Last week’s ‘Getting Things Done’ conference (day 1 / day 2) was packed with some great insights and even better people! There’s a natural synergy between mind mapping and productivity which led to many great conversations with everyone from professional organizers to retired generals, famous authors and journalists to IT managers, consultants, and business managers. Now that the conference is over, it’s back to ‘doing’ the work instead of discussing ways to do it better!
Learn about GTD and Mind Mapping: If you’re unfamiliar with GTD, I’ll be hosting a webinar on March 24th at 10 AM Pacific Time which will highlight my experiences implementing GTD along with how I complement it with mind mapping.
Recently, I’ve been asked by several customers how they can learn more about mind mapping. Beyond our online training for MindManager, I’ve jotted down some good resources books and online resources that can also help you get started.
Getting Started Mind Mapping
There are many books and sites on mapping. After reading several, I realized the material is pretty redundant. Ultimately, how you map is personal reflecting your individual style or your team’s collective approach to mapping. There is no right or wrong way to mind map as the maps created are reflections of your thoughts. A great start is to familiarize yourself with the concepts of mind mapping, then forget the rules and develop the style that best works for you!
Books To Help You Get Started:
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Idea Mapping Jamie Nast offers a great guide to get started making mind maps
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The Mind Map Book Tony Buzan also offers several books on mind mapping of which I’ve liked this one
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Chuck Frey’s e-books Chuck offers several eBooks that have a lot of best practices and map examples in his two eBooks: “Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software” and “The Mind Mapping Manifesto”
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More books for Mind Maps
Websites and blogs that I frequent (including some useful Mindjet pages) that will inspire your mind mapping:
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Mindjet Map Gallery: List of map examples from Mindjet
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Mindjet Newsletter & Customer Stories: Packed with customer stories and examples, these pages illustrate many ways to take advantage of mapping for personal and professional success
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Mindjet Webinars & Events: Sign up for free webinars that explain how to use Mindjet software, hear customer stories and view different mind mapping uses
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BiggerPlate Map Gallery: Search, share, and rate MindManager maps
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MindManager Community: Gathering place for mappers to exchange best practices and help each other out
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The Mind Mapping Software Blog: A collection of tips & resources for beginning and advanced mappers by Chuck Frey
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Idea Mapping: Jamie Nast’s collection of client mind maps which are both hand drawn and developed with software
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Published and Profitable: Roger Parker’s site which covers many useful templates and ideas for using Mind Mapping for Writing
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Applications of MindManager: Andrew Wilcox’s site which covers many great uses for MindManager
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Assistive Technology: Brian Friedlander is a frequent contributor to Mindjet’s newsletter
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The Mindmap Blog: Chance Brown is Learning and Development Specialist and Visual Mapping Consultant
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Peace of Mind: Steve Rothwell is a frequent contributor in our online mapping conversations
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Maplicious: I recently met Chris Blatnick at the GTD Summit. Chris started with a bang but hasn’t updated in a bit. Let’s encourage him to keep blogging, it’s great stuff here!
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Lite Mind: Luciano Passuello has put together a lot of great content to help us ‘Explore ways to use our minds efficiently’
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IQ Matrix: I enjoy checking out Adam Sicinski’s completed maps about leadership, life, learning, and success.
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Power Mapping: A nice set of mind map examples by Larisa Brigevich using Jamie Nast’s approach to mapping
If you’ve used other resources that you’d like to recommend, let us know in the comments section!
About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter.