Benefits of using mind maps. Services for mind maps

The creation of mind maps is based on the process of radiant thinking. Its essence is as follows: some specific main theme is taken, and then from it, like rays from the sun or branches from a tree trunk, various ideas are built, one way or another related to the main theme. Links are also established between different branches. Each new idea(branch) becomes the starting point for the continuation of this process, that is, the ideas associated with it again depart from it. In principle, this process can be endless. Here are some simple rules that describe such a thought process.

So, we decided to draw a mind map. The sequence of our actions is as follows:

1. We take a sheet of A4 or A3 paper and colored pencils, pens or felt-tip pens.

2. We put the sheet horizontally and in its center with a picture or one or two words we denote the main concept or problem being analyzed (business plan, summer vacation, healthy lifestyle life, bank loan, speech plan, article content, agenda, etc.) We circle this concept in a box or circle.

3. From the central object we draw branches in different directions - the main concepts, properties, associations, aspects associated with it. The branches are colored. We sign each one or two words, legibly, preferably even in block letters. When drawing a mind map, we use as many colors as possible and use drawings as often as possible.

4. From each branch we draw several thinner branches - the development of associations, clarification of concepts, specification of properties, specification of directions.

5. Semantic blocks are separated by lines, outlined in a frame (do not forget about colors).

6. We show the links between the elements of the mind map with arrows (also of different colors and thicknesses).

So, to recap: you start with a main topic, define the most important general ideas related to it and arrange them as branches around it, and then develop these topics into sub-branches (branches of 2nd, 3rd, etc. orders), where you place your ideas or keywords.

To create mind maps, you can use program Free Mind, which is part of the AltLinux repository. You can read more about the program on the page.

Examples of mind maps:

Each of us has come across a situation when a lot of information suddenly falls down, it needs to be somehow remembered, grouped, and ordered. It's good if you are a specialist in this field and this information is "deposited" in your head by itself and somehow already put in order. And if the information is completely "fresh" and its use is needed now, there is no time to wait for several days or weeks until it "ripens"? It is precisely for such a case that smart cards were invented.

What is it - smart cards?

Mind maps were invented by Tony Buzan, a psychologist, author of numerous successful books, a specialist in the field of self-improvement - the development of memory, thinking, etc. Mind maps today are probably one of the most versatile and easy-to-use techniques for increasing the efficiency of mental activity. They allow you to organize the material and focus on the right information.

Smart cards can be used to:

• memorization
• ordering and systematization of information
• activity planning
• preparation for speeches
• finding solutions in difficult situations
• consideration various options problem solving.

In its original form, the cards were called mindmap. This name can be translated into Russian as mental or brain maps. There is also the name of a mind map or connection diagram. More often they use a more euphonious name - smart cards.

Drawing a mindmap

So let's move on to the cards. How to build them? Very simple. Both adults and children can draw them. Moreover, a child can do better - because he does not have the prejudices inherent in an adult. Below are a number of rules by which you can get a smart card. It should be true to consider that there is no perfection in the world. Violating any of them can improve the result. Having gained experience in creating and using maps, you yourself will understand how to draw them most correctly.

During its existence, smart cards have gone their own way of development. Therefore, Tony Buzan himself, in different sources, gives slightly different instructions for creating mind maps, although the family resemblance is obvious in any case. I give the method that I used to use myself.

So let's get started:

1. We take a blank sheet of paper. Tony Buzan's advice is to lay it horizontally, and most writers follow this advice. It is also recommended to stock up on multi-colored pens, felt-tip pens, markers, pencils, etc. If you are going to draw with pencils, make sure that there is no eraser nearby - you don’t need to erase anything, and it’s even harmful to erase. Particular attention should be paid to the possibility of using several colors. After getting into the habit, you will find that using one or two colors is not interesting.
2. Collect all the material on the topic that you have so that it is at hand. Books, articles, bookmarks and links to Internet sites - everything is useful.
3. In the center of the sheet we draw a central image that will symbolize your topic, from which your work begins both on the map and in your thoughts. It doesn't matter if you can't draw. Having gained experience, you will understand that the main thing is that this drawing is understandable to you, gives food to your mind and contains enough details so that your imagination has something to start from. In any case, you can pay attention to it: use several colors (at least three - as Tony Buzan advises), carefully draw the details that seem significant to you.
4. From the central image, take branches on which the most important keywords and thoughts related to this topic will be written. Each branch should contain one word or thought. To emphasize the importance of these branches (after all, they are in direct contact with this topic!) it is recommended to make them thicker.
5. From thick branches, similarly draw thinner branches that clarify the main ideas.
6. Use different colors to draw. Use drawings as often as possible.

