Using Mind Mapping to Effectively Solve Problems, Improve Creative Thinking and Accomplish Whole Brain Thinking Chapter 1: Mind Mapping To Solve Problems Chapter 2: Mind Mapping And Diagrams Chapter 3: Creative Thinking And Mind Mapping Chapter 4: Getting Mind Mapped For Free Chapter 5: Mind Mapping And Learning Chapter 6: Mind Mapping And Delivery Metrics Chapter 7: Mind Mapping And Wholebrain Thinking Chapter 8: Mind Mapping And Improving Grammar Points Chapter 9: Artists And Mind Mapping Chapter 10: Mind Mapping And Templates Chapter 11: Mind Mapping And The Ambidextrous Mind Chapter 12: Mind Mapping - A Tool For Creative Thinking Chapter 13: Mind Mapping Drawing Tips Chapter 14: Mind Mapping For An Easier Life Chapter 15: Mind Mapping Software Chapter 16: Mind Mapping Info Chapter 17: Mind Mapping Software Advantages Chapter 18: Optimizing Mind Mapping Contents Chapter 19: Mind Mapping Software Manage Meetings More Efficiently Chapter 20: Using The Mind For Concept Mapping Chapter 21: Mind Mapping Ideals Chapter 22: Powerful Presentations And Mind Mapping Chapter 23: Software For Mind Mapping Made For Life Chapter 24: Mind Mapping Software Beneficial For Personal Productivity Chapter 25: Ways On How To Improve Mind Mapping Chapter 1: Mind Mapping To Solve Problems Mind Mapping to Solve Problems Disorganized individuals often get stressed out. Are you one of them? If you are, then you probably encounter a lot of difficulties especially when you’re trying to look for something in your house. A disorganized house is very unpleasant to look at. Oftentimes, you will like you’re being torn into different directions. If you want to make some changes in your life and in turn solve some of your problems, then you need to look into mind mapping. Through mind mapping, you can easily address some of your life’s problems including that of your business and some personal projects. Mind maps can help any individual to become more organized and productive. Mind mapping is not new and in fact, it has been around for many years now. It was first introduced by Tony Buzan but according to some studies, mind maps have been used even before Buzan popularized it. Mind mapping allows individuals to visualize tasks or ideas that relates to one another. Ideas are organized instantly through mind maps, so why not try it out? Perhaps it’s the key to make your home and life organized. Those who have little kids may have already heard about mind mapping because teachers utilize it to help the children understand the various lessons in school. Aside from that, many businesses these days also use mind mapping in brainstorming sessions so generate new possibilities and business opportunities. If you have a project that needs immediate attention, you can also make use of mind mapping to complete it. You can simply write down your goals using lines, short words, drawings, and graphics. In no time at all, you can already see the solution to achieve your project. If you’re new in mind mapping, you can make use of some online tools. That way, you can familiarize yourself with all the aspects of mind mapping. As you can see, mind mapping is not as easy as you think especially for beginners. You have to learn the basics and you can do that by visiting mindmeister.com and openoffice.org; these sites can offer useful tools to help you create mind maps of your own. Start by creating your personal mind map. Create a diagram by using notepad or WordPad programs. For instance, for your personal goals, you can write down vacation, date or family night, and your everyday household chores. For your health concerns, you can write down exercise, vitamins, water intake, and other healthy choices. If you’re currently managing your own business, you can include website, affiliate, newsletter, and articles. Once you listed these things, you can start creating your mind maps. Choose the central topic or goal and the other minor objectives or goals can branch out from the main goal. Continue doing this until you’ve included everything on your list. After that, you can already picture how you’re going to prioritize the different aspects of you life. That is the start of a more organized life. Goals can be planned and acted upon appropriately through mind mapping. Gather information resources about mind maps and start creating your own. Mind maps can make your life much easier. You will become organized in no time and you will also be more productive whether at home or in your business. Solve your problems now, use mind maps to end your misery. Chapter 2: Mind Mapping And Diagrams Mind Mapping and Diagrams Have you ever tried making a mind map? Mind mapping is quite popular nowadays and it has helped a lot of people already in solving their problems. Mind maps can be created to look like diagrams. In fact, the mind map is a very good example of the data flow diagram or DFD. The diagram would then be considered as a graphical illustration of the data flow and ebb that forms part of a certain system. The mind maps or the diagram can help in the visualization of the data processing stages. Through the mind maps, any change in the data will be easily understood. Some people call the diagrams or mind maps as process diagrams. Anyone can use the diagrams and so any individual can use graphics or text depending on the need. A DFD can differ from another DFD created by another individual, depending on how individuals use it and for what purpose it was used. The reason why lots of people prefer the diagrams or mind maps is because they find it hard to understand textual descriptions as compared to graphical representations which are much easier to understand. Mind mapping has been used for many years now. In fact, you may have used it unknowingly in solving some of your problems or when you’re trying to set your future goals. People tend to remember when graphics and text are combined (i.e. diagrams). Mind maps are widely used in the business arena as well as for educational purposes. There are still other fields of specialization which makes use of the mind maps and DFD and it can range from route transportation planners to sports team competitions. Occupational fields also use mind maps especially in engineering and science. Mind maps are also very important when it comes to teaching certain disciplines because the diagrams make it easier for the instructors to understand the thought processes of different groups. The medical industry also makes use of mind maps and DFDs especially in visualizations. There are even times when it involves software to help those in the medical field understand the progress or nature of different diseases. Many doctors have successfully utilized the mind maps and DFDs to treat diseases because they were able to identify the right treatments and they were able to monitor the diseases’ progress. If you have plans of utilizing mind maps, you can either use text or graphics alone, or you can also use both. It all depends on your needs and on works for you best. Mind mapping has definitely proven its worth in different industries. Many studies have been conducted to prove the effectiveness of mind maps and diagrams. So why not try creating