Mind mapping is exactly what it sounds like. It’s putting all your thoughts and ideas in an organized, visual map. According to mindmapping.com, “mind mapping is a highly effective way of getting information in and out of your brain. Mind mapping is a creative and logical means of note-taking and note-making that literally ‘maps out’ your mind.”
For those of use who can never be too organized (do you have a different planner for school, work, travel and personal?) mind mapping is a further way to keep your flow of thoughts in check. Mindmapping.com further explains the magic of the process.
“One simple to understand a Mind Map is by comparing it to a map of a city. The city center represents the main idea; the main roads leading from the center represent the key thoughts in your thinking process; the secondary roads or branches represent your secondary thoughts, and so on. Special images or shapes can represent landmarks of interest or particularly relevant ideas.
“The great thing about mind mapping is that you can put your ideas down in any order, as soon as they pop into your head. You are not constrained by thinking in order. Simply, throw out any and all ideas, then worry about reorganizing them later.”
There are literally hundreds of mind mapping apps in the app store. They range from completely free to about $12. Here is a list of the most useful, bang-for-your-buck choices.
- Mindly
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The Mindly app organizes your “inner universe.” It keeps you both organized and focused. The app comes in a free and a full version for $6.99.
With Mindly, you can create different bubbles, or main ideas/subjects, per say, that you can break down into smaller, more detailed ideas/bubbles. This first subject is called the “Focus”. From there, the focus can be broken down a number of more times into “elements”. Further, elements are broken into “sub-elements”, keeping your ideas and thoughts in a very organized flow.
- SimpleMind + Mind Mapping
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Simple mind also has a free and a paid version, which is $7.99. There is an unlimited page size and numer of elements. With the paid version, you can link your map with Google Drive and Dropbox and import all kinds of documents and images. The app can also be used on laptops, not just mobile devices, which is nice if you want to have a large view of your map. The layout is free-flowing, so you can organize your thoughts exactly how you want to.
- iThoughts
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iThoughts is one of the more pricy, mind mapping apps out there at $11.99, but you can get a “free trial” app, which is essntially just a free version. It’s also one of the oldest mind mapping apps out there at over 10 years old! It’s is available for IOS, Mac and Windows. There is a lot of free range for layout in iThoughts with customizable––well just about everything. It comes with different options for canvas backgrounds and layout presets. The app allows you to search the internet for photos and information to add to your specific map, which is great for any kind of research or class project.
Whichever app you go with, you’ll be making an investment in not only your organization, but in your sanity.