Better Understanding Through Mind Mapping

Have you ever heard of mind mapping? Most people who have difficulty understanding certain concepts or principles use mind mapping. It is a visual tool that is used to structure information and users better analyze, understand, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas. It can also be used in note taking; brainstorming; problem solving; planning; studying and memorization; researching, presenting and consolidating information from multiple sources; and gaining insight on complex subjects.

So how do you go about mind mapping? Here are some quick steps:

1) Get a blank white paper in landscape orientation. Start drawing or writing the main idea you’re about to develop in the center of the paper.

2) Draw a line from the center image (main idea or topic) to develop related subtopics.

3) From the subtopics, create lower sub-topics Repeat the same process for the subtopics, generating lower-level subtopics as you see fit, connecting each of those to the corresponding subtopic.

Remember the following when creating your mind maps:

1) Use images - You need not be an artist in order to draw meaningful images in your mind maps. Simply draw the concept or idea as you understand it.

2) Use different colors - Colors can represent a lot of things just like images. For example, red means memorizing or paying attention to something that is very important.

3) Use paper and pens - Believe it or not, it is best to use paper and pens when creating mind maps. These materials give you more freedom and cognitive stimulation during the entire process of mind mapping. Desktop or tablet computers can limit you and provide distractions during your mind map creation.

4) Create and use your own mind map - A mind map will help you understand ideas in a personal, quick and unique way. Hence, your mind map may differ from that which belongs to another person even though you have mapped a similar idea or topic.

Note: I don't own the image below. All credits to the owner.

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