Four Ways Mind Maps Make You More Creative

By Mark Dykeman Mind maps are a powerful tool to get yourself unstuck, focused and organized to do your best creative work. Tony Buzan is the person best known for coining the term mind map and helping to educate the world at large about the concept. Mind maps are a form of visual mapping, where you use a combination of words, lines, symbols and images to describe something tangible (like a product, a location or something that you can see and e perience! or intangible (services, concepts, ideas and plans!. "ow does a piece of paper (or a computer screen! crammed with words, pictures and odd looking symbols help you think and work better# $et%s be honest& some mind maps are so busy and detailed that they tend to frighten most people instead of inspiring them. That%s a fair 'uestion. To address this concern, let%s look at four ma(or benefits of using mind maps to help develop your ideas&

1. Mind Maps Keep You From Losing Your Mind

The human brain, while very powerful, does have its limits. )e can%t keep many thoughts in our mind at once. David *llen, the author and entrepreneur who created the popular +etting Things Done (+TD! methodology for organization and prioritization, often 'uotes the following statistic& the human mind can only hold between , - . thoughts in memory without losing track of them. /nce you go beyond that limit, you start to forget things - this usually lands you in trouble. David *llen%s solution is to use inbox processing to put all of your tasks and to do list items into a trusted system where you can easily find them and take action on them when you need

to do so. By getting rid of the e tra 0noise% or things to worry about, you reduce the number of thoughts that you%re thinking about at a moment in time. This allows you to focus and, more importantly, not worry about losing something important. 1nstead of writing yourself a note or an e2mail, which you might not understand days and weeks from now, what if you drew yourself a mind map and captured a more comple idea that way# 3ou could empty out your mind, especially if you have a burning idea that needs to be e pressed, and you could file it away for future use.

2. Mind Maps Adapt o Your !re"erred Learning #ty$e

Mind maps are fle ible constructs that can adapt to different learning and communication styles. They are an attractive learning option because they can appeal to multiple communications and learning styles. 3ou may find certain types of media to be easier to learn from than others. 3ou can incorporate different styles within your mind maps to make them work better for you, so that it%s easier to think, learn, and present information. $et%s look at the three basic communication and learning styles& %isua$ 4isual communicators like to use pictures to learn about things and to communicate. Mind mapping, especially when it combines images and symbols with te t and connecting lines, is a great way to communicate information for people who have a preference for visual communication. 5 perts like Tony Buzan will encourage you to put pictures in mind maps and use colors to appeal to your visual sense. Mind maps clearly have a strong visual component and therefore they should work well for you if youre a visual thinker and learner. Audio 1f you are an auditory learner, sounds and spoken words are the best way for you to learn. The language you use makes reference to hearing, listening and saying things. 3ou likely learn best by reciting facts and committing them to memory. 3ou like to have people e plain things to you instead of giving you documents. 3ou would think that auditory thinkers and communicators might not benefit from the use of mind maps. This may be true, but as an auditory learner, you could use the mind map as a way to arrange audio files in a logical, easy to find framework so that they can come back to it into the future. Many mind mapping applications now allow you to attach or embed many kinds of files within a mind map. Kinest&etic' ouc& 6inesthetic learning styles have gained more e posure during the past few decades. 1f you have a kinesthetic preference, you are a 0hands on% person who understands things better when you can touch and use them. 3ou learn better by tearing apart and reassembling an engine that reading a book or hearing a lecture about it.

But how do you touch a mind map, especially when it%s on a computer screen# *fter all, most mind maps don%t have moving parts, right# "ow do you get 0hands on% with a mind map# By drawing it by hand7 8sing a mind map to describe something can serve two purposes for kinesthetic learners& 9. The mind map can help you e press something in a way that%s easier for you to do than if you only used sounds and words. The act of drawing or printing the information (even if it%s done with software instead of on paper! can help you put your thoughts together. 1t may feel more natural. :. The mind map can help you remember the information because you may remember the movements and pen strokes that you used to create it. ;urious about this# Try it and see7 /ne other point& you way work well with multiple styles. <or e ample, mind maps drawn by hand combine both a visual and a kinesthetic component.