As an example of a smart map, let's take a map drawn by Tony Buzan himself.

Well, using the cards is simple - take a look at it, remember how you had to draw it, how the drawings were created - and the necessary information will be at hand.

mind maps like graphic method, require not only the work of the brain, but also the hand drawing a diagram with symbolic drawings on a piece of paper. It is graphic images, from Buzan's point of view, that force our thinking to be rebuilt.

Drawings, multi-colored letters and arrows connect to the process of thinking and our emotional sphere which is impossible in logical thinking.

How to make a website

Stages of compiling a mind map

For work, we need a blank sheet of paper and colored pencils (pens, felt-tip pens), at least three colors. Sheet size - the larger the better, but you can get by with A4 format. Just like thinking itself, the process of making a mental map has a radiant principle. That is, we will start compiling it from the center.

• Stage 1. The central idea is the image.

State your problem as clearly and concisely as possible and write in the center of the sheet in block letters, but not large - you still need space. Here, in the center, draw a symbolic image of the problem. Yes, draw. Do not be afraid, and do not be embarrassed, that you cannot draw. It is not the result that is important here, drawing is the stimulation of thinking. For example, if you want to understand how to succeed, then for someone the symbol will be the highest step of the podium, for someone the top of the mountain, for someone a wallet with money or a published book.

Stage 2. Think about what associations the problem causes in you, with what aspects of life, situations it is associated with, what ways you see it to be solved. Choose the first most vivid associations, draw arrows going from the central idea in different directions, and write the association statements along them. Arrows do not have to be straight, they can have different colors and thicknesses, depending on the significance.

Stage 3. Detail each idea-association, let your arrows have branches - new associations: some features, difficulties that arise along the way, additional circumstances. Do not forget to draw, you can even replace explanatory words with drawings, symbolic icons, etc. By the way, similar method is used for .

Stage 4. Do you feel like you have completed the mind map? Look at her carefully. Have you already figured out how to solve your problem, or perhaps you want to add something, have new ideas? Admire your creation, praise yourself and add what is missing. You can still return to your mind map more than once.

Mind maps are simply an indispensable and universal tool for every person. The mind map can be quite simple, I would even say primitive. But many who use the cards say so: "This is just a small abstract in the form of an image, with points and numerous sub-points." You can create such a tree-like abstract for any purpose, for example, to collect different ideas or plan a vacation.

Now I want to tell you about one very interesting and right tool to make our lives easier. This method is great for people who like to plan and write down all their important thoughts and ideas. And we are talking about mind maps. If from a scientific point of view, then this is a graphic, structured image. How to create such a map at home? Yes, everything is quite simple, there are many different programs which can easily be found on the internet.

As for me, I use cards for targeted advertising in social networks. In the cards I write down the name of the project, target audience and the types of ads themselves that I use for my VKontakte advertising. In addition, I often use mind maps to depict my task, for example, for a day or for a week. In the near future I want to start using maps to create structures of the most important and interesting novels from books. I recently saw something similar with a friend of mine. Such cards look quite beautiful and always remind you of what exactly was in this or that book.

I have known about mind maps for a long time, since I was a student, by the way, I graduated from the university 7 years ago. But, unfortunately, at that time I didn’t use them, because I didn’t quite understand how to make them, moreover, they were so interesting and simple programs there was simply no way to compile them. In my opinion, cards can be used in absolutely any area. Start compiling mind maps and it will become much easier for you to live and remember the most important points from your life.

