Mental maps

Mind mapping (mental maps) is a convenient and efficient technique visualization of thinking and alternative recording. It can be used to create new ideas, capture ideas, analyze and organize information, make decisions and much more. It's not very traditional, but very natural way organization of thinking, which has several undeniable advantages over conventional recording methods.

Traditional recording system

Linear writing typically uses text with headings, lists, tables, and charts. Things seem simple and logical. However, everyone is familiar with the effort that has to be made when reading a note, even one made personally. Why?

Recorded hard to remember and even more difficult to recall. This happens because visually such a record looks monotonous, with constantly repeating elements - words, paragraphs, lists, etc. And we, when monotonous pictures float before our eyes, easily switch off.

In this outline it's hard to highlight the main thing. Usually we remember the main ideas thanks to special keywords, which for us are carriers of impressions about the idea. These words are few and they are lost in the mass of ordinary words that mean nothing to us.

Time with this recording very inefficiently spent. We first write down a lot of unnecessary things, and then we are forced to read and re-read this unnecessary things, trying to find those very key words and determine the degree of their importance.

The consequences of all this are vast and varied: boredom, absent-mindedness, inability to assimilate information, waste of time, a feeling of one’s own stupidity, a quiet hatred of the subject being studied, and so on. Moreover, it happens that the more diligently we write down, the worse the result, because we are forced to fight with ourselves more, and this is tiring.

Mental maps

Tony Buzan, the author of the mental mapping technique, invites us to stop fighting ourselves and start helping our thinking. To do this, you just need to discover the undeniable connection between effective thinking and memory and ask yourself what exactly contributes to remembering.

Buzan suggests proceeding as follows.

Instead of linear notation use radial. This means that the main topic on which our attention will be focused is placed in the center of the sheet. That is, really in the focus of attention.

Write down not everything in a row, but only keywords. The most characteristic, vivid, memorable, “speaking” words are selected as keywords.

Keywords placed on branches diverging from central theme. Relationships (branches) should be associative rather than hierarchical. Associations, which are known to be very helpful in remembering, can be reinforced by symbolic drawings.

Example

I drew this map while working on design ideas for wall calendars for 2005. To view a larger picture, follow the link, click the All Sizes button (above the picture) and select the largest available size.

Tony Buzan's Tips on Mind Mapping Techniques

Gradually you will develop your personal mind mapping style, but at the first stage, in order to feel the spirit of this technique, which is completely different from the traditional recording system we are used to, you must adhere to the following rules.

It's important to place words ON THE BRANCHES, and not in all sorts of bubbles and parallelepipeds hanging on these branches. It is also important that the branches should be living, flexible, and, in general, organic. Drawing a mind map in the traditional diagram style is completely contrary to the idea of ​​mind mapping. This will greatly complicate the movement of the eye along the branches and will create many unnecessary identical, and therefore monotonous, objects.

Write on every line only one keyword. Each word contains thousands of possible associations, so stringing words together reduces freedom of thought. Spelling words separately can lead to new ideas.

Line length should equal word length. It's more economical and cleaner.

Write in block letters, as clearly and precisely as possible.

Vary the size of the letters and the thickness of the lines depending on the importance of the keyword.

Necessarily use different colors for main branches. This facilitates a holistic and structured perception.

Often use pictures and symbols(for the central theme, a drawing is required). In principle, a mental map can generally consist entirely of drawings :)

Try organize space, do not leave empty space and do not place branches too tightly. For a small mind map, use A4 sheet, for big topic- A3.

Overgrown branches can outline so that they do not mix with neighboring branches.

Position the sheet horizontally. This map is easier to read.

Pay attention to the shape of the resulting mental map - it expresses a lot. A solid, strong, lively form shows that you have a good understanding of the topic. It also happens that all the branches of the map turn out beautiful, but one is somehow clumsy and confusing. This is a sure sign that this part needs extra attention - it could be a key to the topic or a weak point in understanding it.

Philosophy

The more individual your mental map, the better. After all, it is your personal thinking that comprehends it. This brings us to the question of understanding, which still happens in our heads, and not in books and textbooks. And here the words of Merab Mamardashvili are very appropriate:

“We will try to approach the material in such a way as to feel in it those living things that stand behind the text and because of which, in fact, it arises. These things usually die in the text, they are poorly visible through it, but nevertheless, they are there. And it makes sense to read texts and talk about them when you do not fill yourself with dogmatic scholarship, but restore precisely the living side of thought because of which they were created. […] Only in this case, when we encounter a text two thousand years after its creation, does it turn out to be for us not an element of book learning, but rather a construction, penetrating into which we can revive those mental states that are behind text and arose in people through this text.”

