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iMindmap is the “official” Mindmapping software in the market. Having used the earlier version of iMindmap, I was not sure if I wanted to try it again & after much thought (and the fact that the price was attractive), I decided to go for it.
The new iMindmap is stunning! (I wonder why the “i” in the front- as seems to be all new technology related products nowadays  ) The features are exceptional, and this has fast become my favourite tool to mindmap, and take notes on.
With a host of features designed to make the entire experience of creating a mindmap intuitive & exciting, I completely am bowled over by this product.
Some of the key differentials of this products are –
1. Voice recordings – it allows the recording of Voice in the mindmap – making it invaluable as a tool for taking notes.
2. Linking to Microsoft Office – This is a super cool feature to allow mindmaps to be transposed to Word, Excel or Powerpoint.
3. Linking it to Microsoft Project – this is a killer link- and for those who use Project extensively, this is a great tool to link the activities & thoughts to a Project template thereby making the entire process more in tune with the mindmapping exercise (read- using both sides of the brain).
Here is an example of the 7 things that I find interesting about Windows 7. Great product, even better shown on a iMindmap.
Fig 1: 7 things about Windows 7- created by iMindmap 4.1 (Oct 2009)
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In general, one of the key areas that one looks at more efficient tools is in the area of Note-taking. During a cursory look for some tools for my OneNote (this is a MS tool that is your notebook on the computer-but more of that later), I came across this tool called the Cornell Note taking methodology. I spent some trying to read up on the same, and was impressed with the simplicity of the whole thought. That led me to think of how I could incorporate a “mini-mindmap” into the methodology to make it even more relevant.
In my mind, the route to Note taking using ONLY mindmaps should be step 2- and start with the note-taking methods you are comfortable with but use Mindmaps for building your memory. Once you comfortable with the concept, then move on to creating notes using mindmaps. I realize how difficult it is at times to try to take notes only in Mindmaps when the School teacher or lecturer is making you take down notes!
The way to take the Cornell Notes is as follows:
This format provides the perfect opportunity for following through with the 5 R’s of note-taking:
- Record – During the lecture, record in the main column as many meaningful facts and ideas as you can. Write legibly.
- Reduce – As soon after as possible, summarize these facts and ideas concisely in the Cue Column. Summarizing clarifies meanings and relationships, reinforces continuity, and strengthens memory.
- Recite – Cover the Note Taking Area, using only your jottings in the Cue Column, say over the facts and ideas of the lecture as fully as you can, not mechanically, but in your own words. Then, verify what you have said.
- Reflect – Draw out opinions from your notes and use them as a starting point for your own reflections on the course and how it relates to your other courses. Reflection will help prevent ideas from being inert and soon forgotten.
- Review – Spend 10 minutes every week in quick review of your notes, and you will retain most of what you have learned.
So where does Mind mapping come in?
The Cue Columns are your key words that we use in creating mindmaps (Could be both 4 and 5 in the R’s).
Think of creating your own “mini-mindmap” here which will help you create your own unique tool to memorize the contents of the page.
Create a more detailed mindmap of the full chapter once the chapter is over- and you can review every element of the chapter easily.
Try it out.
Checkout more about this methodology here –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_Notes
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http://madmindmapper.blogspot.com/2009/09/teaching-kids-to-study-for-exams-using.html#comment-form
I saw this rather creative Mindmap while looking around the Net. The purists may argue against this following the rules of mindmapping – but to me Mindmapping is about letting your creative energies go all the way- and do it in a way that your brain finds it creative and helps you remember! From that angle, I find this brilliant. Way to go, buddy.
To me, it important to make each mindmap –
- Creative
- Colourful
- Innovative
- Memorable
- Follow the main rules- plain paper, start @ the middle etc.
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This is a wonderful article I saw earlier today in the “Life Optimizer” site – and by Amber Hensley. Great summary of what to do to ensure you study better! I want to add a couple of things (with all credit to Ms. Hensley).. After following the 8 tips, it is ideal to focus on how best to remember what you have read- and have a system of tracking and remembering what you have studied! Mindmaps are the tools that help in these cases.
