What is A Mind Map
Create Your Mind Map NowConsider your mind's mess of thinking and see how it gets organized and centralized through mind mapping. We will learn how to draw a practical mind map through this article. As the name suggests, a mind map refers to a technique representing your mind's thoughts about a particular concept centrally. This visual thinking tool helps to structure the information and better analyze, recall, comprehend, synthesize, and generate new ideas.
What is a Mind Map?
A Mind Map diagram represents words, tasks, items, or concepts linked to and arranged within a central idea using a non-linear graphical layout. It allows the user to structure an intuitive framework. It is used as a simplified version of the content management system (CMS) and will enable you to store all data in a centralized location.
In a mind map, the information is resembled much closer to how your brain works. It is an activity that is both artistic and analytical to engage your brain more richly. It will further help in all the cognitive functions of a brain. And, most of all, it is fun!
Image Source: mindmeister.com
Evolution of Mind Maps Theory
The history of mind map dates back to a long time since the third century. Early philosophers and thinkers use various graphic designs to diagram mind concepts. It was first promoted by British psychology TV personality and author Tony Buzan during a BBC TV series ‘Use Your Head’ which hosted by Buzan in 1974. His idea revolved around explaining the conception of the radial tree where the central design consists of spokes that throw out the concept under discussion.
You can divide these spokes into branches, and divide branches to complete a Mind Map into a free-form exploration of the central idea. This brainstorming session of Buzan has taken a new form through the introduction of various software, not in alignment but at an advanced level. They have changed the primary personality of Mind Map set by Buzan.
The programs have introduced a highly linear approach in which added elements assume pre-set grid positions in a Mind Map. Despite being the confusing appearance of Mind Maps, currently, they are useful in standard business settings.
And, in today’s scenario, any brainstorming technique in charting is termed as ‘Mind Map’. These terms have become generic along with its synonyms such as 'spider diagrams,' and 'mind web.' It enables many organizations to transform challenging ideas into highly collaborative ones.
Purposes of Using Mind Maps
Mind Map is a helpful tool to compare all the related factors in decision making. While making a decision, you can list all the pros as well as cons of different factors, which helps to make an informed decision when thinking adequately.
Brainstorming is another purpose that helps to effectively focus on a topic with new and connecting thoughts together. It facilitates creative thinking, whether it is for an individual or a whole team. It is one such powerful tool of mind map to inculcate valuable ideas in the minds of creative thinkers.
In a mind map, you can check all the relevant issues and how they are connected. It aims to solve different arising problems and quickly obtains a general idea of the whole situation and its aspects coming up from the solution.
With the beautiful organization of ideas, you can present the concepts or viewpoints more efficiently. It is a great helping tool for presentations. On the one hand, the mind map helps us to manage the plans coherently. Whereas, the visual feature of presenting your mind thoughts makes it attractive to grab audiences’ attention.
Business professionals or students use mind maps to jot down the information of a presentation, lecture, or business meeting. While receiving information, mind maps help to organize things in a logical manner, which further makes them simple to read and understand. It is an effective way to take notes.
It will help to accelerate studying ability by enhancing and improving your retention with the combination of information and photography. The study of mind map makes your research much effective and more uncomplicated.
Mind Maps help to plan different projects. Arranging different categories of enormous information leads the way to productivity. Thus, anything useful, you need for project management is using these practical tools like mind mapping.
Strengths and Limitations of Mind Maps
- This practical tool enhances productivity and creative thinking to become more efficient in managing mind concepts.
- The tool lets us identify relationships, and generates more ideas among different information and data, and effectively improves retention and memory.
- The method is excellent for organizing and categorizing the ideas that you brainstorm and identify in relationships.
- The use of images, colors, and keywords in mind map further enhances the attractiveness and memory related to the ideas.
- It provides an excellent and different manner to sort ideas and thoughts.
- The mind map is difficult for some people, especially those who are logical thinkers.
- In brainstorming, ideas go freely, which may pose difficulty to efficient organization.
- Active participation is needed, which is difficult for persons with a lazy attitude in diagram making.
What should a Mind Map Include?
The center of the page should include the central idea also as it represents the topic you are going to discover. It may consist of a color or image that best fits the Mind Map’s theme. It triggers association and draws attention, as our brain attracts to visual stimuli.
You need branches added to your mind map. Get those creative juices flowing into the mind map’s branches. They are central themes explored in-depth easily. There isn't a restriction to adding branches and makes it naturally more readable and attractive.
Adding keywords is necessary to include a central idea. Just try to keep the concept as brief as possible. It will allow sparking a large number of associations, compared to those complex phrases. The keywords facilitate splitting, which is not possible by having a single sentence.
Color code the branches to differentiate them and bring together a broad range of cortical skills from numerical, and logical, to unique and creative. These overlapping of powers help to maintain the optimal working level and make your brain more synergetic. The color-coding process further helps to link visual with the logical aspect and helps to develop mental shortcuts.
A Mind Map should also include other visual elements such as images or other signifiers. They have the power to convey more information than a sentence, word, or an essay. They are processed quickly by the brain and act as a great stimulus to recall information. This universal language also helps to overcome typical language barriers.
Learn from Mind Map Examples
This is a mind map example of when you are trying to learn new skills such as language. Whether it is preparing for vacation, learning a language class, or just expanding knowledge for fun. Well, it is simple to create a mind map while learning to get up with the new world.
Image Source: mindmeister.com
Events ranging from a wedding to other major industry conferences can be challenging to plan without a mind map. This example of event planning helps to track a lot of details. It is a friendly manner to collect information for the event and evaluating different options when making decisions.
Image Source: mindmeister.com
When it comes to planning a business strategy for current or next years, or planning strategy for the first time, the mind map is the first step to get started. It helps to keep tracking the research and brainstorm ideas to be implemented.
Image Source: mindmeister.com
How to create an ideal mind map with EdrawMax?
Are you thinking of mind map the ideas? Take the help of this excellent online tool known as EdrawMax. With the availability of ready-made templates, you can quickly start mind mapping and get your task done in a few minutes.
Things to consider before drawing a mind map are.
- Think of a specific central image or idea you will be adding.
- Make at least four branches to the concept.
- Write headings or keywords to each branch.
- Draw additional branches, if necessary, to make it simplified.
- Refer to specific mind map rules to improve recalling information.
In the very first, direct yourself to the online website of EdrawMax. Sign up to create an account and get access to various free templates provided. It is open up to three projects.
As Mind Map is somewhat a different concept, it is given separately in the sidebar. So, you need to click Mind Map in the sidebar given below Marketing.
Select from various models given below in the Mind Map interface. Opening one of them according to your needs, will further help to organize your ideas in a better way.
Tips for Mind Mapping
- Use drawings, symbols, and colors efficiently.
- Keep the label of topics as short as possible.
- Differ text color, size, and alignment.
- Use relationship lines and boundaries.
- Always use the central image.
In this window, you can create your wiring diagram by choosing different wiring diagram symbols from the symbol library. There are various symbols available such as transmission path, qualifying symbols, semiconductor devices, switches and relays, and other necessary electrical symbols.
