Mindmapping everywhere

iPad's MindManager

2011-09-16T15:26:00.015+02:00

As most of you are aware of, iPad has turned out to be a universally wide deployed mobile device, also its applications are commonly used these days. We have talked a little bit about mindmapping on iPad by using iThoughtsHD. This time I'll take about the Mindjet's MindManager version for iPad. It's simple, cute, easy-to-use, efficient, multiplatform (iPad and iPhone).
If you are used to work with MindManager on your desktop or laptop, this is an application, you should give it a try!
Branches creation turns out very simple, you just tap and hold, and define the direction where the branch should go and it's done!
It also has Dropbox integration, WiFi transfer and also most part of all visualization fearures already existing in other MindManager versions.
In the coming days I am going to give it a deeper try and I´ll show you the results.

Novamind 5´s interesting layout feature

2011-09-09T19:22:00.007+02:00

I guess most of you know or even have used Novamind, it is a very interesting and useful mindmapping software.
In this particular entry, I'll talk a little bit about an innovative solution for a common problem, whenever you use a mindmapping software...the huge amount of empty and unuseful spaces in large maps.
In the following Youtube video, it is explained by Gideon King, how Novamind 5 tackles this particular issue, which I would say it is extremely good.

iPad's Discovr Apps

2011-09-07T23:08:00.004+02:00

Surfing different webpages and the Apple Store, I came across a very funny and useful application. It's called Discovr AppStore.
Here you see a snapshot.
Is its look familiar to you? ---)))

MindMapping for grammar learning

2011-08-25T16:10:00.003+02:00

During this vacation season I have gone over my old german grammar lessons to polish it up.
Of course I have taken advantage of mindmapping in this revision --)))
Advantages from my point of view:
1.- More deeper analysis when you are making the map
2.- Easy to review, easy to remember.

MindMapping and "The Five Habits of highly Innovative Leaders"

2011-07-23T17:23:00.008+02:00

I apologize for these months without posting. Important things are happening in my professional and personal life and they´re taking all the time I've got.
Today I come across a very interesting article in Forbes.com´s blog. It is an article about habits in very highly innovative leaders.
If you take a look at the article and you focus on the fifth, you´ll see the importance given in the article to the Associatonal Thinking, describing the need for drawing connections among different concepts, ideas from unrelated fields and sources.
This is the point where mindmapping techniques show up with and suitable and extraordinary methodology to speed up this fifth habit capabilities.
Have you ever taken a chance on a mind map and haven´t you found different and weird ideas popping up about one particular topic?
If so, perhaps you´re on the way to be a Highly Innovative Leader.

5 iMindMap5 copies to give away

2011-04-22T18:43:00.005+02:00

Courtesy of ThinkBuzan Ltd, we have the opportunity to give away 5 iMindMap5 copies to our esteemed readers.

If you want to get one of these, please send a hand-made mindmap to me(it has to be fresh new and unreleased) about a very important topic (the Spring season).

We will go into the different maps, selecting the best ones to get the award.

Hands on DropMind

2011-04-19T18:13:00.000+02:00

I want to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about a software I am using lately (DropMind).

First off I want to thank Dropmind people and specially to Emel Karakash for passing me the testing code.

As stated in his webpage, it is a less expensive (from 5 to 10 times) alternative to MindManager.

DropMind is an intuitive, multiplatform and user-friendly mindmapping application which offers:

- Integration with MS Office, Google Aps, MS Projects and others
- It allows and works comfortably in several different platforms (desktop, mobile, iPad)
- It also provides a DropMind web account, so you can upload your maps and make them available everywhere you go, as far as sharing your maps with partners, colleagues and friends.

Testing it in my iPad I must say it is really simple but complete, easy enough to be used and to make your maps quickly available on the web (in my opinion, in the Apple iPad environment simplicity is a must).

Summing up I must say it is a really cool application, easy to use, with many possibilities and cheaper in comparison with other applications existing on the market.

DropMind is a really good alternative either if you are thinking about stepping in mindmapping world or if you are a daily user.

