Ari Oskarsson - Litt om alt…

På http://mindomo.com/ finner du en genial applikasjon laget i flash for å lage mind maps! Den er kjapp og fin. Mindomo er enda i BETA men er verdt ett forsøk. De gangene jeg har behov for å lage en mind map for brainstorming og ikke har Mind Jet Mind Manager på den arbeidsstasjonen jeg benytter, så logger jeg på Mindomo !

Anbefales !

I create mind maps using Mind Manager from Mindjet or by drawing them on A4 or A3 paper.
Actually I would assume that 80 % of my maps created for the brainstorming purpose are made  on paper. The problem is that my maps look like crap. But that’s the point ! When I brainstorm, I turn of my internal spell checker and I turn of my inborn wish of formatting. I’m simply throwing ideas out and expanding my maps. I often run out of space and my lines zig zag the paper when I create the links, making my map look like huge criss cross useless to anybody but me.
But the map serves it’s purpose. I get all my ideas out and I instantly see the links.
The best thing of course would be to to do this on the computer, and many times I transfer the paper edition to Mind Manager, but I found that there are many many situations where using paper is quicker, more accessible and better. If I’m working on my laptop the choice is always Mind Manager, but if I’m on the train traveling home from work and I get inspired, I’m not firing up the computer , I’m immediately mapping my thoughts on a newspaper, or napkin or in my notebook, –> whatever is available.If I find that the map is useful I’ll save it and create a task to convert and review in Mind Manager, and then always my maps expand and become even better.

This is the main advantage. If I created it in Mind Manager to start with, my map would look so clean and and nice that I wouldn’t feel the need to review and refine, and I wouldn’t get the new ideas that I get when I create the map in Mind Manager based on my hand drawn map.  I know that I could get the  same benefit by reviewing my  Mind Manager files , but it just doesn’t feel worth it when the map looks  so nice !!! When  I have a hand drawn  map I’m forced to review it before I  pass  it  on !

If you are new to the term GTD (Getting Things Done), it is bascically a time and commitment management system, and here is a an excerpt from Wikipedia which really captures what GTD is all about:

“GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of their mind and get them recorded somewhere. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate fully on actually performing those tasks. “

I got started with GTD through using Mind Jet Mind Manager, and then finding the add-inn Result Manager. I have since then read 3 books on GTD, and I have now implemented in my way of working.  I’ve tried the new tool GyroQ from Gyronix, makers of ResultManager, and that applications makes it even easier to GTD with mind maps. I’ll post more on my experiences with GyroQ soon.

Chuck frey has on his blog “Mind Mapping Software Weblog” published a link to a review of the open source Mind Mapping utility Freemind he has done and posted on his innovation tools website.
To keep the post short I’ll just give you an excerpt from his conclusion : “FreeMind 0.8.0 is an impressive mind mapping program that has improved significantly in just a few years. Despite a few quirky behaviors, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to businesspeople who want to learn what all the excitement surrounding mind mapping software is all about. It’s also well-suited to people with fairly basic visual diagramming needs, or if you simply cannot afford one of the commercially available programs. If you need the ability to integrate your maps with Microsoft Office or other business applications, I wouldn’t recommend FreeMind.”

It’s the same feeling I have after using Mind Jet Mind Manager for a while. I’m using the links to Microsoft Office all the time, and the first thing I missed in freemind was the export to word, and the second thing was the edit in outline view. But I still use freemind at home, and for brainstorming and making maps it’s great !

You can find Chuck’s post here.

I use Mindjet’s Mind Manager for mind mapping. It’s kind of pricey, but the program is excellent and highly recomendable. I’ll post more about Mind Manager in the future. This post is about an add in to Mind Manager, called ResultManager. RM runs through every map I have (based on a map centrals or multimap) and shows outstanding tasks based on the GTD principle. GTD is simply put a set of rules that you have to apply every time you create a task. By using these rules ResultManager helps you to see which tasks i have to perform now, today and so on.

There are many reasons why I mind map!
I could say that it is because it boosts my creativity –> It does.

I could say that it is because it looks nice–> It does!

I could say that it is because it’s a fast method (i use fewer words!) –> It is!
I could say that it is because it makes me use both the left and the right side of the brain –> I have no idea…!

I use it because my boss likes it! And because my boss likes it , I don’t have to write a full A4 page containg the Minutes of the Meeting. I just draw a mind map , throw in the main points, illustrrate with colours, indicate who has nect action and by when (GTD) and he is happy ! Had he not liked Mind Maps i would still be doing it (!) But right now it’s a good reason !

I use mind maps to organize my thoughts and ideas. A mind map is just a way of arranging items with branches off to related items.

I use a spinal bound notebook with blank pages so I can draw them by hand. The problem is once they are written down, I can not re-arrange the branches if a part of the paper gets too crowded. So the solution is to use a software program to electronically re-arrange the branches as the ideas grow. I find that using an application for mind mapping is more flexible and easier to manipulate so I can create and change mind maps as fast as I think.

There are many software options out there; just type “free mind map software” into Google and get 49 million hits…. The tool that I have opted to use is Mind Manager from Mindjet. It’s bit pricey, but highly recomendable. Many users claim that it is the best tool in the market at this time. I am one of them! I’ll be blogging more about Mind Manager and why it is such a great tool.

There is a freeware open source alternative out there which is supposed to be very good: Freemind. I haven’t really tested it, but I’ve recommended it to friends and collegues who wants to see if mind mapping is something to use as a tool before shelling out the bucks, and none of them has complained!