FINDING YOUR WAY: THE GUIDE TO MINDMAPPING

Right now, we're living in an age when everyone is trying to find an advantage -- whether it's an easier way to get to work, a more efficient system to organize the office, or a way to increase creativity and productivity in the workplace. Each day finds new and innovative approaches to old ways of thinking and mindmapping is no exception.

For those of you who aren't familiar with mindmapping, basically it's a way of organizing your thoughts and ideas in a non-linear way. Why is that important? Basically, the brain doesn't think in linear fashion. It moves from thought to thought, connection to connection -- moving quickly from Point A to Point E to Point B, etc. Mindmapping is a great way to create a well-organized presentation or project.

But how does it work?

First of all, our entire system of thinking through the years has taught us to begin in the upper left-hand corner of a page. This is a product of our very linear education system. But the brain automatically gravitates towards the center -- so mindmapping has us put our main word or thought in the center of the page.

The next thing that mindmapping teaches us to is let go of the big picture for a moment. Push away all the stress and anxiety that might be hitting you at the start of the project. Instead, just dump the ideas out of your brain onto the page. This isn't the time to worry about whether or not the boss is going to be blown away by your presentation. Time enough to worry about that later on. Right now, you just need to have a little fun -- don't hold back. Whatever comes to mind, go ahead and use it.

Free association now enters the picture. As your ideas explode onto the page, you'll put one- and two-word descriptions and "branches" onto the page. At this point, you're going to want to eliminate the little "editor" that we carry around in our heads. Don't hold back. Just go from one word to another to another. For example, if one of your words is "green," you might free associate with "money" and "environment" and "forest" and "magic." (See how that last word doesn't even have anything that I can figure out has to do with "green," but I put it out there so that it can be viewed later on.)

Another important aspect of mindmapping is speed. The human brain works best in five minute spurts. Therefore, get those ideas down as rapidly as possible. By using short words and phrases, you'll be able to pack things onto the page that can be examined later on.

Forget the old rules. Mindmapping means that you aren't bound by a typical 8 ½ by 11 inch piece of paper and a black pen. With the mindmapping software out there, the sky's the limit -- colors, thicknesses, images. They're all there and they're all part of the process that you can use to generate a final product that is going to be lightyears beyond what you've done before.

Don't worry about what you're putting down. When you're mindmapping, you want to get as many ideas as possible onto the page. That means that if you suddenly remember that you've got to get the dog groomed, write down "grooming." If you try to push it out of your mind, it'll get stuck there.

Keep on truckin'. Make sure that you don't stop. You want to keep going so if you find that you're not moving forward, make a shape or stick in a picture or just jot down something else. Change colors. Change the thicknesses of the lines. Do whatever it takes to make sure that you don't lose that forward momentum.

At times, you're going to see immediate connections to your theme but don't worry if they're not apparent at first. You can always sit down and study what you've done at some future time. The first thing to do is get those ideas out of your head and onto the paper.

Keep in mind that mindmapping takes practice but the more that you do it, the more that you'll see it's opened up entirely new ways of thinking that previously were not available to you. By freeing your mind to go down new avenues not expected, you just might discover that you're on the new path to success.

To Download the latest version of MindMapper 5.0 Professional or to purchase from our secure online website please visit: www.EssentialMindMapping.com