Visualizing connections in linkedin.com

2011-04-05T10:14:00.006+02:00

Thinking a little bit outside mindmapping but within visualization world, I have found the following application, which by using the powerful linkedin.com tool, takes it a little bit further, showing visually the connections among the different contacts to different levels of interrelation.
Really cool and powerful application.
Coming from my own contact, visualizes the connections and interrelations among them by means of lines and dots, if you press any of them, you can see data of this particular contact and his/her shared connections with you.
If you want to have access to this particular tool, you can get yours throught this link in the right corner downwards.

iMindMap 5

2011-03-13T16:38:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Tony Buzan Ltd, I have just received recently a beta test version of iMindMap 5. After testing it for some days, I would say is an amazing software to walk on the mindmapping software world.
Talking about new features in this particular version (some major enhancements comparing with iMindMap 4 version):
- 3D view and presentation posibilities (Awesome!!!)
A better and superb improvement in terms of visualization and really cool to test it and to use it.
- Easiness for filtering possibilities.
All of us who really use mindmapping software in the daily work with our heavily loaded maps, we know for sure the usefulness of the filtering possibilities.
In this particular case these filtering possibilities are really improved.
- Enhanced for online storage and collaboration
That is a key in today´s outlook in terms of mindmapping software and it turns out to be mastered in this new release.
Summing up a new version of this widely spread software, with much more possibilities, taking mindmapping software to a further step.

Biggerplate

2011-03-05T18:28:00.003+01:00

Mindmaps repositories are a very good tool to get fresh and different ideas about mindmapping styles. In this particular world Biggerplate turns out to be a really fantastic tool to analyze deeply.
This kind of repositories are useful either if you use mindmapping constantly in your normal life or if you are a rookie.
Thanks to Liam Hughes I have been checking the repository out and I have seen the easiness you upload your maps, the possibility to explore the map you pick with the MindManager viewer and the Miniprofiles if you want to popularize your profile or your site in social networks.
Summing up an extraordinary tool to work with.

iThoughtsHD for iPad

2011-02-27T17:55:00.004+01:00

I must confess I am iPadict --)))
The very first application I bought after getting the iPad was iThoughtsHD.
The first thing I missed was getting some mindmapping application on the ipad, taking advantage of the tactile features and the really fast ability to draw mindmaps on th fly. That was just something like mixing up tha advantages of hand-made maps and software-made.
It makes my life easier, drawing mindmaps really fast and sending it out through email, so you can get you iPad-drawn mindmaps wotking with the desktop mindmapping applications.
Really cool!

Taking notes all day long

2011-02-11T17:17:00.003+01:00

Pros and Cons Map

2011-02-04T17:39:00.002+01:00

Many times when we are dealing with difficult decissions to make, it turns out really healthy to think about the pros and cons of this particular decission. How this can be achieved by using a mindmap and without breaking the particular mindmapping rules was a handicap for me some times.
This maps uses a central concept with two particular parts (as human hemyspheres), the right part (pros) where all the branches explain different concepts to detail the favorable issue by making this decissions, on the left part is the opposite.
Finally after working this map you´ll geta global picture about pros and cons to decide.

Back on track

2011-02-03T22:20:00.003+01:00

Coming back after some months without posts, I just suffered some kind of stuck about mindmapping, not about the usage, which it will go along with me for the years to come, much more about the transmission of the information. That was one the reasons for the delay, the other one was a very tight budget to get.
Now I come back with new fresh ideas about mindmapping and with new instruments.

Vic´s Picks

2010-08-26T14:50:00.002+02:00

Vic Gee (mind-mapping.org) has developed a major enhacement in the referred web page, with a fresh approach.
It turns out to be either a place to find and share information about different interests or a place for crowdsourcing.
It seems a very interesting inniative to follow.
http://www.mind-mapping.org/VicsPicks/category/all-software/

A powerful combination

2010-08-20T14:26:00.004+02:00

To those of you music lovers and specifically if you´re a Spotify user, the combination of this lovely application and mindmapping software could be suitable enough to organize your preferrable music.
In my particular case I love classical music and I have taken advantage of Spotify and XMind (thanks for allowing me to test your Beta 3 portable) to classify the music I love the most, with visual enhacements (links to web pages, notes and so on).
Here you can access the map.