General information about mind maps and why they are needed at all

Their main task is visualization, structuring even the most complex multi-level information, in other words, decomposition of complex tasks into separate shelves. As a result, he begins to develop his mental, creative potential, bypassing all the incomprehensibility and confusion in his memory. The main goals that a person pursues when creating such maps:

1. Remembering important moments. It can be, for example, a grocery shopping list for the week, important tasks for the day, or a recipe for a dish you like.
2. Scheduling specific tasks. It could be goals or decisions to help you reach your goal or planning an important event such as a wedding or a loved one's anniversary.
3. Problem solving. Mind maps will be very helpful if you need to solve some difficult situation or accept correct solution. They allow you to remember everything to the smallest detail.
4. Education. An excellent method for visualizing important data for a particular discipline in a college or institute.
5. Thought analysis. Do you have any seemingly unsolvable problems? Just sit down and calmly analyze everything.
6. Presentation. Will help in working with clients or business partners. For example, when you need to provide some information about your case, using just a large sheet of paper and a felt-tip pen.

In what areas of activity are mind maps still used?

Such cards will not be superfluous in places where it is necessary to increase the speed of thinking, make it better and divide it into different groups, volume to adapt well in this complex world. In addition, they are used in the following areas:

1. Planning various events.
2. Structural creation of new tasks.
3. Creation of the so-called capsule wardrobe. Draw how you see your image on paper. Shake up your wardrobe and remove clothes that are already there and will need to be bribed. So you save yourself from unnecessary expenses.
4. Major house cleaning. To make it easier, you just need to divide the room into small zones. First, remove all dust from the surfaces, and then wipe the floors.
5. Memory development. By making regular notes on the map, you can easily improve total percentage your memory.

Lack of smart cards

In the case when it is made to facilitate the solution of various life problems, then people who have everything in order with logic may one day experience a stupor, that is, difficulties in solving a particular problem.

And what to do in such a situation for people who cannot analyze their ideas and ideas well, for those who do not know how to relax. But even in this case, there was a completely logical solution: just write down all your decisions and plans, no matter how strange they may be, and write down decisions of the next level in the branch. Thus, people who have logical thinking, it will be easier to deal with this technology.

How to make a mind map?

Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to make a smart map correctly, so now I will tell you how to correctly depict what you need:

1. Take a completely blank sheet of paper, A4 paper or something similar, but without lines, is perfect for this. Lay it in a horizontal plane. This image is the most comfortable for visualizing your ideas and other thoughts.
2. Next, take a couple of colored markers or pens, there should be at least 4 different colors. Ideally, if present: red, yellow, green and blue. This approach will allow you to divide the entire sheet into information blocks and colors, which will be given to a particular block. You can also draw a sheet according to the importance of your events and tasks, for example, yellow will be the highest and green the lowest. All these tricky ways make it much easier for you to perceive all the information.
3. At the topmost and center point of the sheet, indicate the most main idea, this will be the main point of your map, and everything else below will be sub-points, respectively. Also, no less significant is the presence of a thematic drawing that will indicate your main idea. Drawings connect more brain resources to work.
4. From the center of your drawing, draw a couple of branches and name each keyword or a phrase. The lines that will depart from the central pattern should be the most significant, and as necessary, add new, secondary branches. This approach will establish the relationship between your completed and uncompleted tasks.
5. Make further branches from the center until you fill the entire sheet. That's all.

It is important to know! To understand the basic principle of maps, it is necessary to have a clear idea of ​​the tree when creating them.

All the tips that I will give you now are very important to follow in order to achieve maximum effect. So, let's begin:

1. It is important not to forget that the creation of mind maps is, first of all, a creative process, let your brain relax and give out the most creative information.
2. At the second level there should not be more than 5-7 branches.
3. As mentioned above, drawings and graphs are remembered. Don't be afraid to draw "funny pictures".
4. If possible, do not use the services, which are now a lot on the Web. It is better to draw a map by hand, it stimulates thinking.
5. Images on paper should be filled with emotions, it is always better stored in memory.
6. Write the words in one line and strictly horizontally.

Try doing two simple mind maps for now to practice. And when you start making new drawing, you will have an example of a mind map in your hands. You will feel how effective the assimilation of any material is. I am sure that when you understand the beauty and practicality of this tool, you will open up new opportunities in all areas of life.

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