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What is Mind Mapping? (and How to Get Started Immediately)

What is Mind Mapping? (and How to Get Started Immediately)
A mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas. Just as in every great idea, its power lies in its simplicity. In a mind map, as opposed to traditional note taking or a linear text, information is structured in a way that resembles much more closely how your brain actually works. So, how does a mind map look like? (click for larger image) This is a mind map about – conveniently enough – mind mapping itself. Benefits and Uses I think I already gave away the benefits of mind mapping and why mind maps work. But what can we use mind maps for? Note takingBrainstorming (individually or in groups)Problem solvingStudying and memorizationPlanningResearching and consolidating information from multiple sourcesPresenting informationGaining insight on complex subjectsJogging your creativity How to Draw a Mind Map Some more recommendations:

Mind map From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Diagram to visually organize information A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information into a hierarchy, showing relationships among pieces of the whole.[1] It is often created around a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, to which associated representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added. Major ideas are connected directly to the central concept, and other ideas branch out from those major ideas. Mind maps can also be drawn by hand, either as "notes" during a lecture, meeting or planning session, for example, or as higher quality pictures when more time is available. Origins[edit] Buzan's specific approach, and the introduction of the term "mind map", started with a 1974 BBC TV series he hosted, called Use Your Head.[6] In this show, and companion book series, Buzan promoted his conception of radial tree, diagramming key words in a colorful, radiant, tree-like structure.[7]

How 30 Minutes a Day Can Increase Your Intelligence If you ask me, where humans go wrong is with their lack of patience. That, and their recent acquired taste for instant gratification. The reality is that things take time. Richard Branson didn’t become a millionaire overnight. Madonna was not an overnight success. That said, it’s actually pretty easy to improve yourself. Because most people don’t bother. The majority of people don’t do a single thing to improve themselves. So I’ve come up with a new theory: The Half Hour Theory. I love it because it’s actually pretty easy to integrate into your life. This could take the form of half an hour’s reading every day. You may even want to improve the speed of your reading so you can learn faster. This theory could even rely on you taking a half an hour every day spending time on the Internet, researching into something that really interests you. Here’s how to implement The Half Hour Theory: (Photo credit: Post-It Note on Screen via Shutterstock)

Expand Your Mind - Puzzles and Brain Teasers To expand your mind you need to learn new facts and develop new modes of thinking that will make the information that you already know more useful. Solving the following problems requires a combination of world knowledge, mathematics, common sense, logic, and science (chemistry, physics). This is not an IQ test. To expand your mind, do not look at the answers until after you have made an honest effort to figure out the problems. The Bear A bear walks south for one kilometer, then it walks west for one kilometer, then it walks north for one kilometer and ends up at the same point from which it started. The Chicken and Egg Problem A chicken farmer has figured out that a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half. The Chicken and Leg Problem A chicken farmer also has some cows for a total of 30 animals, and the animals have 74 legs in all. The Bacteriologist At what time was the container half full? How big was the container? Fibonacci's problem of the birds Moon Photographer

Mind Mapping - Tony Buzan What is a Mind Map? A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. A Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance. What do you need to make a Mind Map? Because Mind Maps are so easy to do and so natural, the ingredients for your “Mind Map Recipe” are very few: Blank unlined paperColoured pens and pencilsYour BrainYour imagination! When you use Mind Maps on a daily basis, you will find that your life becomes more productive, fulfilled, and successful on every level. 7 Steps to Making a Mind Map Start in the CENTRE of a blank page turned sideways. iMindMap – our recommended Mind Mapping software Learn more

Boost Your Brain Power: 7 Tips for Improving Your Memory Surely, constantly forgetting what you were doing in the middle of doing something and constantly looking for your misplaced house keys is not the ideal way to spend your golden years. Don't wait until it is too late to start thinking about improving your memory. If you are bad at remembering simple to-do tasks, other people's names, your girlfriend's birthday, and other relevant pieces of information, use some of the most useful mnemonic devices illustrated below to help you retain things more permanently in your brain space. More importantly, be sure to practice good physical and mental health habits on a regular basis to keep your memory and brain stamina high. Challenging your brain on a regular basis is also a must to constantly improve and maintain the strength of your memory. Got your own tips for improving your sense of memory? Click on image to enlarge.

