I can shift pieces around and easily see what parts need fleshing out or reorganization. Mind maps are also an excellent overview of my thought process. It’s a great way to remember everything that crosses my mind while I’m thinking about a project. While I’m expanding one node, I’ll often randomly think of something related to the project but unrelated to the area on which I’m focusing, and I can just tack those on to other topics until I’m ready to focus on them. A topic will inspire another topic, and I can start adding ideas and clarifying them as fast as I can think them. With a mind map, scattered thoughts begin to solidify before my eyes. Using applications to mind map instead of pencils and paper lets me do this without friction and creates projects that are easy to organize, even if I wait until the end to bother. I like mind maps because they let me think non-linearly and because they allow ideas to “grow” in an organic fashion (see Tony Buzan and his “radiant thinking” ideas). I can use outliners such as Tree effectively, but I find any outliner to be an impediment to the initial brainstorming process. Outlining is rigid and always makes me feel like things need to be in order.
Some people scratch notes, others create outlines, but mind mappers like myself find that the format of a mind map is the most conducive to brainstorming. When I need to get an idea out of my head, or I need to take that idea and flesh it out, I turn to mind maps. It started as a Macworld piece, but I took too long… I’ve been working on a mind mapping post for some time now.
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