Tony Buzan's idea is to create such a “supporting structure”, designed to help restore living thoughts behind boring text, or create them if you use mind mapping as a tool for creating new ideas. After all, memory and creativity are essentially two sides of the same process: memory recreates the past, and creativity creates the future.

What makes the idea particularly elegant are the parallels between the organization of thinking through mental maps and the structure of the human brain: firstly, the neuron itself looks like a mini-mindmap (a core with branches), and secondly, thoughts at the physical level are displayed as “trees” of biochemical impulses.

As I said at the beginning, the scope of effective application of mind mapping is extremely wide. This includes planning (for example, a day, a meeting, an article, a project), and learning, and organizing information, and a way to understand a problem, and creating ideas, and even writing fairy tales in the family circle (Buzan talks about this very interestingly). Mind mapping is an art in a sense, so it takes practice to learn how to draw beautiful mind maps. But this art is natural to our thinking and is accessible to everyone. And it helps you live

Source: MindTools

Mental maps are a technique for visualizing thinking. The uses of mental maps are very diverse - for example, they can be used to record, understand and remember the content of a book or text, generate and write down ideas, understand a new topic, and prepare for making a decision.

How to draw a mental map: instructions

Take a piece of paper and write in the center in one word the main topic that the card is dedicated to. Enclose it in a closed loop.

From the central topic, draw branches and place on them keywords that are associated with it.

Continue to expand the map, adding sub-branches with keywords to the already drawn branches until the topic is exhausted.

Rules for working with mental maps

The technique seems intuitive, but the rules below help significantly improve its effectiveness.

Write one word on one branch. This approach significantly saves time and space and contributes to better readability of the map. At first this seems unusual - you may be afraid that you will forget the rest of the words. In fact, you won’t forget if you choose the most characteristic, vivid, memorable, “catchy” words as keywords.

Place the sheet horizontally - such a map will be more convenient to read.

Write keywords in block letters, in black, as clear and precise as possible.

Place keywords directly on the lines that show their relationship. Don't put them in any box. Write only one keyword on each line.

The length of the line must be equal to the length of the word - do not make a line longer than words. Don't interrupt the lines.

Use different colors for the main branches so they don't blend together visually.

Vary the size of the letters in the inscriptions and the thickness of the branches depending on the degree of distance from the main theme.

Space the branches evenly - do not leave any empty space or place the branches too tightly.

Use pictures and symbols (at least for the central theme, better for all main branches).

If you're drawing a complex map, it makes sense to first sketch out a mini-map with the main branches to define the structure. future map, since the choice of main branches affects the organization and readability of the map.

Mind maps are an alternative way of writing to text, lists, and diagrams (such as trees or mind maps). The main difference between mental maps and other methods of visualization is primarily that mental maps activate memory. Lists, solid text, trees and diagrams monotonous. Mental maps, on the contrary, everyone uses possible ways to activate perception through diversity: different thickness of lines, different colors of branches, precisely chosen keywords that are personally meaningful to you, the use of images and symbols. The technique of mental maps helps not only to organize and organize information, but also to better perceive, understand, remember and associate it.

When to use mind maps?

In self-study. Learning any material can go faster if you capture the main thoughts in the form of a mental map. Even if you're just reading a book, make a mind map and you'll see how convenient way comprehend what you read (not to mention the fact that this map can be very useful to you if you later want to quickly refresh your memory of the contents of the book).

To create ideas. Write the problem in the center and place ideas or associations on the branches, from them - the following associations, all the time asking yourself the question of how this can solve your problem.

To understand a new area. There are situations when you feel that the topic is escaping understanding. Write it in the middle and place everything that relates to it on the branches emanating from the center. When the map becomes large and chaotic, redraw it using a few main branches as structure.

To introduce a large amount of information in a succinct form. You can do this for greater clarity, for example during presentations, or for yourself (for example, so as not to forget something important during a speech).

Try to enjoy the process of drawing a mental map. Make your map beautiful, because for this you need very little - neat text in block letters, straight lines of the same length as the keywords, different colors for the branches so that they do not get confused with each other, the simplest drawings-symbols indicating important moments... Of course, the degree of “beauty” may vary depending on the task, but do not waste time, especially at the beginning of mastering the technique. After some practice it will go away quite a bit.

An interesting point about mental maps is that they are not only a means of visually representing our thinking process, but also at the same time a diagnostic tool for it. The very shape of the map, the way it visually looks, says a lot about your attitude to the topic, how clear you understand its individual aspects (represented by the main branches), and about your way of perceiving this information.

We highly recommend starting with drawing mental maps with your hands. For beginners, it seems faster and easier to use computer programs, but this does not provide either the skills of mind mapping itself or beneficial effect organizing your own thinking in the process. Mind mapping software will never allow you to draw an incorrectly laid out map, and this is actually a problem because by doing the thinking for you, it makes it impossible for you to diagnose your thinking. The fact is that thanks to hand drawing you can clearly see how and how effectively your thinking is organized on a certain topic.