77 Brain Hacks to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better Source: Online Education Database If someone granted you one wish, what do you imagine you would want out of life that you haven't gotten yet? For many people, it would be self-improvement and knowledge. New knowledge is the backbone of society's progress. Great thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and others' quests for knowledge have led society to many of the marvels we enjoy today. Your quest for knowledge doesn't have to be as Earth-changing as Einstein's, but it can be an important part of your life, leading to a new job, better pay, a new hobby, or simply knowledge for knowledge's sake — whatever is important to you as an end goal. Life-changing knowledge does typically require advanced learning techniques. Here are 77 tips related to knowledge and learning to help you on your quest. 1. 2. 4. 5. Balance 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Recall Techniques 15. 16. 17. Visual Aids 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Verbal and Auditory Techniques 24. 25.

What is Mind Mapping? What is Mind Mapping? A Mind Map is a diagram used to represent concepts, ideas, tasks or other items linked to a central theme. In a Mind Map, the central theme is often illustrated with a graphical image. The ideas related to the main theme radiate in a clockwise direction from that central image as "branches". Topics and ideas of lesser importance are represented as "sub-branches"of their relevant branch. By presenting the relationships between ideas in a non-linear graphical manner, Mind Mapping encourages a brainstorming approach to the handling and organization of information. Mind Maps have many strengths and benefits: Simple Easy to createEasy to expand Easy to filter Visual Easy to rememberEasy to overviewHighlight links and relationships Creative Stimulate imaginationBoost motivationImprove productivity Collaborative Promote team spiritEncourage group communicationOptimize work processes The theory behind Mind Mapping The five essential characteristics of a Mind Map:

You can increase your intelligence: 5 ways to maximize your cognitive potential | Guest Blog The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. "One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one’s greatest efforts." —Albert Einstein While Einstein was not a neuroscientist, he sure knew what he was talking about in regards to the human capacity to achieve. Not so many years ago, I was told by a professor of mine that you didn’t have much control over your intelligence. Well, I disagreed. You see, before that point in my studies, I had begun working as a Behavior Therapist, training young children on the autism spectrum. One of my first clients was a little boy w/ PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Delays-Not Otherwise Specified), a mild form of autism. He wasn’t the only child I saw make vast improvements in the years I’ve been a therapist, either. Although the data from those early studies showed dismal results, I wasn’t discouraged. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3.

mental_floss Blog » 10 Buildings Shaped Like What They Sell Looking for a good way to advertise your business? Why not shape your headquarters like what you sell or offer? It’s worked out pretty well for these businesses and groups. 1. The Longaberger Company, Newark, OH Longaberger is known for its handcrafted maple baskets, so its headquarters are obviously shaped like a giant basket. 2. Between 1983 and the mid-1990s, Twistee Treat opened 90 or so ice cream shops around the country, and each one is shaped like a delicious cone of soft-serve vanilla. 3. Parking garages are usually eyesores, but this one’s beautiful. 4. Kansas City doesn’t have a monopoly on book-shaped buildings, though. 5. This one’s a Boston institution. 6. United sells and rents heavy equipment like compactors and excavators, so it’s only natural that the company’s headquarters building is shaped like a two-story yellow bulldozer. 7. 8, 9 and 10.

Pearltrees extends its mind mapping and curation application to the iPad Earlier this week, Pearltrees for iPad was launched, enabling collectors and curators of web content to do so on Apple’s popular tablet. The iPad’s touch interface is a perfect complement to this popular tool, which has signed up over 200,000 users for the web-based version of Pearltrees during the last year and a half. This functioned just the way I like it – seamlessly. At the time I reviewed the browser version of Pearltrees in December 2009, I wasn’t quite sure what all the excitement was about. A powerful discovery tool Pearltrees for iPad isn’t just an elegant tool for curating web pages in which you’re interested, it’s also a powerful tool for information discovery. Clicking on a single pearl causes a pop-over window to appear, with a screenshot of the web page on one side and the text of the page on the other side. Sharing the good stuff you’ve found From this dialog box, you can also share items you’ve found via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook. Adding content of interest from Safari

How to Memorize Things Quickly People like to joke that the only thing you really “learn” in school is how to memorize. As it turns out, that’s not even the case for most of us. If you go around the room and ask a handful of people how to memorize things quickly, most of them will probably tell you repetition. That is so far from the truth, it’s running for office. Before we start, you need to establish something: are you an auditory, visual, or experiential learner? Step 1: Preparation To optimize your memorization session, pay close attention to which environment you choose. Next, start drinking some tea. As we get older, toxic chemicals will damage our neurons and synapses, leading to memory loss and even Alzheimer’s. Step 2: Record What You’re Memorizing This is especially useful if you’re trying to memorize information from a lecture. Step 3: Write Everything Down Before you start trying to recall everything from memory, write and re-write the information. Step 4: Section your notes. Step 9: Take a break

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