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MInd-mapping vs. regular old outlining for academia
RM66 | Apr 4 2007
Hi all, I'm an academic and have been working on a GTD-style overhaul of my work environment for a few months now--taking the gradual approach so that each piece can really become a habit. I'm up to the point of formalizing project planning/managment. I've incorporated the following software into my worklife to great effect: Quicksilver, MailTags and MailActOn, Path Finder and DevonThink. All apps I learned about here (so thanks for that). I'm also really making use of ICal and that's working great. I seem to have a working system that I trust and that feels organic to me. As the next piece, I've been playing around with mind mapping software for a couple of weeks--I've tried several (FreeMind, CMaps, MyMind, Intuition, NovaMind and MindManager). I like the interface adn general feel of MIndManager best. The problem is, I'm not entirely convinced that it's significantly better than just a regular outline in a word processor. While it's nice to have the visual pieces and to see it as a wholistic image, much of that can be achieved with a good outline (particularly using Word where you could draw arrows or whatever between pieces). I also find that adding the little images is mostly a time sink rather than somethign that really helps me think about the project (I've done three pretty detailed maps for different projects so far.) So, my question is whether any of you have found that mind mapping really does have siginficant advantages for you over a regular outline and if so, what those advantages are. Similarly, if you tried and abandoned mind mapping, what led you to leave it? I should say that I'm not a huge outline user in general--I tend to use them for at most 3 levels of thinking at the beginnign of a project, but once I start the next phase (usually the writing), I don't much use whatever I generated as an outline. Thanks in advance 2 Comments
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Hi all, So, my question is...Submitted by Stew on April 4, 2007 - 8:21pm.
RM66;8820 wrote:
Hi all, I use both mind maps and outlines in my project planning process, but each serves a separate purpose. I generally start off with a mind map to get my ideas, no matter how wild, crazy, or seemingly insignificant out of my head. I draw lines between points, add margin notes, and draw little pictures. It's relational, with no real sense of order or timeline. My most effective maps have looked like a real mess. My outlines, on the other hand, distill the ideas from the mind map into lists and bullet points that I can actually refer to and act on. It breaks the mind map down into subprojects and individual tasks, and imposes some order on the general flow of the project. I might not use all of the data in the mind map; I have filtered out those thoughts that are of little use. So, in answer to your question, I've found that both mind maps and traditional outlines have benefits and drawbacks. I wouldn't pick one over the other, but each serves its own purpose in my planning. » POSTED IN:
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