The Concept of Mind Mapping

"Mind Mapping is an extremely effective method of taking notes. Mind Maps show not only facts, but also the overall structure of a subject and the relative importance of individual parts of it. They help you to associate ideas and make connections that might not otherwise make."

- Mindtools.com

"A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing."

- Wikipedia.org

Mind mapping is not a new idea. Also referred to as the "brainstorming cloud", it seems to pop up occasionally in everyday life. In fact, some people even prefer it to traditional linear note-taking.

I know, crazy!

But then I learned about the benefits of mind mapping... such as how it enables your notes to be more functional by being more open and how it uses both your right- and left-brain (what really caught my eye). They say to expand brain power you must constantly use tasks that use both sides of the brain as well as train yourself to learn new things and new methods of doing things. That's why it's good to do things with your opposite hand - it works areas of your brain that aren't being used when you do something that comes naturally to you. And anything that maximizes brain power is always a good thing!

Couple that with MindMeister, a free and easy online mind mapping tool which is visually appealing and highly customizable, and this "mind mapping" thing seems worth giving it a shot :)

How to mind map: http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/tld/learningskills/mindmap/index.html

So what to mind map? Notes from school, your goals, meetings, ideas, anything really. D*I*Y Planner suggests mind-mapping your achievements for an interesting way to look at your life so far.

Happy creative- & analytical-juice-flowing!