I got the top fortune the month I started my own business as a professional organizer. It has been tacked to my bulletin board ever since.  I got the second one about a month ago, just as my business reached my initial goal. I actually have one more client than I was aiming for and am one more client away from having a waiting list. All of that is built on what I teach my clients every day: doing the small manageable tasks over time to build something bigger and better. The weird thing is that I don’t even like fortune cookies and rarely open them. Yet I got these two about 4 years apart. Spooky. -M PS. Sorry for the long absence. Life has been busy. I hope to be back to producing more regularly now.

I did not invent this. Just came accross this visual of a concept I teach all the time. Thought it may be helpful to see it this way.

1. MindMeister: This is my winner. It just looks so clean. It was easy to use. I like that you can set it to flow in any direction, not just down like in Mindomo. The size, shape, layout of the different levels really works for me. Yet it is plenty customizable. Floating topics are no problem. As you can see, it is the only app where I actually finished planning the Thanksgiving dinner. That tells me that it was the easiest and most functional. Unfortunately, you get very few free maps… and then lots of emails about upgrading. But, I think I’m sold enough to buy the pro version…maybe. I’ll get back to you when I see what it costs. Here’s a shot of my menu planning. By the way, I’m reconsidering 2nd and 3rd places. I’m using Mindmup more than Mindomo. That tells me that I like it more. Both have advantages. Try all three!

2. Mindomo: This is the runner up. I actually like it quite a bit. It is clean, easy to use, pretty flexible and it guides you how to use it effectively and unobtrusively. Plus you can access most of the functions by right clicking. I love that. Floating topics are easy, and detaching topics is easy to. Here’s a capture of a map that I used to figure out how I wanted to evaluate the maps. Also, what I like about this particular app.

Since I wrote that blog entry I gave MindMup another try to organize a my son’s science project. I actually like it a lot more now. It’s growing on me. Overall, I would recommend it. See the posting of what a mind map looks like a few postings ago for that specific map.

MindMup: This one is okay. The ease of entry is good. The look is clean and organized. Unfortunately with that cleanliness come very little customization. Moving around ideas is not as easy as I would like and there is no option to create a floating topic as far as I can tell. Could be worse though. Here’s a capture of a map of mine that’s half done. I got annoyed at the lack of flexibility and gave up. (Dinner still got planned and cooked though.)

mindmaps: Straightforward name, not so straightforward app. I can’t get over the default colors, shapes, sized etc. It is also very visually cluttered and would take forever to change everything to make it look cleaner. Also don’t love the buttons. Not exactly intuitive.  Here’s a capture of one I started. This is as far as I got.

Here are my thoughts on the basic versions, one per post with pictures. 5. Connected Mind: This is such a hot mess, I’m not even sure what to say. It’s so insanely cluttered and crazy I couldn’t even make a test map.  Here’s a capture of their example.

Believe it or not, this is where I started writing about Mind Mapping. This was going to be a single post about a few programs that I tried out. Turned into a series. I did use a mind map in planning parts of this! I hope it worked! The reason I started here was because I am in the market for a new and improved Mind Mapping program. I have used the very expensive Mindjet MindManager for several years. Beyond the expense, it has flaws. And, now it is not letting me access saved maps. So, I’m forced to move on. I originally chose it because it seemed to be one of only a few programs that ran on a mac. But it is full of stuff I don’t need and never printed right. No matter how big a map, I couldn’t figure any way to print it in more than one page. It get’s really, really tiny! In the past I have also tried FreeMind. (I think that’s what it’s called.) It is free, but was so basic as to not be so useful. This time around, I figured there should be more options. As it turns out there are. I decided to start by taking a look at programs which were available as extensions for the Chrome browser, which I use as my default on my mac and love. But I don’t see why they wouldn’t work on on any system as long as you install Chrome (free!) There appear to be 5 options. I tried all of them and evaluated them based on what I think makes them worth it or not. Because the bottom line is that it has to be easier and/or more functional than a pen and paper Mind Map would be. If it is frustrating or…

At some point I realized that I needed to combine these two disparate ideas in to one process. Since then, I have started with a Mind Map. I think of it as “throwing up my ideas” without rhyme, reason, structure, or too much thought. I use a big piece of paper (if I’m not using the computer at this point) and make the bubbles without any connections or lines at first. This is beautiful for many reasons. I can get my ideas out super quickly without worrying I’ll forget the next one while I’m overthinking the last one. I don’t need to decide in the moment if an idea makes the cut or not. And, there’s no considerations for ordering them. Once all the ideas are out, I start drawing arrows, crossing out the ideas that (though good) aren’t necessary to prove my thesis, and numbering the topics. The numbering is the key step that no one taught me when they introduced the “spidergram.” This is where the working memory deficit is most compensated for. And, I can attest to how important it is. To this day, I can’t look at that Mind Map and put all the topics in order the first time. (In hand written form) I always end up missing something in the sequence and having to go back to add in… which is easy when you are numbering bubbles, and very hard when you’ve already written 3 pages and realize you’ve missed an important point.  But, back to the numbered Mind Map… At this point it is cluttered and crazy, but there is an order to it. The bright red numbers next to each bubble tell me what’s first, next, etc. But, it’s not so pretty to look at and still pretty bare bones. So, that’s…

I have always taught a two step outlining process. It is a system I cobbled together based on two things I learned probably 5 years apart in school, each of which serves a different function for my ADHD brain and weren’t particularly helpful on their own. But, when put together they formed a system that compensated for my executive function deficits and allowed me to start leaning how to be a good writer. I’m going to take you through the whole process and explain why it works. But, with mind mapping software that is good enough, you can get it down to almost a one step process that saves even more time. So, remember that the goal is to separate the writing from the organizing. I was taught to make a “spidergram” around 4th grade. It is essentially a prehistoric Mind Map. We would draw circles on the paper each with an idea in them. Then we would connect the circles in some meaningful way. We were then supposed to be able to translate that into a writing assignment, probably a book report at that point. I liked getting my ideas out on paper. But I never felt that it helped with my organization because the paper just looked like the mess that I felt was already in my head.  In high school I learned how to make a standard (Harvard style) outline. You know the one that starts with roman numerals, then indents to capital letters, then number, etc. This is how I was taught to take notes. (Which mostly worked in classes where the teacher’s presentation was organized and linear.) It is still how I take notes, more or less. But it didn’t help me write a paper. Because the amount of organization that needed to happen in…

It occurred to me that it might be helpful to see a completed mind map as a reference during this multipart series on mind maps. Here’s one that I just made for my son’s science project. (He’s only 6. So, it’s more of a teaching opportunity. So, yes, I’m doing the prep work.) It was a total pain to post the picture. I hope it is usable…