Stop Taking Notes! Learn How to Use Mind Maps Instead!

How to Use Mind Maps: An Overview

Make Work Easier

This week, we’re talking about one of my absolute favorite techniques: How to use mind maps!

What is a mind map?

• According to mindmapping.com, a mind map is “an easy way to brainstorm thoughts organically without worrying about order and structure”

Why mind maps are effective

• For me, mind maps are freeing
• Whenever I take traditional notes, I focus way too much on the structure. We don’t think in a linear way, and so traditional notes and lists can be tricky.
• Mind maps allow me to take notes the same way my brain works: As a web of thoughts.
• They reduce the friction of getting thoughts out of your head and onto a piece of paper

When to use mind maps

• Mind maps are effective any time you want to expand on an idea
• You can use mind maps to replace any of the following:
  • Outlines
  • Meeting notes
  • Class notes
  • To-do lists

You don’t need software. Pen & paper will do!

• You definitely don’t need mind-mapping software
• I actually find that the software adds back the friction mind maps are supposed to eliminate
• My recommendation is to use pen and paper!
  • I don’t even recommend pencil. Erasing = friction.

How to use mind maps: Best Practices

1. Start with a central topic

• Start with a blank page
• In the center, write your topic and circle it
  
• Check out the examples section below for some topic ideas

2. Start connecting ideas

• From your central topic, start connecting ideas
  
• You can create as many sub-branches as you want
  
• Sometimes, when ideas are related, I’ll connect them with a dotted line
  

3. Let the ideas flow

• Just go. Let the ideas flow out of you.
• Don’t worry too much about structure. The idea here is to reduce resistance.
• Inevitably, you’ll run into ideas that you just can’t seem to place in the proper spot. When that happens, try…

4. Random Thoughts

• This is, by far, the most freeing technique I’ve developed
• Sometimes I get stuck worrying about where to put an idea that doesn’t seem to fit
  • This happens both with traditional notes and with mind maps
• In these cases, I create a Random Thoughts section (I abbreviate it RT) off to the side of my mind map
  
• Whenever I struggle, even a tiny bit, with where to put an idea, it goes here
• The key is to reduce the friction between your brain and the paper

5. Organize notes after mapping

• Once you’re done mapping, you can go back and reorganize things
• Don’t try to do this during mapping — this increases friction and defeats the purpose!
• If my mind map contains action items at all, I’ll go back and flag them after I’m done
  
  • I use the technique I covered in Episode 29 for flagging action items

A few examples

Brain dumps

• I cover this idea in depth in the Make Life Easier section below
• This is my favorite use of the mind map by far!

To-do lists

• I think mind maps are incredibly effective for tracking tasks
• I’ll also cover this in depth in the Make Life Easier section below

Meeting / class notes

• This is one of the more novel uses of a mind map!
• Instead of taking linear notes, try using a mind map instead
• It’s especially effective here when you use the Random Thoughts idea explained above
  • Sometimes, when taking notes, things are covered which have no place
  • Not the case here! Random Thoughts is the perfect spot for those kinds of notes.

Outlines

• Any time you’re outlining an idea, a mind map is not only an option, I think it’s far better!
• Some types of outlines I’ve mind mapped:
  • Project outlines
  • Paper outlines
  • Story outlines (I prepped the story from Episode 29 with a mind map)
  • Episode outlines
• Here’s a mind map I created when I was outlining a landing page for my technology business
  

Goal setting

• The freeing nature of a mind map allows you to expand beyond what’s right in front of you

How to Use Mind Maps: Brain Dumps

Make Life Easier

Getting Things Done by David Allen

• I’m not going to cover the GTD method in depth here. That’s a topic for a future episode!
• Here’s a quick rundown of the key ideas:
  • Your mind is designed to generate ideas, not store them
  • You should keep all of the ideas in a single, organized place that you check regularly. I use Todoist for this!
  • Ideally, you should organize your tasks into a list of projects
  • Those projects should each have a next action associated with them
• If you’re interested in the full method, definitely check out David Allen’s book Getting Things Done!

What’s this got to do with mind maps?

• Have you ever felt that sense of overwhelm when you’ve got 35987 things to do? Yeah, me too. It sucks.
• One of the most profound of Allen’s ideas is that your brain is designed to generate, and not to store, ideas
• That sense of overwhelm sets in whenever you have tasks in your head that you haven’t captured anywhere.
• So, whenever I have that feeling, I do a brain dump using a mind map

What on Earth is a brain dump?

• It’s just like it sounds: You dump every idea in your brain onto a piece of paper
• I do a brain dump every time I have too many ideas in my head. This includes both tasks and creative ideas.
• The mind map structure is the best choice for this because it reduces the friction between your brain and the page

Brain dumps: Best Practices

• The best practices for brain dumps are the mind mapping techniques with a couple extras thrown in:
  • The central topic should be brain dump
  • Let the ideas flow out of you until you run out of stuff to write. After that, the overwhelming feeling is gone! (Trust me, it really works.)
  • CRITICAL: DON’T ORGANIZE WHILE BRAIN DUMPING. Get it all out, then go back and organize.
    • If you’re listing tasks, flag them after you brain dump
  • Definitely make use of Random Thoughts here

When to use brain dumps

• Here are some examples of when I use brain dumps:
  • Making a list of things to do today
  • Getting all of my ideas out about a project
  • Prepping for meetings