Mindmapping and investments

2010-08-11T17:54:00.003+02:00

I was challenged by a friend of mine about how to use mindmapping to keep track about his investments, mostly in securities and funds. He thinks he will be able to take better decissions by having visual and updated information about every specific portion of his investment.
I did the best I could with the information I got.
I will come back later to explain the results and experiences of this experiment.

Mind Map Gadget for Google Wave

2010-07-02T18:17:00.003+02:00

A cousin of mine has sent a link to me, regarding a Mind Map Gadget for Google Wave.

To-Dos Template

2010-06-23T17:17:00.002+02:00

Every certain time it turns out useful to rethink your own tools, seeking for improvements to reach higher in productivity. That is the case. After several months using a To-Do´s sistematic methodology, already detailed in previous posts.
I have prepared (based on my experience) a new template to manage my daily or weekly work.
Here you can get the image of the map and in the Templates section you can get the template.

Template for Business Analysis

2010-06-18T17:45:00.002+02:00

Today in the afternoon I´ve been working about some kind of business analysis template, comprising what to me is important when I have to review one business.
This map is useful to have some template to reduce time to go straight to key points in that particular business.

Mindmapping for language learning

2010-06-18T12:55:00.005+02:00

Some posts ago, we talked a little bit about how to use mindmapping as an effective tool to learn language. In that particular post, we were working with german.
Here you can get a more visual explanation about this particular issue, presented by Tony Buzzan, so it can´t be better!

MindManager video

2010-06-18T12:48:00.002+02:00

A nice video showing what mindmapping can do for you....

Notes on books

2010-05-22T10:06:00.002+02:00

Images - Brain: A powerful combination

2010-05-02T16:51:00.003+02:00

As stated in most part of the written basis about mindmapping, something magic happens in our brains regarding images and knowledge.
It seems easier for our human brains to get it quicker with images than with written words. If we get back to the human origins, the times when some ancestors lived in caverns, the easiest way to transmit knowledge was by means of images or drawings.
The picture above wwas taken in a pub in Santander (Spain) and it has even an stronger impact if you don´t know Spanish. If you look at it straight without knowing Spanish you would probably say it is talking about cocktails. So you get more than 80% of the knowledge to be transmitted, just by means of an image.

Mindmapping for language learning

2010-04-18T16:08:00.002+02:00

Mindmapping can also be an extraordinary tool to improve a foreign language knowledge. In this particular case, I use it to expand the limits of my german vocabulary.

Gathering information

2010-04-03T18:51:00.002+02:00

I have taken advantage of the Easter holidays to gather all the information about the different references I work with.
Here a preliminary mindmap about this particular issue.

Preparing meetings

2010-02-20T14:49:00.006+01:00

I am used to prepare my meetings in advance, thinking about what I do want to get from them, my initial positions, limits in negotiations and so far. Thinking these meetings in advance, helps you to make them quicker and straight to the poin, reducing times.
Mindmapping is an extraordinary tool to help you thinking in advance.

Mindmapping in large projects

2010-02-11T23:21:00.006+01:00

Currently I am involved in a large-scaled wind farms contest in the north of Spain. As in every one of these contests, there is a lot of money around, so there are too many companies trying to bid, in order to get easy and secured paybacks. In contests like these, you have to keep track of all the movements, connections, possibilities and so on, just as in every complex projec. even if you don´t know it.
Here it is a picture with a simple map gathering some of the consortiums existing in this contest. As you mightprobably imagine I am not in the position to disclosure the whole map with all the information I´ve got, just the initial map could be allowable.
Every branch holding every group can also group up all the information you can collect from them, so you can have the whole contest at a glance, as I have it in the final version.

Mindmapping in lawsuits

2010-01-30T14:56:00.002+01:00

Many times we think mindmapping is a engineers or technical people´s issue, but as it is defined it could universally applicable.

