Time management - Mind mapping
Mind mapping
Brain styles
It has been known for a long time that the ‘left’ and ‘right’ side of the brain help to support different functions.
Complex activities like reading and music tend to access both sides.
By the time we reach adulthood we have usually settled into a preferred style of thinking.
It is thought that traditional Time Management teaching utilises the left side of the brain.
This might suggest that we are missing out on some techniques which focus in other areas of the brain.
If we can learn to blend the time management techniques of the methodical thinker with that of the creative person the resultant process may be improved.
Mind mapping
This is similar to other techniques that you may be familiar with like ‘fish-bone’ diagrams used in cause and effect diagrams.
The aim is to record ideas around a central theme or core that flow freely.
One idea kicks off another and dependent ideas are easy to see.
This technique is often used as an aid in memorising specific events or items.
For example, you may wish to support the notes of a conference topic in this way or you may wish to summarise the contents of a novel using this technique.
It is not designed to contain detailed notes but rather prompt your memory of the events and data.
This works because we like to visualise a picture better than a ‘list of data or information’ from which we find it harder to see connections.
This technique can be performed easily in a formal or informal manner. You can formulate ideas easily on a scrap of paper.
When you create a mind map you should make it as memorable as possible.
Highlight the central theme with a red circle. Other ideas form the spokes of a wheel and these lines can be coloured for ease of memory when grouping them together for instance. As well as colours you might want to try to use pictures and shapes.
Other ideas (as lines) might spring from these spokes and will be labelled accordingly.
The amount of data added to the mind map is minimal as they are not a source of data as such but a neat way of recording all the key aspects.
Mind mapping is covered in much more detail by Tony Buzan along with many techniques for memory improvement.