Are you a regular reader of “Personal Technology” from The New York Times? Well, you should be! Every week they have articles, tips and how-tos for people like us…you know, normal folks, not coders or technogeeks.
I found the Feb. 1, 2017 edition fascinating as it included an introduction to mind-mapping apps. And what, you ask, is mind-mapping? Ah, see…you’re just as non-techie as I am; until I read this article I had no idea such a thing existed!
Mind-mapping, simply put, is a way to express your thoughts visually and link them together. For creative types, this is especially challenging since our minds tend to be both messy and hyperactive! But these apps let you work things out. Typical example: oh oh oh, I just got a great idea…and of course THAT leads to a related idea, which in turn triggers another terrific thought. Mind-mapping apps let you put these ideas down super-quickly on the handiest tool you’ve got: your ever-present smartphone! And not only are you putting those thoughts down so they don’t float off into space, you are linking them so that you start to see relationships and possibilities.
Probably the best way to grasp this is to simply read the article and then download one of the apps and play with it. I chose Mindly (call me cheap, but if I’m not sure I’m going to like something, gimme the free version and if I like it then maybe I’ll pay for a better version!). It’s pretty intuitive and has a handy little instructional section so that you’re really up and running with it almost immediately. I can certainly see the potential for this, or perhaps even a more robust version of either this or another mind-mapping app: creative types are often organizationally challenged so any tool that can help that p[rocess is certainly at least worth a look-see!