In this particular case, I will utilize mindmapping in a situation with my house´s constructor, whom I sue due to some malfunctions in my house. So for extension it could be applicable to some lawyer´s issues.

This map (made using Mindjet Mind Manager 8) compiles all the different failures existing in the house, so once the expert technician assigned by the court come, I will have all the issues to be showed at hand.

A White Paper about Notetaking

2010-01-23T19:15:00.006+01:00

When I was working in the previous post, I was required by some friends of mine about getting deeper in notetaking using mindmapping, that was the reason, which took me to prepare this White Paper ("a non-pretentious White Paper") about this particular stuff.

Currently I think it is by far the most common mindmapping application, unless in my particular case. Moreover most part of my professional time I am involved in meetings.

I hope you find this document useful for your personal and professional life!!!
Access to White Paper on Notetaking.

Notetaking

2010-01-14T21:32:00.008+01:00

I have come across several mindmaps made during lectures, presentations and so no in the last years.
I always draw mindmaps in every meeting, my most important problem is what to show on the blog that for my company, should not be done (I always work with my mindpping for my coming orders, strategic projects, people management and so on).
Important points in notetaking:
1.- Focus on the key ideas/concepts.
2.- Visualize and draw these key ideas/concepts.
3.- Force relationships among ideas/concepts.
Why mindmapping is important in notetaking?
1.- Focuses you in the key concepts.
2.- Makes it easier to work around key concepts.
3.- Allows you to maintain deeper in your mind these concepts, so you can retake later on. The more sense you work with in mindmapping, the easier you will assimilate concepts in your brain (images friendly brain) and the longer these ideas will be with you.
What should I improve in this kind of mindmaps?
1.- Move to the colorful version!! Very difficult when you are in a meeting with other people.
2.- Draw it!!. Whenever you have an idea, a concept...draw with you think, what your perceive.
3.- Draw the more relationships you can. Force your brain to make relationships among concepts.
My excuses (all mindmaps are written down in Spanish -my mother language-) but I think it is important in this blog to show how real mindmapping is working on.

Boosting the blog, asking for your help

2010-01-10T16:38:00.001+01:00

Regarding Web 2.0 my most important resolution is to boost the blog, to help people taking the most out of mindmapping, to have young people taking advantage of a new and exciting way to improve learning and memorizing processes.

In this boosting process there is an issue out of my control, it is your opinion, your ideas, your doubts, your experiences… everything that can help other people to move on in this fascinating world. So, please, I encourage you to say openly how you think we must progress with the blog.

From my side I must say I will post on regular basis to show what I am doing with mindmapping and what there is out there regarding mindmapping.

TV series

2010-01-03T17:35:00.001+01:00

Etiquetas de Technorati: series,tv

One of my most favorite hobbies is watching TV series in their original language.

I made a map (by XMind) about my favorite series, the proprietary companies and links to the TV series main pages.

A different vision about news

2010-01-02T15:04:00.001+01:00

Looking at the news in Spain on January 1st, 2010, I decide to draw a map on the most important.

It could be a new perspective on written news more visual and more mindmapping friendly way.

I hope you enjoy it.

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-02T10:26:00.001+01:00

I want to wish you a happy new year 2010 and I was trying to find out the best way to make that happen for a mindmapping perspective.

If we are continuously talking about the influence of image in our learning processes, it is pretty obvious the best way would be using a photo.

There is a park in Santander (Cantabria – North of Spain) where I always stop to observe the bonds, links and strange relationships among the different branches and sub-branches. This image can express what we are familiar with in mindmapping and also the complexity of our thinking processes.

I wish you the best for the coming year and also that all your dreams become true.

New Year´s Resolution

2009-12-27T13:51:00.001+01:00

Here a first approach to the new year´s resolution. It´s a very good way to open up my new mindmapping notebook for the coming year.

