Mind map is a visual result after a thorough brainstorming on a topic. You might ask yourself why or how is that helpful. Well, have you ever, before writing an essay, felt like you have a wonderful and brilliant idea? But after you sat down and tried to write it down, you felt like you have run dry or even worse, the ideas that you are putting in the essay are not making any sense?

This happens generally when you have not planned your work properly and generated all the possible ideas. Mind mapping is a note taking method that involves diagramming, thus resulting in a visual aid that is very helpful and easy to understand.

A mind map can be described as a central idea which branches out into different themes or ideas; these branch out further, and so on and so forth. It is usually done with color pencils as then, you get to see which idea generated which and it helps a lot when you want to reassess all your ideas. How to mind map is very simple and learning it is simple as well. First of all, you start off with your main idea and use a color unique to it. Write down the idea or word in the center and circle it with your color pencil. It is better to use pictures rather than words since our mind process pictures and not words! Then draw branches that emanates from the center circle to other related or associated ideas. Repeat the last step till you run out of idea or you have more than enough to work with. The end result should resemble like a tree with a lot of branches that are emanating from the center. Nowadays, there is a lot of mind mapping software or web-based mind mapping tool that can easily create mind maps based on a few keywords.

You might wonder how a mind map can simplify your work. Well, it is quite simple. When we write off our minds, we use the left side of our brain which is very limited in terms of creative thinking as it is more analytical and thinks of only one idea at a time. The right side of our brain, on the other side, is a very great mind mapping tool. Namely, it is the part which processes everything that is visual. By using a mind map, you get to see all the ideas right away and bypass the analytical thinking which would have forced you to think of only one idea at a time.

So, when you see someone writes very well, he or she might not be very creative, but with the proper use of a mind map, he or she can generate many fantastic ideas. A mind map is a very useful brainstorming tool and the collaboration of images with words can sometimes produce amazing results.