Freemind: A great mind-management tool

Freemind
I discovered a bit late in life that I was a visual person, thanks to my discovering mind mapping. Mind mapping is a brainstorming technique discovered by Tony Buzan and then evangelized by Michael Gelb.

The synopsis of this technique is that one starts with a main theme that he puts on the centre of a blank sheet of paper or, if you are using software, the centre of the screen.
 Next, you expand on the theme by adding branches(nodes)  and naming ideas on the branches. You continue the process as long as necessary or adequate. Mind mapping works on the premise that the mind does not think linearly or with words. It thinks in pictures and with thoughts that come randomly.

Mind mapping seeks to synthesize right brain creative thinking with left brain creative thinking. As far as I could tell, mindmapping works well, atleast for me.

At MIT I used Mindjet which was more than adequate for me. Then I discovered Freemind which is a decent open-source cross platform alternative(It is built with Java). Freemind is easy to use and has a great set of features like the ability to add images to your nodes which is a key to great mind maps.

With Freemind one can also export the file into several formats including image, xml, pdf and open office types. Mindmapping has saved me many hours of effort and pstimulates creative solutions quickly.

If you are new to mindmapping, try using Freemind and see if it works for you. Do you have a favourite mind mapping tool? Please share your ideas on this subject in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.

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Mindmapping

Mindmapping is a note taking technique invented by Tony Buzan and popularized by many, including Michael Gelb. It is based on the notion that the mind does not think with language and sentences and instead thinks in patterns, logic and pictures.

The left side of the brain is associated with logical thinking and the right with creativity and intuition. The traditional method of note taking is a left brain activity and is based on logic.  The problem with this approach is that the mind does not think linearly and thus makes forced list making inefficient. 

The mind mapping mechanism designed by Buzan integrates both sides of the brain and is thus a great tool for any task or set of tasks like making a simple to-do list, writing a novel or managing many projects simultaneously.

It is one technique that that has worked for me well over the years. When Buzan first introduced it, the lack of good software for mind mapping prompted Buzan to promote mindmapping on large sheets of paper. 

While this may still be effective in some cases, there are enough tools today from Mindjet Mindmanager to free software like my favorite, Freemind. 

Here is a list of mindmapping tools from Mashup.com

Below is a list of LifeHacker articles on mindmapping applications

Mind42

Freemind

Personal Brain

How to mindmap

MindMester

Using a mindmap to organize your week

Lastly, as mentioned in my one of my previous posts, I have been using Tiddlywiki a lot,of late. I have successfully been able to add  Minmapping features thanks to a plugin from TiddlyTagMindmap. I like it so far. Mindmapping is the most effective  and efficient way to take down and review notes.

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