I mentioned a few weeks back that as part of the run-up to CFUNITED, Michael Smith is running a series of "CFLive" broadcasts via Steven Erat's ColdFusion Meetup Group. Last week, Michael himself presented on Mind Mapping. Now, I'd never really paid much attention to this technique, partly because I'd only heard a couple of people mention it and mostly in the context of designing Fusebox web sites.

Michael showed some good examples of using the technique in other contexts too, enough to pique my interest. So, what is mind mapping? Start with a blank piece of paper and in the middle write one or two words that describe a concept or project you are working on. Now, as you start to come up with associated ideas, write those in a cloud around the main concept with lines connecting the main concept to each refinement. Repeat this with each idea and sub-idea and so on until you have a thorough understanding of each part or you have all the notes down on paper about dealing with that part. Think of it as a visual outliner.

Michael showed a commercial, Windows-only mind mapping tool so I searched the 'net for some free, open source solutions that would work cross-platforrm. I found FreeMind. Java-based so it runs pretty much anywhere and very full-featured - lots of import / export formats, intuitive navigation etc. I'm wishing someone had got me into this earlier!

Right now I'm using it to take notes at cf.Objective() as it lets me structure my notes according to topics and ideas in each of the talks (and, boy, does it highlight when a speaker hasn't organized their talk well!)

Take it for a spin and see what you think. I like it. Michael had some good recommendations on usage in his presentation because he uses mind mapping a lot. The one that stuck in my mind was to use only one or two words for each concept to encourage yourself to grow the tree of sub-concepts rather than write long paragraphs in English to describe things. That definitely works!

Sean, like you I've always been a little leery of this sort of thing. However, having recently started using David Allen's "Getting Things Done" (see my blog post at www dot stephencollins dot org), I've become more interested.

I shall have to check it out.

I've been interested in Mind Maps *in principle* for about 7 or 8 years, since I heard about them back when I was a HS teacher. I say *in principle* because in practice, I've never figured out how to use them effectively.

If you or anyone else has a good (online?) explanation of how to use them well, I would love to see it. In the meantime, I'll give FreeMind a try.

I've used mind maps, and specifically FreeMind, for a few years now. It has been incredibly useful for working on my book, as I can keep drilling down and adding more detail without the inherent clutter and lopsided-ness that doing the same thing in HTML would do. If I want to put in an entire conversation I can, then collapse the node to hide it until I need it.

As goofy as it sounds, I've found that having a readily-available icon library (such as GlyFX) makes it even more useful, as I can quickly add images to help me visually organize the parts I'm working on. (Characters get one icon, plot points get another, locations get another, etc.)

That, and once you get used to the keyboard shortcuts, you'll find that it's easily one of the fastest ways to take notes, as you can quickly navigate from one end of the tree to another without having to take your hand off the keyboard.

Very, *very* good stuff.

I've been using MindMapper (for Windows) on and off for the last three and a half years or so after first reading about it in Jeff Peter's and Nat Papovich's Fusebox 3 book. I find it to be a great tool for the initial 'scoping out' phase of an idea or project, when you are throwing thoughts in the air and need them to fall into meaningful patterns. Crucially, it's dead easy to use, with map nodes a doddle to edit and re-arrange. I find that it helps rather than hinders the thought process. (MindMapper appears to be a Windows-only app, but of course there are plenty of others out there).

Interestingly, I never seem to complete a mind map. The mapping process firms up my idea and then long before I've crossed the 'T's and dotted the 'I's, I move on to more structured planning or documentation. I find that the process enables one to turn an initial 'blurry' proto-plan into a coherent overview. Unlike a simple linear list it provides useful structure and facilitates the grouping and relating of ideas, but unlike formal project planning software, it remains very straightforward and intuitive. Yep, I think it (mind mapping) is a great tool.

Congratulations Sean, you are the first person on the IntarWubwubwubNet to spell "pique my interest" correctly :-)

Take a peak, you reached the peek, eek.

Blame a traditional British grammar school education :)

Good to see you're still reading the blog... we miss you!

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