mind maps next time you need to accomplish a certain task? Perhaps it can help you in achieving your goals and objectives. If you want to be successful in whatever endeavor you wish to be involved in, make use of diagrams and mind maps. Soon you will realize that mind mapping is a very effective tool in any task. Thanks to the proponents of mind mapping like Tony Buzan; the people today have an excellent tool to aid them in whatever problem they are in. It takes time to learn mind mapping so if you want to know more about it, gather all the pertinent resources so that you can master it. Chapter 3: Creative Thinking And Mind Mapping Creative Thinking and Mind Mapping Innovative thinking can benefit greatly from mind mapping because it is able to consume all the common skills found in imagination, creativity, flexibility, and organization of ideas. There are some fundamental elements that you need to know if you want to improve your creative thinking. According to psychological research, these elements include using shapes, colors, unusual elements, and dimensions. Aside from that, it also involves the adjustment of the conceptual positions and it also considers the response to emotionally pleasing objects. According to further studies, mind maps are the best tools in nurturing creative thinking. If you try to apply mind mapping in any of your activities, you will be able to create lots of innovative ideas than what you’ve expected. In creative thinking, there are different stages. In the first stage, you can start by drawing a central image to represent a general topic. Make sure that the image is drawn at the center of the paper or blank page. Try to focus in the image and take note of the ideas that come into your mind. Welcome all ideas that enter your mind and indicate it on paper. You don’t have to write a lot of text; in fact, it will be a lot better if you use graphics or drawings instead. Take note of all the ideas no matter how absurd they may seem. After that, you need to take a break so that your brain can also rest. Look at the ideas that you’ve generated. Get another blank paper and create a new mind map. Use the same central image but this time you need to identify the categories and major branches. You need to build up the hierarchies and look for new associations from the preliminary ideas. If you see repetitions of ideas in different branches, disregard them and don’t try to remove them because they might be important later on. Your mind map will reflect your current thoughts. Study it carefully and you will be able to explore intellectually, making room for growth. When your mind is at rest, for example when you’re sleeping, you must take note of creative realizations. These are sudden bursts of ideas and you should immediately indicate it in your mind map. You need to reconstruct your mind maps and integrate all the ideas into one map. The goal in creating the mind map is to look for decisions, realizations, or solutions. Examine your mind map again and look for breakthroughs or new insights. Soon you will realize that all the ideas are connected with each other and you will be able to find the answer that you’re looking for through the mind maps. In creating mind maps, you will go through the different stages. If you find difficulty in one stage, don’t give up and try to continue making the maps. Follow the step above and soon, you will have a mind map of your own. When you’re in the process of creating the maps, you will notice that you’re creative thinking is already at a high level. Making mind maps is one way of enhancing an individual’s creative thinking. Adults find it hard to use creative thinking because they are more rational thinkers but you shouldn’t be discouraged in exploring this portion of your mind. You will soon realize that it will be the key in solving your problems and in achieving your goals. Chapter 4: Getting Mind Mapped For Free Getting Mind Mapped for Free And so it is, mind mapping is one of the most effective ways to take care of note taking, exploring different concepts, capturing intense ideas, and breaking down various aspects of information jotted down in an understandable format. It is a place wherein visual and written illustrations of things are meant to create and merge something that is more natural and acceptable to the mind. It works and represents the way the mind thinks wherein paragraphs are not the basis for building the entire process. There are millions of ways of using mapping. It has become very effective in terms of studying for exams of when presenting ideas on a business meeting. You can also use it for brainstorming purposes of different ideas or straighten out what are the things are needed to cover plans for business ventures. Advantages of the maps are mostly made from paper and pen. There are indeed different software programs that represent mind maps. This software often lay out the advantages of their program in every aspect of their program and yet some would still prefer to do it manually. Let the mind work and not the programs. On the other hand, software can really have the advantages that they are probing that you need. Here are eleven applications of mapping that can be found in the internet. Freemind Considered as the free mind application for mapping techniques because of its cross-platform and Java, this kind of software can implement some major features that digital lists have over pen and paper. These are the expandable and retractable hyperlinking and branches because several branches make it easier for you to organize and will be easier for people to connect the needed ideas. Mind42 This can be one of your favorite mapping application and is totally free. Interface is good and features like easy navigation of large maps with zoom in and out and birdview, you are given the opportunity to attach images and notes to the branches which is not usual to allow in other serious type of software. You can also link different branches to different sites and can be previewed when you roll the link over which is probably appropriate in the rollovers in the internet. Labyrinth This is a basic and simple mode of mapping application made for Windows and Linux. WiseMapping This is another kind of internet application which requires no plug-ins and is fantastic when you have no idea on the kind of computer that you will use in that particular day. You can export, publish and share your maps from different applications and there are no “sign-ins” or accounts that is required because of the unlimited and free everything. RecallPlus This is an application that is commercialized and has a lighter edition. It has the capacity to combine the process of mapping and flashing techniques of card memorization which is advisable for students to use. This is a Windows type of application. MindMeister This is an application that offers different account options and several commercialized ideals. The commercialized options are not considered as free but have paid options. It has a nice interface and design compared to other mind mapping applications that are available in the web. Through mind mapping, one can find a better and desirable application.