(. Friction$ess &oug&t )rgani*ation

Thoughts are astoundingly fast. "ere are some rough statistics for comparison&

)ords we can handwrite per minute& :: - =9 )ords we can type per minute& 9:> is above average for a touch typist )ords we can say per minute& 9,> - 9?>, (which is a recommended rate of speaking for audio books and presentations! but it can go much higher )ords per minute that we can read or think& :>> - =>> is a good average

3ou can read and think much faster than you can capture thoughts on paper or computer screens using words. 3ou need a way to capture the thoughts 'uickly but comprehensively when inspiration strikes or when you%re pressed for time. 3ou want to be able to document your ideas with minimal friction. But what does friction mean in this conte t# 1n physics class, you learned that friction is the force that asserts itself when two things move against each other. <riction slows down moving ob(ects by creating resistance. )hen it comes to doing creative work, you can think of friction as anything that slows down your ability to do work, especially when you%re talking about putting your thoughts to paper. @en and paper is a great low tech solution that works well for the first draft of a pro(ect. "owever, you lose time in the motions of switching between mouse and keyboard or when you create a mind map by hand. 3ou lose even more time when you try to redo a handwritten mind map so it%s easier to understand. These are e amples of friction. 1f you%re comfortable with the combination of mouse and keyboard, you can use your point and click skills with mind mapping software. /r, to really speed things up, use keyboard shortcuts instead.

This speed and power allows you to achieve something that we call "riction$ess t&oug&t organi*ation. By eliminating the barriers to transcribing your thoughts, mind mapping becomes an e tremely powerful tool to allow the rapid documentation and development of ideas. 3our ideation processes take a huge productivity leap when you use mind mapping to its fullest potential. Mind mapping removes friction during the creative process. Mind mapping is the closest that you can get to frictionless thought organization - transcribing your thoughts out of your head with minimal resistance.

+. W&o$e ,rain &inking Leads to #uperior -esu$ts

Tony Buzan contends that mind maps provide an e cellent way to engage your entire brain in the thinking and learning processes. 3ou may have heard people talk about being 0left brain% or 0right brain%. These two concepts have been e plained in a previous $ateral *ction article. W&o$e brain t&inking is the concept of using both sides of your brain together to think better. 3our brain does this every day (ust keeping you alive. Most of the time this synchronization happens without any conscious thought. To put this in conte t, here%s a 'uote from $ateral *ction that talks about the roles of left brain and right brain& Many people associate the right brain with creativity and lateral thinking, and there%s certainly something to that. /ur left brains create structures that can act as barriers to alternative solutions and perspectives. But your left brain plays a crucial role in creativity as well. Aeeing logical associations between seemingly unrelated things is a hallmark of creativity. *nd the critical2thinking skills necessary to tell a good idea from a bad one are pretty important too. Mind maps, with their combination of images, colors, shapes and te t, can appeal to both sides of the brain. 3ou can use the mind map to e plore unusual, imaginative concepts (right brain! while using mind mapping techni'ues to put them into order and tie them together with logic (left brain!. )hen you%re lost in a mental (ungle, doesn%t it make sense to use both sides of your brain to navigate through# Mind mapping helps you make the most of both sides of your brain. This combination of capabilities allows your mind to build rich connections between pictures and te t and it helps to cement knowledge in your brain, leading to longer retention of information.

.o/ Mind Maps 0et You 1nstuck2 Focused and )rgani*ed

1n summary, then, this is what mind maps can do for you& 0et your ideas on paper as 3uick$y as possib$e 3ou have a strong need for speed when inspiration strikes. The faster you can record your

ideas, the more intact they stay. This allows you the best chance of capturing a potentially valuable, rewarding mind map. Friction$ess t&oug&t organi*ation 8sing mind mapping software short cuts and other relevant time savers makes the ideation process easier and less stressful. 4mpty out your &ead into a trusted system 5mptying your ideas out of your mind when inspiration strikes (or when you simply have to document something! allows you to focus on what you need to do right now. Bemember, the more thoughts you (uggle at once, the more likely you are to forget something important7 C$ear your mind so you can c$ear$y "ocus on somet&ing e$se 3ou do better work when you%re not distracted or multi2tasking. A visua$ yet tacti$e a$ternative to sticky notes2 notebook 5ottings2 etc. Mind maps allow you to engage your body in the creation process, which is pleasurable and rewarding. This is the value of mind mapping that you rarely hear about& an uncluttered, clear mind that can be organized and focused to take on a new (ob with vigor and enthusiasm.