Quite simply it is an organizational thinking tool. I find them helpful in getting information out of my head and for information gathering. I sometimes use mindmaps in meetings to take notes as well. But more often than not I use it to solve problems and plan. There are several ways to do mindmaps: you can draw it by hand or you can use software. I do both.

Below is an excerpt from Tony Buzan’s book How to Mind Map: The Ultimate Thinking Tool That Will Change Your Life

Just like a road map, a Mind Map will:

• Give an overview of a large subject or area
• Enable you to plan routes or to make choices, and will let you know where you are going and where you have been
• Gather together large amounts of data in one place
• Encourage problem solving by allowing you to see new creative pathways
• Be enjoyable to look at, read, muse over and remember

Mind Maps are also brilliant route-maps for the memory, allowing you to organize facts and thoughts in such a way that your brain’s natural way of working is engaged right from the start. This means that remembering and recalling information later is far easier and more reliable than when using traditional note-taking techniques.

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:

1. Blank unlined paper
2. Colored pens and pencils
3. Your brain
4. Your imagination!

For examples of hand drawn Mind Maps head over to Tony Buzan’s Mind Map Gallery