going to be looking at how to include hyperlinks in your mind maps.

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