Principles

A mental map should activate perception and memory.

Striving for greater clarity and readability of the map allows for more conscious thinking.

Analysis of the map you have already drawn gives clues to the “structure” of your thinking on the topic.

The idea of ​​mental maps is based on the similarities between the depiction of the thinking process using a mental map and the structure of the human brain: firstly, a mental map, like a neuron, has a radial structure, and secondly, thoughts at the physical level are displayed as “trees” of biochemical impulses .

Mind Map Inspiration- Paul Forman's blog on mind maps with great examples by the author

Mind42- online service for creating mental maps

MindMeister- online service for creating mental maps (free version only has 6 maps)

Freemind - free program to create mental maps

WikiMindMap- an interface to Wikipedia that turns a Wikipedia article into a mind map.

Books on the topic

In English: Tony Buzan. The Mind Map Book

In Russian: Tony Buzan. Mind maps

Examples

The examples below may look too professional, but their main purpose is to demonstrate the idea of ​​mind maps, and not the artistic skill of the author.

Laws of mind mapping

Three mind mapping methods ( Paul Forman)

50 inspiring ideas ( Paul Forman)

Choosing a path from opposites ( Paul Forman)

Time management ( Mindtools)

Outside the comfort zone ( Paul Forman)

Mind Map allows you to create mind maps to better visualize your personal or team goals. In addition to the standard Mind Map functionality, you can create tasks, attach users and create meetings - all this is connected to your Bitrix24.

Attention! Login to the Mind Map application is carried out through a workgroup.

When you log into Mind Map you can:

Create a smart map from scratch

Choose from the templates offered to you

Visual editing

1. Background. Map background and node background.

   Font. Map font and node font.

   Node frame.

Adding objects to a node

1. Image.

Creating and adding Bitrix24 entities

1. Creating tasks.

   Adding users.

   Create meetings.

Additional node operations

1. Add a new node

   Align

   Copy

   Insert

Additional operations with Mind Map

1. Scaling.

   Cancel action. Back/Forward.

   Export and import. Export Mind Map, import Mind Map, export Mind Map to png.

   Quickly switch between Mind Maps via the drop-down list inside Mind Map.

   Change of owner. On the login screen.

   Delete. On the login screen.

Full editing access is available to the Mind Map owner. To edit a card, the portal administrator can change the card owner. Reading mode is available for users who do not own Mind Map.

In Reading mode, the user can export the smart map on the login screen and view the smart map.

Version 4
1) Now users do not have to be afraid that they will accidentally delete the card, because the functionality of the recycle bin and recovery from it has been added.
2) If work on the project has already begun, and the user wants to systematize the picture in the form of a mindmap, then now this can easily be done by attaching to the diagram those tasks that have already been set in B24.
3) Does the project have a complex multi-level diagram that is difficult to fit in your head and in the picture? Now the user can use nested cards! You can attach cards to any node next level nesting.
4) Update application instructions.

Version 3

Added the ability to create arbitrary connections between nodes

Improved work with node descendants

Added the ability to copy nodes with subnodes

Fixed minor bugs in the application

Version 2
Service update, bugs fixed, stability improved.

Version 1
Mind Map allows you to create mind maps to better visualize your personal or team goals. In addition to the standard Mind Map functionality, you can create tasks, attach users and create meetings - all this is connected to your Bitrix24.

Install the application from the Bitrix24 marketplace.

There are no additional settings in the application.

Amount of information in modern world is constantly growing, but the methods of handling it remain the same and are no longer effective. What was adequate for use by our ancestors, modern people will not help cope with the existing volumes and intensity of information flows.

The use of charts, lists, tables and texts has some disadvantages, although time-tested. Firstly, if the amount of information is large, then it becomes quite difficult to record, remember, and then reproduce it. Secondly, the process of identifying key ideas is difficult. Thirdly, time is used irrationally in this case. Well, and fourthly, the presented methods limit the use of a creative approach and the generation of new ideas when solving a problem. Therefore modern scientific world speaks of a method such as Examples and stages of its construction will be discussed below.

A new method of assimilation of information

The method of mental maps, invented by Tony Buzan, is considered an innovative method of processing and assimilating information. The scientist states that the problematic situation is the processes occurring in the human brain. speech, numbers, linear representation of facts are processed. But the right hemisphere is responsible for orientation in space, perception, and various abstract operations.

