Mind maps are drawings which are used to represent thoughts, ideas, concepts, images, words and other lists. The idea behind a mind map is to take a central concept such as a school subject and take one word which represents that concept and place it in the centre of the mind map.

Once you have done that, you can become extremely creative. If you are studying music and you are learning about a guitar, you may make your central word guitar and draw a guitar around it.

After you have the central concept you just branch off into sub-topics. To carry-on with the guitar idea; you can branch off into types of guitars, chord, playing styles, genres of guitar music and whatever else you wish to include about guitars.

You can use different colours and drawings for each section. You just have to group the similar topics and their sub-topics together. By grouping them together with images and colours, recalling the specifics becomes easier.

Mind maps encourage creativity and active participation when learning. There is a tendency amongst people when reading a page to merely scan it and not pick up every single word. When people read text, they often skip over words and enter a relaxed state without realising it which is not conducive to studying.

With mind maps you only put down the necessary information and words and you do it in a non-linear method (i.e. you do not read it left to right). Your eyes move up and down the page and follow the various branches into topics, sub-topics, and sub sub-topics.

As you actively engage the text/image you will find that recalling the information becomes easier. A major reason for this and a massive selling point for mind maps is that you do not remember information left to right in word form as you would read it in a book.

Your brain remembers information in terms of colours, images, smells and sensations. You remember one thing and it connects to a hundred different thoughts all revolving around one central subject.

As you create a mind map you will be tapping into this method of recall and directing it. If you think about purple and purple is one of the colours you used for a topic, you will recall what the subject matter of that topic was.

As you use mind maps more, they will become easier to create and use and you will find yourself using more creativity when drawing them and they will become more visually appealing.

You then should place the mind maps everywhere. Put them on your cupboard, bedroom door, bathroom door, door to your house, fridge, basically anywhere where you will see them. This will aid in remembering the information on them.

Visit the following sites on more information on mind maps and how to create them

Wikipedia
Mind Tools
Tony Buzan
Freemind

Page last updated 25 January 2010