Another skill that can be used to build your ability as a super student is to get into Speed Reading – but that is a different topic & I will get to it soon!
Read on- great article.
http://www.lifeoptimizer.org/2009/09/11/how-to-study-better/
By Donald Latumahina (follow me on Twitter) , September 11, 2009
Note: This is a guest post by Amber Hensley of Online College
While you might already be ahead of the game if you are studying at all, you might as well make the most of the time you spend preparing for class and ensure that all those hours you put into reviewing notes and reading chapters actually pay off. Here are some tips that can help you learn to study better and get more out of what you’re studying so you can spend less time pouring over books and more time enjoying life at school.
1. Find some peace and quiet. Studies have shown that just 20 minutes of highly focused, quiet time can help you learn and remember more than hours of working with distractions and while multi-tasking. So, to get the most out of your study time retreat to a place where you won’t be bothered by loud music or talking and can just focus in on your work.
2. Get organized. If your papers and materials are all over, you’ll spend just as much time looking for what you need as actually reading through and absorbing material which doesn’t make for a very productive use of your time. Keep one notebook just for notes for a class and ensure that all your papers are in a place you can actually locate them. It might take more planning up front but it will pay off in the long run.
3. Take breaks. Studying intensely can really take a toll on your brain and eventually make it hard for you to think clearly at all. That isn’t much of a help when you’re trying to understand difficult concepts or learn new things. Take short breaks during your study time so you can rest your eyes and mind and come back refreshed and ready to learn.
4. Have a schedule. The problem with the way that many students study is that they wait until the last minute and begin cramming the day before a big test. This really isn’t the most effective way to learn or remember new information. While it might not be fun, spending time in the weeks leading up to a test reviewing the material will be much more beneficial and might actually help you remember the material after the test as well.
5. Consider the subject. Each subject has a particular way in which it will be easiest to learn and remember. Subjects that require memorization may be more easy to learn with flashcards and timelines while subjects like math that require problem solving might be better served with doing the practice problems in your book. Spend some time figuring out just how you learn each subject best and then use that knowledge to maximize what you get out of your study sessions.
6. Study more frequently. It isn’t the duration of your study sessions that really makes a difference, it’s the frequency. You’ll learn a lot more through repetition, so break up your study time into shorter sessions every day rather than trying to cram it all in at the last minute.
7. Write it down. For most people, writing things down helps big time when it comes time to recall things on a test or even just during study time. Take notes in class and use methods that require you to do something to actively participate in learning the material– not just reading it over and over.
8. Be realistic. You’re not going to be able to memorize an entire month’s worth of material in only one night of intense studying. You likely won’t remember a good chunk of it. Be realistic in how you break up your study sessions and tackle only the amount of material that you’ll actually be able to benefit from studying– not the whole book at once.
This post was contributed by Amber Hensley, who writes about the accredited online college. She welcomes your feedback at AmberHensley1980@ yahoo.com.
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This is an excellent book if you want to follow something simple to boost your brain power. As the author says – How do you keep your brain healthy?
1. By exercising your brain regularly
2. Eat healthily
3. Sleep well.
How do you exercise your brain? This book is a collection of simple sums & other exercises (all of which are easy), that can be used to train your brain.
Dr Kawashima, who has done some intensive studies of the brain in various stages of “use”. |
He took pictures of the brain during various activities. The colors on the brain scans shows an increase in regional cerebral blood flow to areas where the brain activity is the most.
The interesting thing was the maximum effect on the brain was created when doing really simple calculation problems quickly!
Dr. Kawashima claims this improves the performance of the Brain & has experimented with a number of people on this.
I am currently working on this – and looking forward to seeing my brain improve its performance! (Something to prove my old teachers wrong!)
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Recently when talking to a friend of mine, they asked me – “What do you use Mindmapping for”?
I thought about that- and I wanted to list some of the areas that we can use Mindmaps in –
- Taking Notes- obviously.