Voyeurism

2009-12-12T18:47:00.003+01:00

Long time without posting... feel shame about it!
Another point about my evolution in mindmapping, it is my Voyeurism. I look into maps from other people to learn, to get fresh things, to admire, to get deeper into it... at last this is a collaborative evolution.
In that particular course, I have found some nice maps at Buzanworld web page

Stock markets analysis through Mindmapping techniques

2009-11-02T15:46:00.001+01:00

One of the hobbies I am suffering is the stock markets observation. I do remember those times when I used statistical parameters in the University. In this case I observe several stocks in different markets to determine tendencies by means of exponential moving average in different periods of time and analyzing crossed among them.

I keep track of what it is observed by using a mindmap.

Business Plan Guidelines

2009-09-24T10:48:00.003+02:00

My business year tis about to end this month, so this is a very good time to prepare Business Plan for the coming year.
I have written down a little map with guidelines worth enought to prepare my own Business Plan to be presented to top management.

Habits from highly effective people

2009-09-14T15:00:00.001+02:00

Several years ago I read some notes about how to increase productivity, beginning from oneself. Based on these lectures and some experiences on my own I did quickly draw a quite simple map.
This one is part of the remembrances I usally post.
I am sorry cause it is in spanish, I will translate into english later on and perhaps in a colorful version.

Capturing ideas everywhere

2009-09-09T12:25:00.005+02:00

In one of the last posts we have been talking a little bit about how to handle the multiple tasks effectively by using mindmapping.
Similar concept to GTD (Get the Things Done) but of my own.
One of the topics whenever you want to use mindmapping to control your work is how to capture the multiple ideas that are constantly popping up.
This issue turns out quite easy when you are at the office, just get another new branch in your map and you write it down. What does it happen when you are outside "on the field"?
I am not a proud owner of a mindmapping-inside application portable device, so I attack this problem by using "notes writing" applications on my handy (if I´ve got enought time) or just by dictating the note to the recorder application.
Whenever I came back to the office, I look and listen to my handy and put the different news taks, notes, ideas, links, phone calls reminders... into the mindmapping.
I have also added a new branch to my Activities Framework map, named Rather Urgent Issue, to attach these notes in case they were urgent.

Mindmaps usage from a different perspective

2009-09-03T13:55:00.007+02:00

One of the topics I would like to cover is how other users are taking the most out of Mindmapping techniques, either hand-made or software-made.
In this particular case, I show the case from Deepak Ravlani, who is a Business Development Manager at a smartphone software startup, who has also a very interesting blog.
Deepak is a newbie working with these issues, although he foresees great potential for him from these techniques.
Here it is showed a mindmap coming from him, where he takes advantage of the different mindmapping features (and specifically of the different software tools) to have documents, thoughts, files, folders,... at hand.
I think learning with other people can provides us with a hugh range of new usages, possibilities, features and so on, that can takes us to reach further in this world.
Thanks Deepak for your contribution.

What is about me and my blog on the Web

2009-08-25T11:28:00.003+02:00

I am pretty sure you already know about this particular mindmanager feature to make Google searches within a map.
I have made a very simple usage of this feature to make two particular searches: one about me and the other one about my blog (which, of course, is all yours).
These two searches have showed me that Mindmanager could be a very interesting tool in order to determine and classify the Web impacts you get from some specific Internet action you want to make.
Of course you can get the draw in flickr.com.

Upgrading my resume

2009-08-24T13:26:00.003+02:00

These summer days I´ve been working with my resume. I have taken it our from linkedin and I have polished it up to get a brand new one.
I have always thought that a visual resume provides more information than the written one, specially in those cases where you don´t have enough time to dedicate.

