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| Name: Charles Ngo | |
| Title: Affiliate Marketer | |
| Started using Mindjet: 2008Social Media Links: Twitter, charlesngo.com | |
How did you hear about Mindjet? I started mind mapping a few years ago, but I was frustrated with some of the tools I was using. They were slow, the shortcuts weren’t intuitive, and the mind maps weren’t aesthetic. I’m not going to mind map my ideas out if there’s any “friction”. I did some quick Googling and saw many power users used Mindjet. After a few hours with the trial, I knew this was the tool I’ve been searching for.
What do you primarily use it for? Everything! My documents folder has over a thousand mind maps and there’s always a few open on one of my Spaces at any time. Here’s some of the more common ways I use Mindjet:
- Brainstorming: It’s the first step I take before any projects.
- Books: I’ve read hundreds of business books over the past decade and I can’t remember most of the details other than the main idea. Every time I read a book now I’ll have Mindjet open ready to take notes. This allows me to refer to the mind map a few months later if I want to review the information.
- Planning: What are my goals for the week? What do I need to do for the trip? What questions am I going to ask when I’m interviewing someone? Proper planning’s essential!
- Knowledge Management: This is big for my career because there’s so much information in internet marketing. Mind mapping lets me connect ideas together and help me understand them on a deeper level.
What is your favorite feature and why? I use Mindjet frequently for brainstorming sessions so my favorite features are the Timer + “Quick Entry Window”. I’ll set a timer for 10 minutes and just write down any ideas that pop into my head in the “Quick Entry Window.” This lets me focus on generating big ideas and not worry about formatting or how the topics relate to each other. After I’m done I can easily drag them all and from a mind map.
Is there anything Mindjet helps with that was unexpected? Mainly how easy it makes communicating ideas to people. I mind map mainly for myself. However, if someone needs help with a problem, I’ll go ahead and create a mind map. What surprised me is how much people understand the ideas I’m presenting even if they’ve never seen a mind map before. I also like how clean & minimalistic all the maps turn out.
Tell me about the map you’ve attached here. Sometimes I’ll have slight issues with focus and procrastination. I took all the strategies and notes I had on the subjects, and mapped them out to help me understand more. Whenever I’m having troubles concentrating, I’ll open up the mind map to see suggestions on what I can do.
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Ask Charles Ngo who he is and he might joke about being a genius, billionaire, or playboy. We’ll leave that for you to decide. What we know for sure is that he’s an enthusiastic mind mapper with a knack for articulating his processes. Check out his blog — which goes into great mapping detail — here.
