The Mindmap Blog

In a previous post, back in January of this year, I highlighted the integration of NovaMind (an industry leading mindmapping software program) and iBlueSky (a mobile mindmapping solution for the iPhone).

Well, this integration has recently gotten a lot better.  If you are interested in having the flexibility of creating mindmaps on your computer then syncing them to your iPhone, this is a great solution.

NovaMind recently announced that the iBlueSky Mind Mapping for iPhone version 2.0 is available on the App Store. It is a free update for iBlueSky 1.x owners, and features the following new capabilities:

• Huge page size (nearly 1500x screen size)
• Import mind maps from NovaMind
• Branches with more than one line of text
• Attach notes to branches
• Double-tap to zoom in/out
• Change branch colours using an intuitive colour picker (option to apply to sub-branches)
• Toolbars are now translucent and auto-hide when no branch is selected
• Attach a message and set the email subject when exporting projects
• Export destination email address can now be entered manually, or selected from the address book
• Remember last used email address when exporting projects
• Change project sort order (Preference setting: Creation date, modification date, alphabetically or manually)
• Tap status bar at top of screen to scroll back to the root branch or selected branch (if a branch is selected)
• More responsive when dragging branches around
• Improved branch layout
• Compatibility with iPhone OS 3
• Minor bug fixes

For more information about iBlueSky and NovaMind integration, click here.

Recently, Dan Woods of Forbes.com wrote an article on the Power of Mindmapping.  

In the article he highlights the benefits he’s achieved with mindmapping, stating:

“I can capture ideas from an interview or a design for a book in a mind map, and I don’t feel frustrated or fatigued. Going from a linear view to two-dimensional space allows me to move around quickly and put an idea in the right place in the hierarchy by sailing right there with my mouse, expanding and contracting the level of detail as needed. Because this is quick and easy, I capture more ideas and restructure them faster, meaning my mind map better reflects my understanding.

When I return to a mind map, the context of my latest thinking is quickly restored; nothing is missing or lost. I don’t get that feeling of dread. Mind maps can be large and complex, and to control the depth, you expand or contract branches. I often use mind maps to organize and analyze information stored somewhere else, like all of the opportunities I am working on in Salesforce.com.”

He also highlights the benefits of sharing mindmaps with others:

“I use MindJet MindManager, which has a shareable version of maps called MindJet Connect. Shareable mind maps can be viewed and changed by many people at once. It is a wonderful feeling to work quickly on a shareable space to capture ideas and trade thoughts.”

To read the full article, click here.

Okay, let’s say you buy into the idea of mindmapping making you more productive.  However, you just can’t seem to get started creating these “productivity producing” mindmaps.

Luckily there is a solution.  In most mindmapping software programs there are a variety “mindmappping templates” that you can use to immediately get started.

Mindjet’s MindManager 8 allows you to select the following templates directly from within the software:

Conference Agenda Mindmap Template  (click mindmap to enlarge):

Decision Making Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

Marketing Strategy Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

Meeting Mindmap Template (Click mindmap to enlarge):

Organizational Chart Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

Packing List Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

Process Documentation Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

Project Planner Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

Simple Meeting Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

SWOT Analysis Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

To-do List Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

Travel Planner Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

Writing Project Mindmap Template (click mindmap to enlarge):

You can also download mindmapping templates for free at Biggerplate.com.

If you don’t already own MindManager 8, click the Get Started button below and start enjoying the benefits of increased productivity!

Today marks the one year anniversary of The Mindmap Blog!  Thank you to all my readers!  

It’s been a great first year.  I’ve had the opportunity to share visual mapping tools, resources, and ideas with readers from all over the world.  

The positive feedback has been incredible!  I’ve gotten feedback from readers in the United States, France. England, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, and Indonesia!  

When I started this blog a year ago, I had no idea that mindmapping was so global in scope. Well, now I know.  Again, thanks for reading The Mindmap Blog.  Here’s to a great Year 2!

Back in June of last year, I did a post on the components of a Mindmap called “The Anatomy of a Mindmap”.  Recently, Michael Deutch, Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist and Mindmapping Thought Leader, highlighted the 10 key elements of a mindmap.

In his post on The Mindjet Blog, he notes “…maps are built using the following ten basic elements:

1. Central topic: typically the key theme or title of your map
2. Main topic: main ideas that define the topic
3. Subtopic: details about the main topics
4. Callout topic: supplementary information about a specific topic
5. Floating topic: additional general information about the topic; sometimes used as a parking lot for uncategorized ideas
6. Relationship arrows: visually link related topics
7. Boundaries: highlight branches within your map
8. Markers: Icon (and text) tags that allow you to code your map topics
9. Notes: store additional details about your central, main, or subtopic
10. Hyperlinks and attachments: link to web sites, other topics, and files directly from your topics”

He also provides this great illustration of the elements:

(Click mindmap to enlarge)

Steven DiLauro, Senior Manager, Learning Services at Mindjet has created a 20 minute video to introduce you to Mindjet MindManager, a revolutionary mindmapping software program that can change the way you manage information on your computer forever.  

Literally a million people are saving 5 to 7 hours per week using MindManager.  I am one of the million as I use it at work for all my projects.  I also use it to manage my computer files and folders (see previous post for how I do that). 

To see the video and learn how people from all around the world are using MindManager to increase productivity in less time, click the Get Started button below.

In the video you will see:

• How MindManager helps with capturing, organizing and sharing information
• Mindjet’s Microsoft Office integration that makes it easy to coordinate data in whatever format you need
• Best practices to increase meeting effectiveness, streamline projects, and communicate information and plans

CIO.com stated in its May 11, 2009 article on Mindmapping, that “Mind mapping—the diagramming of ideas and concepts to help streamline thought processes and organize information—has come a long way since the standard pencil-and-paper method of decades past. New applications now help users organize, house and link thousands of pieces of information, including reports, bookmarks and projects, in a personalized and visual way.” 

The article highlights how executives are using mindmaps to increase their productivity and efficiency. 

Here’s what they had to say:

 “Brad Isaac, CIO at Breslow Starling Frost Warner, an accounting firm, uses a mind mapping application from Mindjet for project management. In situations like deploying a new server, mind mapping helps him keep track of the project and ensure he’s covered the necessary bases: who’s managing it, who will be using it, who needs training, he says. ‘You’re able to address all these layers of a complex project in a visual manner and it only takes moments.’”

“Tim Flemming, CIO at Ingersoll Rand, a manufacturer of industrial tools, started his first mind map in 2006 and says it has helped him relate to business-side colleagues more easily. “I’ll be on a conference call with Europe, call up my [mind map] and I’ve got everything I might need—sales numbers, their backlog inventory, you name it,” he says. ‘It allows me to have a business conversation with them in a way that they don’t look at me like the IT guy, they look at me like a business partner.’”

Click here to read the full article.

I was one of the early adopters of the iPhone.  I purchased the phone on June 29, 2007, the day it launched in the United States. At the time, I was adamant about getting the phone because I knew it would have a version of Mac OS X operating system on it (Mac OS X is a computer operating system - not a phone operating system).  So I thought, “Mac OS X on a phone?  That’s going to be one incredible phone!”  

I didn’t know exactly what the phone would do, but with Mac OS X I knew pretty much anything was possible.  Since my purchase almost two years ago, the phone has just gotten better and better with each update.  

In July 2008,  The App Store was launched.  This gave Apple, Inc. the opportunity to create a Software Development Kit (SDK) off of that Mac OS X operating system to show the world what the iPhone could really do.  I think the world got the message because to date there have been over a billion downloads from the App Store.

With the coming release of iPhone OS 3.0 this summer, the iPhone will have 100 new features for users (including cut, copy, paste; landscape keyboard in all applications; and search for the entire phone - I can’t wait!) and 1,000 completely new APIs for developers to create more amazing applications for the App Store.  

So this revolution is far from over.  On the contrary, it has just begun.

Below is a mindmap I created to highlight the categories of the App Store and the #1 free application in each category.  If you have an iPhone, you can get these applications for free today.

(Click mindmap to enlarge - be sure to expand to regular size to see clear image)

Imagine a world where you save a document on your computer and always find it quickly.  A world where you save it once to a location on your computer and then never have to use the usual file/folder structure to locate it.

Imagine the time you would save each day by not wondering, “Now, where did I put that document?”

Well, that world exists.  It exists when you use Mindjet’s MindManager to manage your files and folders.

Perhaps one of the greatest features of MindManager is the functionality to manage your files and folders via a map. 

Without MindManager, to find a document on your computer you have to navigate through a hierarchical maze of folders.  And if you have a lot of folders, this can be very time consuming.

MindManager allows you to retrieve your documents in a more dynamic, user friendly way.

STEP BY STEP FOR MANAGING YOUR FILES AND FOLDERS IN MINDMANAGER

Here’s a step-by-step for linking, locating, and retrieving your files and folders with MindManager:

Step 1: Create a MindManager Map.  Let’s call it “Master Map”.

Step 2: Click Map Parts tab > File Explorer in Map Parts drop-down.  Your screen should look like this:

(Click image to enlarge)

Step 3:  Select the Main Topic (”Master Map”) and then click All Files & Folders icon.  MindManager will then open a dialog box enabling you to locate your folder.  It looks like this:

(Click image to enlarge)

Step 4: Click OK on Browse For Folder dialog box once you’ve located your folder.  MindManager does the rest - it organizes all the files in your folder automatically within the map.  It looks like this:

(Click image to enlarge)

You can then right click on any document icon and open it in the map (inside MindManager’s embedded browser) or outside the map (in the document’s own application).  It looks like this:

(Click image to enlarge)

You can edit and save the document as you normally would.  It now, however, can be accessed directly from the map.  No more searching for the file or folder via the normal file/folder structure.

But the REAL benefit of managing your files and folders this way is something called “Refresh”.  

Let’s say you have a Microsoft Excel document called “Project Budget” and you want to manage this document with the other files in the folder.  All you have to do is save the file in the same folder as the other files and with one click  (Right-click or pressing F5 for Refresh) the folder is updated and the document appears in your map.  It looks like this:

(Click image to enlarge)

And just like that, the new Excel file is available.  It looks like this:

(Click image to enlarge)

Managing your files this way is a real time saver.  And puts you in control of your documents in a way that is dynamic and efficient.

If you’re interested in purchasing MindManager you can do it right here at The Mindmap Blog.  Just click the Get Started button below for more details:

Luciano Passuello, author of Litemind.com, recently posted an article entitled “10 Best Ways to Harness the Power of Questions.”  It is a great article about understanding the power of questions and how questions help us to learn and expand as individuals.  I strongly encourage you to read it.  Click here to read the full post.

Focusing on five of his key points, I created a mindmap to visually represent the information.  Thanks Luciano!

(Click mindmap to enlarge - be sure to expand to regular size to see clear image)