Managing work with MindMapping

2009-08-18T12:24:00.009+02:00

I am pretty sure this procedure that I am ready to explain, is not the best in class, but it is the one that works suitably for me.
It is my personal answer to the question, how do I deal with the large amount of tasks, which I am responsible for?
My answer to this questions is composed of different linked mindmaps:
#1 called Activities Framework
It is the root map composed of two diffent parts.
The link part contains links to the different folders, files, mails, appointments in calendar, contacts,... which I require to do my job and also for my personal issues.
The right part contains access to the different maps, where the taks are evolving. I could be able to reach any task in any year, and in any quarter and in any week.
#2 called Taks
You can access from Activities Framework.
Whenever a new task come up, it is included inside. This task is inmediatly added to a customer or to personal diretory and it is categorized with follow-ups icons, deadlines, responsibles and so on, so it can be suitably filtered after to keep track of it.
The different tasks are there till they are completed, their next step is the Follow-up Map.
#3 called Follow-up
It is composed of the different tasks that are accomplish but they also have to be tracked, because you are not the direct responsible, because these tasks depend on other (let´s consider the case in which you bid to a customer, your task is already done but it is stopped until your customer requires dealing on).
#4 calles Finished
When a task is completed and finished reaches this map.
Is case of bids is when you know its status (won, lost) and you know who was the winner, prices differences and so on.
#5 called Finished LT
Where are store the whole set of completed and finished tasks.
It works as a long-term repository, where you go whenever you require some information from the past.
These are the different steps to successfully accomplish the great amount of tasks, which I am direct responsbile for or the ones I must have under control.
If you have some suggestions to improve the procedure, please feel free to contact or to comment.
As most part of my job is related to customers, I used to group up all the tasks related to the customer they are coming from, so I don´t have the complete freedom to show all the different tasks becuase of confidentiality. Unfortunatly, the maps are showed incompleted, but after every maps there are hundreds of tasks.

50 Useful Mind-Mapping Tools for College Students

2009-07-29T13:40:00.003+02:00

Interesting post related to useful mindmapping tools for college students.

MM8 feature

2009-07-21T12:31:00.003+02:00

I knew a little bit about that but I hadn´t checked it until I saw the Mindjet Blog post. I am talking about File Explorer feature and the many different possibilities it enables.
Rather interesting post.

Remembrances

2009-07-21T11:49:00.003+02:00

One of the tasks I like the most is getting back to the maps I made some years ago and compare the current and the former style.
Here you get a weekly to-dos map, it is about 3 or 4 years ago.

House 5x24 "Both Sides Now"

2009-07-08T08:40:00.003+02:00

Yesterday night I was watching House on TV (House 5x24 "Both Sides Now") and it turned out to be one of the clearest definitions about two brain hemyspeheres working. It seemed to me a pretty good summary about what I am publishing in my latest posts, as a manner to determine that mindmapping techniques helps us improving creativity.

Getting experiences accessing the right hempysphere

2009-06-18T08:20:00.006+02:00

Getting deeper into my last post and into Betty Edwards´ book, I have been completing some of the exercises she propose in order to get the left hemysphere bored with some tasks and to get the right hemysphere doing the whole job.
It was about drawing a picture in a particular way, watching it upside down.
While doing the job, I took some notes into a mindmap about how I was feeling under this "right hempysphere ruling" state.
Most part of these experiences are commonly perceived by everyone, but they are also extraordinary good to identify such a state.

Using your "righty" friend

2009-06-06T19:15:00.002+02:00

I am currently reading Betty Edwards' Drawing with the right side of the brain and it is being a quite interesting book with fascinating theories and exercises. I reached the book to improve my drawing ability, which I would say, it has been since I was a child a disability.
From the first page you find quite interesting and solidly based theories about the brain, it is composition (some had been treated in this blog between right and left parts of the brain) and how every part works and how to stimulate every part.
One thought quite interesting is the existing stuck in the brain functionality study (in comparison with other subjects) mostly due to the fact that the brain is the only part of the universe which is observing and investigating itself.
Another quite interesting topic is how to get into the right part operation and the "synthoms" you get by being working into that part (time absense, lower cardiac rhythm,...).

Mindmaps on flickr.com

2009-05-26T15:16:00.006+02:00

Taking into account some suggestions in the blog comments, I am currently working to get some extra free space on flickr.com, so I can locate all the mindmaps I used in my blog. Further on I will locate every mindmap into that webpage, so they can be more easily accessed.
Thanks for the suggestions and please don´t hesitate giving suggestions to improve the blog, I will follow your recommendations.
Hand-made Mindmaps repository
Software-made Mindmaps repository

Reading Books by mindmapping

2009-04-13T18:16:00.006+02:00

One of the most common applications, in my personal case and already explained within this blog, it is mindmapping the most interesting books contents.
In this particular case, I have taken advantage of the easter vacation period to get back (for third time) to Idea Mapping (by Jamie Nast), an extraordinary book, where everytime you get back, you discover something new to go deeper.
What is put into the mindmap are different ideas, which I consider important, from my point of view, it doesn´t intend to be a summary or something like that. Just some notes.

