How to create Mind Maps using Mind42

Photo by For Inspiration Only (on flickrCC)

Do you have an idea but you have too much free thinking around it?

Do you need to organize your thoughts on a project in a focused and structured manner?

Do you need to clearly and easily communicate your vision to others?

Then you need to mind map it.

What is a mind map?

A mind map is a diagram used to visually outline information (Wikipedia). It is a great way of unraveling your thoughts and visualizing your ideas.  A mind map is built from a single topic. This topic is located at the center, thus it is called the central idea.  Usually, an image is used to represent the central idea. Then other ideas branch out from the central idea. We create branches and sub branches to represent these ideas related to our main topic. Here, we can use specific colours per branch to make each idea distinct and appealing. Place one keyword per branch. At first, this is hard to do since a single word is sometimes not enough to describe or express an idea. Keep practicing and eventually you get the hang of it. You can also put an image to a branch to visually describe your ideas.

Mind mapping with Mind42

Mind42 (pronounce as mind for two) is a free collaborative mind mapping tool. It is browser-based so there is no need to install. You just need to open your favorite web browser and go to mind42.com to launch the application.

Mind42 is easy to use for editing and sharing mind maps online. Mind42 can be shared with others via email, URL link, or be embedded into your blog or website. An even cooler feature of Mind42 is it let other users to collaborate on your mind map.

There are a lot of other mind mapping tools out there that you can use for free or for a fee.  Lucidchart, Bubble.us, Wisemapping, Mindmeister and IMindMap are some of the mapping tools I tried.  I think Mind42 has the most features there is for a collaborative mind mapping tool. And you can use it for free.

Here is a step by step tutorial on how you get started mind mapping using Mind42.

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I also like using IMindMap because of the use of organic branches and have a cartoon-like visual perspective.

You can also do a mind map by hand. You just need a paper and some colored pens. Well, that how mind maps were originally made until mapping tools came to be.  You can choose either way in creating mind maps for your topic of interest.

Mind Map Guidelines

Tony Buzan, a known expect on mind maps, gave us a few guidelines to help us create visually stimulating mind maps:

1. Start in the centre with an image of the topic, using at least 3 colours.
2. Use images, symbols, codes and dimensions throughout your Mind Map.
3. Select key words and print using upper or lower case letters.
4. Each word/image must be alone and sitting on its own line.
5. The lines must be connected, starting from the central image. The central lines are thicker, organic and flowing, becoming thinner as they radiate out from the centre.
6. Make the lines the same length as the word/image.
7. Use colours – your own code – throughout the Mind Map.
8. Develop your own personal style of Mind Mapping.
9. Use emphasis and show associations in your Mind Map.
10. Keep the Mind Map clear by using radial hierarchy, numerical order or outlines to embrace your branches.

Using Mind42, here is my version of a mind map based on Buzan’s guide on creating mind maps.

How to Mind Map using Mind42

 

Here is another mind map I made using IMindMap.

How to Mind Map using IMindMap

 

As always, I wish I helped you gain more learning from this tutorial. Let me know how your mind mapping experience went.

Online Learning with GROVO

Photo by Sarah M Stewart

Today I have discovered an online education and training website called Grovo. It boast of more than a thousands of tutorials of various Internet products like Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and so on. The lessons are presented by a series of simple to understand video tutorials. Each lesson is  between 1-2 minutes long. The courses are straight-forward. Once you have completed the basic lessons, you can proceed to a more advance lessons.  You can test what you have learned by taking the quizzes after each lesson. Once you have finish a course, you can also get a certification of  your favorite Internet application. If you want to know more, click on Grovo. Sign up is free and easy using your Facebook account.

How to use Evernote

I like taking notes. Do you too? Then you will love Evernote.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44698774@N00/

I use Evernote everyday to save my random thoughts, to do lists, training & seminar notes, trading journal, draft blogs, passwords etc. I also save articles and photos I clipped off from the Internet.  With the Evernote Clipper it is easy to clip and save Internet contents to your note for future references.

I also get to tag everything, using words like “affirmations”, “business”, “budget”, “blogs”, “things to do” and “dreams” as categories. It makes me feel at ease that I can store everything in just one searchable place. With Evernote, I remember everything. Well, not really everything, but only those things I remember to put in Evernote.

Here is a tutorial on how to use Evernote. Hope you find it useful like I did.

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How to say what you mean in pictures

One trick a virtual assistant should have in his or her utility belt is the print screen key. Look for the “Print Screen SysRq”, “Prt Scr” or “Prt Sc” key on your keyboard. See it?

by recoverymechanic.com

What does it do? Well, when you press it, nothing is typed. Nothing opens. Your computer screen stays the same. Strange you think?

Not really.

What it really do is that it captures the image of your screen and copies it to your Windows clipboard. All you have to do is paste it to your image editor or a PowerPoint presentation. To illustrate even further, I made a simple step by step guide for you. Have a look!

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Print Screen is a good tool to use to show anyone what you see on your screen. It beats being tangled up in so many words trying to explain what you’re doing or seeing on screen. As they say ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’

For the past 2 months, I’ve been using Print Screen heavily in doing how-to-use guides of tools, programs or websites any virtual person should know about. I will be featuring these how-to-use guides in my future blogs. So keep coming back guys!