Mind Mapping - A Powerful Technique for Taking Notes...

Years back, I learnt mind mapping on my own. I have been using it regularly. This technique is especially useful for students.

The human brain is very different from a computer. Whereas a computer works in a linear fashion, the brain works associatively as well as linearly. Association plays a dominant role in nearly every mental function, and words themselves are no exception. Every single word, and idea has numerous links attaching it to other ideas and concepts.

Mind Maps™, developed by Tony Buzan are an effective method of note-taking and useful for the generation of ideas by associations. Mind Maps help organise information. Because of the large amount of association involved, they can be very creative, tending to generate new ideas and associations that have not been thought of before. Every item in a map is in effect, a center of another map.

The creative potential of a mind map is useful in brainstorming sessions. You only need to start with the basic problem as the center, and generate associations and ideas from it in order to arrive at a large number of different possible approaches. By presenting your thoughts and perceptions in a spatial manner and by using colours and pictures, a better overview is gained and new connections can be made visible.

Mind maps are a way of representing associated thoughts with symbols rather than with extraneous words. The mind forms associations almost instantaneously, and "mapping" allows you to write your ideas quicker than expressing them using only words or phrases.