- Brainstorming
- Learning
- Memorizing
- Presenting
- Solving Problems
- Thinking
- Meeting Notes
- Negotiating
- SWOT Analysis
- Brainstorming
- Meeting Planners
- Time Planners/ Daily Planners
- Preparing for Interviews
- Training
- etc etc.
The List goes on and on! There is nothing that you cannot use these for.
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My Goal for this Blog is – Educate you, the user, on how to Mindmap your way to success!
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Look out for more information around this- which will help you in more ways.
Any good communication needs to be 2 ways- so I appreciate any feedback you have- good or bad (especially the bad)- so that I can make my corrections accordingly.
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I am officially moving the blog from the Blogger site to my own domain. First step before I make this a more active blog.
Miles to go before I sleep… miles to go before I sleep
Thank you for your patience.
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Great introduction to the Mindmap’s by the Guru himself.
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Building that first Mind Map can be both a daunting as well as an exciting experience. Let me try and assist you build your first Mind Map.
I use Buzan’s iMindmap as the software tool to help build Mind Maps. These are the closest I have come to, for an application, that follows the Buzan Techniques. Click on the tab below to load it into your system and if possible buy it.
The starting point of a Mind Map is the Central Idea. This is the most important element of the Mind Map.
In this example I am building a Mindmap on, say, buying a Computer. This is the central image and I have used the software to pull out the central image.
The next step is to identify the key areas that you will look at, while planning a purchase of a computer. These are some of the elements that I think of –
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Features – the things that I want in my computer (Hardware features, Laptop or Desktop, 1GB or 4 GB of Memory etc.
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Brands – what are the brands I want to consider
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Financial’s – What is the amount I will pay for this? How much can I afford
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Applications – What are the applications I need in my machine
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Where will I buy it? – Dealers, online
This is not an exhaustive list- and you might be able to think of a few more.
Similarly build more and more connections to the mindmap by following the rules of Mindmapping –
- Plain background (A4 paper in landscape if you use paper)
- Lines (connected)
- Colours
- 1 Keyword per line
- Pictures (I have not included anything on this at present)-as I am on a brainstorming mode
Happy Mindmapping. Feel free to drop me a mail at hajas_99@hotmail.com if you need any clarifications.
Again, my recommendations for the software is the iMindmap Software. Click on the link below if you would like to use it.
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There used to be a time, when I would need to look at my business card to tell people my mobile number. Especially when I had a new number. Forget about trying to remember someone else’s number. It used to be frustrating! Seeing those TV ads where you had supermen who could rattle numbers off by just looking at them once, made me feel truly inadequate at times.
Realization then dawned upon me that there was no short cut to this. That started me on the quest to find the best way to address this.
Here is a 5 minute guide for you to use- to move up the ladder in all walks of life. Numbers are the most critical element of success.
So, how do we remember numbers…
By converting the numbers to words that we can create ASSOCIATIONS with. (More on that in a separate post). Remember my earlier article/post where I had mentioned that it was important to create a Story, that was colourful, and the brain would remember it better than anything else? Using the same logic, create stories by converting numbers to words- and then build a story around it.
Step 1: Remember the following phonetic sounds for each number
1 – t, d, th
2 – n
3 – m
4 – r
5 – L
6 – j
7 – k,g,c-Kite, girl, cat
8 – Ph, f, v
9 – P, b
0 – Z
It is worth the effort to remember these phonetics for each of the numbers.
E.g you had to remember a number 9997
Break it into 99, 97
99 is a word that has 2 P’s or b’s. Think if a PUB. p=9, b=9
97 is a word that has p (9) and K(7). Think of PEAK p=9, k=7
Build a story around it – imagine your PUB on the PEAK of the world.
PUB PEAK = 99 97
This can be used in many innovative ways to become more and more stronger at remembering numbers.
Improve your life! Remember numbers.
This is yet another example of Tony Buzan’s tricks to use your brain power better.
I strongly recommend reading the books highlighted here- and join the people who Mind Map – the best way to build your memory. More on that later.
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