The pace of business is continuing to accelerate. Seeking ways to streamline our day and to work more effectively should be something we are all open to.
Mind mapping is a great way to organize ideas and manage information. Brainstorming your business process, laying out the changing competitor landscape and even to clarify options available to pursue can all become easier to communicate and understand by using mind maps. Don’t ignore the help they can provide you in any area of your life. It’s quick, easy and fun, so why do so many people resist the idea?
Terrible Drawing Skills
Many people don’t try mind mapping because they feel they have no artistic ability. If you can’t draw, they think, you can’t make mind maps. But this isn’t the case at all.
First of all, although mind maps use visual elements, you don’t need to be an artist to create one. What you’re doing is mapping out your ideas, not drawing a picture. The actual drawing is minimal. Most of it is putting down your ideas.
Furthermore, there are software programs you can use to make mind maps. You never actually have to draw anything at all.
Just Doodling
For business professionals it may seem strange to draw a picture to express ideas. They’re used to dealing in long, dense documents. A person like this may feel that creating a mind map is just kids’ stuff.
But take a minute to think of all of the companies that rely on mind maps for product development, sales process management, data organization, collaborative projects, and more. If so many companies and entrepreneurs have made mind maps central to the way they do business, then there must be something there.
Mind Maps Take Time
It’s true that mind maps take a bit of time – at first. But once you get the hang of making them, they’re incredibly quick. They save you a considerable amount of time when taking notes, organizing information, or brainstorming. Actually, the mind map is a time-saving tool and this is another reason so many people use it.
If you’re a doubter, give mind mapping a try. It’s much simpler than it looks and once you see how it can help you, you may realize you need it in your arsenal of productivity tools.
Don’t know where to start?
There are dozens of mind mapping software applications and apps available, ranging from free to over $400. If you want to explore what mind mapping is like to work with, I recommend you start with a free tool called Freemind. You can download it from that link and works on both the PC and Mac. I will be sharing some example mind maps later on this week and will share them in the Freemind format.
The next post in this series will include techniques to overcome these mind mapping blocks and crank up your results.
In case you missed the introductory post on mind mapping, here is the link.