Philippe Boukobza´s digital identity

2009-04-06T15:57:00.002+02:00

It turns out to me rather interesting the Philippe Boukobza´s mind map related to his digital identity.

The power of the images

2009-03-24T18:54:00.006+01:00

Mindmapping success to my opinion resides on the seductive attraction that images provoke in our brains. To illustrate this I will make some examples showing up.
How do you explain how a bison is? You can start talking it is a four-legged animal, brown, etc I estimate 10 minutes to get your mate knowing what you are talking about (obviously if you don´t say the word "bison"), I presume there will be lots of TV contests around that. If you show her an image of a vison, she will understand immediatly, so you save 10 minutes less some seconds.
OK, let´s get back thousands of years ago in a cavern located in the north of Spain (Altamira), the same episode with paintings to explain other mates how a bison was (the photo).
So we haven´t evolved so much, in that sense!!! --)))
Next example. During many years the radio was the preferable way of communication in the world, till TV showed up and the radio reduced drastically its influence. The main advantage was the image vs the oral communication. More easy to understand, more easy to interpret, more easy to remember.
Third example. The communication problem, when something is explained to you, just a little percentage of the original message can be understood by you (cause of the channel, of the talker interpretation and also the listener interpretation,...). This communication losses are much more lower with an image, cause you get directly the original message.
Fourth one, how many memories from you are not tied up to images? Our memory is based on images received from our visual sense.

So far, so good!

2009-02-27T17:41:00.002+01:00

36th Birthday map

Mindmapping for clearifying ideas

2009-02-26T14:59:00.004+01:00

Last week, as every month, I had a meeting with my CEO to talk a little bit about the results, evolution, budget to-day fulfillment, strategies, actions plans, investments and so on.
I am also located in a part of Spain, where we of course are suffering part of the global economic crisis, specially in its industrial part (due to the lack of financement and also to the bad sales in constructution and automotive environment). I was preparing the night before, what to talk about the different issues, in order to have all of them clearly defined in my mind and with all the differente links connected and that was when this map showed up. I was thinkg and suddently it came up to me.
The differente colors and images helped me to have it on my mind when I was on that "hard" meeting.
I have taken some "licenses" in this particular case, cause I am talking about current issues, I have deleted some companies names, investments names and so on, cause I think the important it is to show how mindmapping can help you to put your ideas in order oriented to a concrete goal and that was the case.
Let´s wait mindmapping can help me improving the results.

Interview at Usine Nouvelle

2009-02-18T19:32:00.005+01:00

To those of you familiar with French language, there is an interview in Usine Nouvele where some of the intervinients were Philippe Boukobza and me.
In my personal case, I talked a little bit about how putting both brain hemispheres on something, can take you to get new ideas, points of views and so on, which otherwise could be impossible.
The French magazine has made an extrordinary report on mindmapping from different approaches.

Mindmapping reading books - colorful version

2009-02-08T12:55:00.004+01:00

That´s another example about taking notes when reading books.
That thing helps me to:
1.- Keep focused on the topic.
2.- Connect ideas with previous knowledges (making links)
3.- Store the information deeper in my mind.
An advice, don´t ever lend me a book! Otherwise I will bring you back colorful mindmapped.

Mindmapping reading books

2009-02-01T13:19:00.003+01:00

One of the most important mindmapping features is the ability to link different concepts. I mostly use it whenever I am reading a book, linking the new concepts I got with the previous concepts I had.
This was the case when reading the Jean-Luc Deladriere and his friend´s book (extraordinary to my opinion, I do recommend).

