Master mindmaps on paper are usually maps which show you lots of information on a certain topic. It can be very good to have an overview of all the information in a map. However…
When you create a master mindmap the information can become too scattered. You lose track and you lose the overview.
The master map becomes an overview of many pieces of information which is not easy to read and use.
You may have seen the image in the Mindmap Book by Tony and Barry Buzan. There is an image of a master map of an entire airplane model. It shows all the relevant information.
When I show this to my students, they immediately understand that this is not useful. Sure, you have everything in one overview. When you have a look at the map from a distance to have the ‘helicopter’ or 10,000 feet view, only… you can’t see any details. The content is one blurry overview of words/images. You won’t be able to create relationships between the information located in the bottom left and the top left side of the map.
Personally, I don’t like that. When I use a map, I need to have instant ‘helicopter’ view and detail view.
My own mindmaps are normally not bigger than one A4 sheet of paper (often a lot smaller). Even on a computer, the maps are still practical when zoomed-out completely. I can read every word and immediately create useful relationship lines.
How can we use the paper master mindmap in a more effective format then?
Here’s the ‘secret’ twist
1. Take your mindmap notebook (I assume you don’t create maps you need to use and keep on just any piece of paper).
2. Create an index in your notebook. I would take the first 3 to 5 pages for this.
3. On each page, you add a central theme in mindmap format. For instance PERSONAL, ACADEMIC, BUSINESS, PROJECTS and/or TO-DO.
Now you reserve the first (for example) 20 pages for PERSONAL mindmaps. The next 20 for Academic, etc. You number the pages.
4. Every time you create a new mindmap, you show where this fits in your main mindmaps on the first few pages. You index your mindmaps. You maintain overview and you won’t lose track of valuable information.
This is a very practical and easy to use system which gives you a good overview of the information you have in your notebook.
Lots of success using this!
Arjen
(my mindmaps work for me)
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Tags: advice, everyday life, hand drawn, master map, usage
Leave A Reply ( So Far)
1046 days ago
This is a great idea for adding to your mind map atlas. I number my pages in my notebook so that I can use the numbered pages in my mind maps at the front of my notebook.
1036 days ago
I am a PhD student and am fascinated by the use of mindmaps for studying and extracting information from text books. I am struggling however, with how I might cite references of the books/articles that I read and how might I incorporate them into a mindmap, or is it the case of devising a new method of recording references?
Many thanks in advance
Delroy Hall
1033 days ago
Hi Delroy,
Thank you for your question. I would probably add the references to the notes section of the node. If you can’t do this, you may want to create a separate mindmap with the references and number that list. Simply add your reference number to the main map.
Most mindmap tools allow you to search through your maps. If you add the reference to your notes, you can start with REFERENCE: …. . This way you can find all your references when looking for them.
This is how I should do this. Are there any other thoughts?