Tony Buzan argues that effective replacement traditional methods- this is a mental map. Examples of this method show that information is recorded thanks to general activities two hemispheres of the brain and

What are the advantages of the new method

The answer to this question is simple and will now be demonstrated. The first advantage of this method is that recording information is fast, easy and less voluminous. The second advantage is that when reading the map, you will have structured and logical relationships before your eyes. The third advantage is the usefulness of such a method as mental maps. The programs develop cognitive processes, namely memory, thinking and imagination. The fourth advantage is that when creating a drawing, a person uses his creative potential and the resources of both hemispheres of the brain. The fifth advantage is that information is remembered almost instantly and with high level quality. The sixth advantage is that a method such as a mental map is easy to learn. How to compose it? Simple instructions will help you.

Situations for applying the Tony Buzan method

There are a number of areas where the effectiveness of using such a method as a mental map is manifested. We will describe examples below.

The next block of information presented will tell readers how to use this method.

Mental map: how to make it?

This is not to say that the use of this new method is so simple, because it will require effort from a person, but the usefulness of this skill will justify the expenditure of resources. There are a number of steps and nuances that must be followed to create such a drawing.

The first three stages - fixing the mental map

The first stage is the initial one. It is also called the free association mode or brainstorming. For example, you have a project. Taking a piece of paper, write down all the thoughts and ideas that come to your mind, even the most ridiculous ones. There is no place for criticism or restrictions in this process.

The second stage is the actual creation of a mental map. You can take colored pencils and write the main topic in the center, from which you make branches and write down ideas related to the main goal and generated during brainstorming. Basic ideas can also branch into several lower-order ideas.

The third stage is fixing the drawing made. You should put the card aside for at least 2 hours, and preferably 2 days, and then return to it. In this way, ideas will be fixed in the mind.

The final stages of constructing a mental map

The fourth stage is a return to the mental map. At this stage, use colors to emotionally color your creation: indicate what is important or dangerous for you, joyful and cheerful. There are no strict requirements for shades, so use what you like. Create vivid images, because they will help revive the drawing and promote memorization.

The fifth stage is re-fixing the card. Set the sheet aside again for 2 hours to 2 days. Returning to the canvas again, you can make some more meaningful changes. Now the mind map is ready!

The presented method is quite young, but very effective, and many people have already appreciated its benefits. Do this too!

Mental maps (also known as mind maps, smart maps, mind maps, etc.) are a simple and very effective way transforming almost any goals into action plans. Mental maps are very actively used in life management. They allow you to clearly consider what needs to be done and how to achieve a goal, determine what actions should be taken, and what resources you will need. A mind map is an excellent tool for organizing and organizing your ideas and thoughts. One of the main advantages of mental maps is clarity.

Typically, mental maps are drawn in the form of a diagram with a center and “branches” diverging from it. You place explanations or drawings on the branches. Such a scheme can grow, supplement and expand indefinitely. Mind maps are often used to create, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as a tool for learning, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing. And of course they are used when working on goals.

When creating a mind map, your goal or task is placed at the center. This is where you direct all your attention. On the diverging branches you mark keywords, these words should evoke emotions in you. There is no need to try to create a logical structure, follow your associations and let your imagination run wild. New associations emerge from each branch. These new connections are called second-level branches. The mental map can be expanded almost endlessly, but psychologists recommend making no more than 4 levels for ease of perception.

Mental maps can be drawn by hand, or drawn on a computer using appropriate programs. Or you can use special programs that are designed specifically for developing and creating mental maps. There are quite a lot of such programs today.

Consider the option of drawing a mental map by hand.

Take a piece of paper. Draw a circle in the center (rectangle, square, oval - whatever you like best) and write your clearly and correctly formulated main goal into it.

Break this main goal into several smaller goals. Draw smaller circles and write in them also clearly formulated goals of the second level. At the same time, connect the main goal with small goals with lines or arrows.

If necessary, these small goals can be similarly divided into even smaller ones, and those, in turn, into even smaller ones. But this is only as necessary. There is no need to take the details to the point of absurdity. As a rule, three or four levels are enough.

If desired, you can add pictures and drawings to the mental map, use different colors to decorate it, and so on. All this will make your mental map more emotional and alive.

Having achieved the level of goal fragmentation you need, next to each goal write a list of simple and specific actions that need to be performed to achieve it. For example:

- agree...

- prepare...

- to know …

- inform...

Now all that remains is to assign exact dates carry out these actions and coordinate them with your plan, if you already have one. Thus, in the end you have a clear and specific plan actions to achieve your goal. All that remains is to implement it!

If you prefer to work on a computer, then you can create mental maps in any suitable program (for example, MS Word) or use special programs for this. You can easily find special programs for creating mental maps on the Internet. This is what a mental map made in one of these programs looks like:

There are paid programs, and there are also free ones. They differ in functionality and ease of use. Look, try and choose the one that suits you best. Use a search and you will be surprised how much software for creating mind maps is available online.

Get creative when creating mind maps. Find it for yourself best option, which will best meet your requirements and be convenient for you. Good luck to you in setting goals and achieving them!

Sincerely, Mikhail Kazarin.