I myself only discovered mind mapping a few months ago, because of one of these very articles that you’re reading. The moment I tried it, I was sold. Since then I’ve used it to design websites, create stories, instead of to-do lists and more. In this article, I will present you the 6 best mind mapping tools to use. But, first, what is a mind map?
A mind map is quite a straight forward tool, where you take a central concept, and then draw out subconcepts. So, for example, for this article, I could write “mind map article” in the middle of the page, then draw lines out from there and create subnodes with all the headings I’ll use in this article. So “what is a mind map?”, “mind-mapping uses for students”, “best mind-mapping tools for creative students” and “conclusion”.
And from there I could then again create more nodes. In this case, I would draw out more nodes from the “mind-mapping tools for creative students" node, with the actual mind mapping tools I want to write about. I could even go one further and make subnodes with what are the advantages and disadvantages of each. It depends on how far I want to go.
However far I go, the mind map is easy to oversee and quick to organize. What’s more, because mind maps are far more malleable on computers, you can actually allow them to develop and change over time, which makes them not just useful as snap shots, but also makes it possible to use them to track tasks.
Really, you could use it anywhere where you want to organize things and make certain you understand all of the tasks you’ve got ahead of you. Want to organize a party? Then mind map it! Simply draw out the nodes with all the important points that need to be covered, like “drinks”, “location’, “guest list”, “party snacks”, and so forth.
Alternatively, students could use it to map out how you’re going to write out an essay, allowing you to figure out what topics you need to cover, what headings you need, what arguments you’ll make, and what papers and reading you’ll use to back them.
You can use it effectively as a to-do tool, where you can create a subnode for each class and extracurricular activity and then mark the tasks that you need to do as subnodes in these nodes. You can even more things around so that it’s easy to see what is more important (I normally put more important things near the top).
And it also works well as a way to divide up projects if you’re working in a team. In this case, you create the mind map, work out all the work that has to be done, and then attach them to nodes with your names on it. You can even take it a step further and combine the "to do" with this, with each person also having a "to do" and "done" section, so that you can move things from the former to the latter and demonstrate how you’re progressing (and who is not pulling their weight).
Coggle is an online mind map that you can use in Chrome. It comes in three flavors. These are "free", "awesome" and "organization". I’m sure I don’t have to explain what "free" means. Try it out. It has quite a lot of functionality and allows you to mind map in different colors!
Besides, if you want to pay for mind mapping software you should go for Imindq. It’s awesome. Awesome I tell you! If you could date mind mapping software, I’d date Imindq. It’s got so many possibilities and it looks gorgeous to boot. It’s got a free trail if you want to try it out for a while.
Or if you don’t want to pay, FreeMind is a good choice for working offline. It’s open source and though it’s not quite as pretty and not quite as versatile as the other ones, it will get the job done – particularly when you’re just starting out.
MindMapple is a great choice as well, particularly for visual thinkers as it also allows you to use clip art and other visual stuff like that. Another great aspect is that you can cloud share it via Google Drive. As the name gives away, it also works for macs, which not all of those I’ve mentioned so far do, so that’s certainly a bonus!
Some people like it pretty and some people like it fast (yes, I’m still talking about mind-maps). Text2mindmap is for those who want to move quicker than speeding bullets. You just type in your thoughts and the web app does the rest. Just hit tab if you want to move on to a new sub-node. Great, in other words, for when you’re trying to brainstorm a project.
Okay, Sketchboard is more a sketch board than a mind map, but can still be used as a mind map and gives you slightly more flexibility besides. And it allows you to draw pretty pictures as well, which is definitely a bonus if that’s what you like to do. Mindmaps are awesome, but they’re even nicer if you’ve got nice pictures to go along with them. And that makes Sketchboard one of the best websites for this kind of thing.
I can rave about mind mapping tools and mind maps all day. Trust me. I really can. The thing is, you can’t really see their uses until you’ve tried it out. And seeing as all of these have free versions (and quite a few even stay free) there really isn’t any reason not to. Mind mapping is an incredibly useful tool that is particularly useful for those who like to see things in a different way and explore ideas visually and topographically.
Or you could just continue using scraps of paper, forgetting everything you were trying to do and not really having any oversight. After all, that’s been serving you well so far, I imagine!