As we advance in our careers, we are expected to cope with increasing workloads and responsibility, yet we remain limited by the 24 hours that are allotted to us each day. To make your time count, you need to find a way to eliminate the stumbling blocks that confront you when trying to solve a problem, find the ability to say no to non-essential tasks that you simply do not have the time to do, and get your brain into top gear when it needs to be.
Mind Mapping is a simple and effective way to organise information. This technique helps your brain to structure your workload, time and priorities easily. It is a valuable resource that is used by over 250 million people worldwide to help them think and work more productively.
In this article, find out how the features in Mind Mapping software, iMindMap will make your productivity rocket. Learn how to use the features and apply them to everyday tasks to save you both time and money.
Looking to improve your current services or products? To drive innovation through your organisation you need to challenge standard practice and focus on the bigger picture. Instead of trying to force ideas out of your colleagues in your next meeting, get your team to Mind Map their ideas using iMindMap first. This way, nobody will be influenced by other people’s opinions, and you don’t have to be a confident extrovert to get your ideas across.
The structure of a Mind Map encourages your brain to make frequent associations, so you can easily generate new ideas that would have otherwise been missed. Furthermore, you can develop your ideas easily by inserting child branches to your map to add more detail. This way, when you come to present your ideas you will have already explored the potential outcomes and possibilities.
To learn more about the core principles of Mind Mapping, check out our free How to Mind Map online course.
A Mind Map makes it easier to visualise all of the steps in a project – so you can quickly see the gaps, set goals and better manage your time. Mind Maps break down information into comprehensible chunks and the hierarchical structure helps to clarify your thought process and gives you a wider perspective. This is crucial when working on a project as you can anticipate the problems that might arise and overcome any stumbling blocks.
If you would like to learn more about how to use Mind Mapping for project planning, read our recent article “The Secret to Successful Project Planning.”
Performance coaching can often be time consuming, uncomfortable and one-way. Using the Mind Mapping technique, you can turn a rigid performance review into more constructive performance coaching. An effective way to use Mind Mapping for performance coaching is if both the manager and the employee fill out the map below. During the review, create a joint final version together to ensure buy-in from both sides. The red branches represent areas where the employee can improve, the green branches highlight where the employee has performed well and the amber branches help to identify clear action points that can be reviewed in the next session. The child branches coming off each main branch are trigger points to help you assess different areas in more detail.
As you address each point, you will find that the keywords on each branch help generate more ideas and examples. Unlike a form, a Mind Map encourages you to develop and explore each point, allowing you to both confidently communicate any concerns and questions that might have otherwise been uncomfortable to approach.
To find out more about how you can use iMindMap for performance reviews, read our recent blog post “Constructive performance coaching with iMindMap.”
These are just a handful of ways iMindMap can help to streamline complex tasks, improve the quality of your work and save you time. You can also use iMindMap for report writing, meeting planning, team collaboration, budgeting, process design and more – for a pragmatic solution to your working tasks.
A whopping 79% of iMindMap users said Mind Mapping has helped to improve their productivity, so why don’t you see for yourself and download the free 7 day iMindMap trial today.
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