Particular time management

2009-01-19T11:32:00.007+01:00

One of my main problems, in my professional life, is the amount of issues I must deal with or I must be involved in. Too many in too little time.
In such a environment you need either getting a suitable and comfortable method to take the most of your time or be prepared for your crash.
Of course, I use mindmapping but I also use continously different pieces of paper with different maps to optimize time.
Being able to take to the higher levels the optimization your time is the key to transform yourself in to high performance (recession-proof) worker, let´s deserve that!!

Looking for leadership models - The West Wing serie

2009-01-12T12:05:00.003+01:00

I am a "The West Wing" serie fan and there is one chapter in the 6th season, which is titled "Liftoff" and, to me, it is a clear leadership model.
I have tried to look for hints by analizing in order to take out conclussions.

Securities to follow

2009-01-09T14:17:00.003+01:00

One of my favourite leisure activities is analyzing stock market, I know for sure it´s a crazy activity and I know the competitions between a donkey and a broker in Wall Street.
I use to look at the stock figures once a day and keep track about some alarms. Whenever I get an alarm about one security, I began to look at it closer.

Updating my Digital Identity

2009-01-06T12:20:00.004+01:00

XMind: Online Search for External Information

2009-01-05T10:19:00.007+01:00

To those of you not quite familiar with XMind, the following post by Stephen Zhu will give you some information about how to check out more information on the web about an specific topic, obviously within XMind.

http://xmindusers.ning.com/forum/topics/xmind-great-design-online

XMind Roadmap for version 3.0.2

2009-01-04T12:58:00.002+01:00

I got news about the XMind Roadmap for the version 3.0.2.
Features Content:
File Security
Sub-Map*
Topic text alignment
Hyperlinks in Notes
Find/Replace in labels/notes/relationships
Import Omni Outliner
Auto Hyperlink**
More languages support

Milestone Plan:
Feature complete: Middle at Q1, 2009
Final release: Late at Q1, 2009

*Select a topic and create a new sheet in current workbook whose
central topic is just the selected topic. And the central topic is
linked with this topic.
**When you type "http://..", it will become Hyperlink automatically.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-04T12:54:00.003+01:00

I don´t see any better way to express these wishes than publishing out the map from Philippe Boukobza, which is extremely good.

1 year timelife

2009-01-03T09:54:00.003+01:00

One year ago, I began this experience as a way to show how mindmapping is helping me in either my professional or my personal life. It was also a way to show many people who were asking me about how I was gathering up information in these kind of "spiders" and what was the use of such a figure.
The main goals were helping to develop (from a modest point of view) mindmapping, showing how it can contribute to improve performance and also as a meeting point to receive suggestions, comments and ideas to go further.
Throughtout this blog I have met quite interesting people from many different world locations sharing experiences and with a fascinating wisdom and promoting free ideas interchange.
Talking about the blog, these are the main figures that we all have achieved.
(Source: Google Analytics)
7,680 Visits
15,793 Page Views
5,564 Users
116 Countries
96 Feeds subscriber (Source Feedburner)
To me these figures are a success and I am really keen on developing on this blog with your help and with your inputs, from my point of view I am currently working on new contents to be posted.
Thanks so much for your support.

Mindmapping learning ENglish (II)

2008-12-09T15:23:00.002+01:00

I do also try to get new verbs, nouns, expression and so forth coming from the different books, I am reading.

Mindmapping improving my English

2008-12-08T15:46:00.003+01:00

I am always trying to keep up improving my English and normally mindmapping is a very good technique to support this learning.
The picture shows how I use it with the phrasal verbs.

Interviewing my collaborators at work

2008-12-02T17:54:00.003+01:00

I am in this part of year when one must evaluate and, as a result of that, interview every person of my team. Every time this team gets even greater, so I needed to find out a way to reduce time (I am pretty much focused on high performance in every task in my job).
Creatting a pattern, so that every interview is consistent with the other ones could be a way to simplify, nevertheless every interview is unique, because every person and her work are unique as well.
Hereby it is the model I wrote on the plane in order to get these interviews´ framework.
Excuses in advance because it is in Spanish, in the following posts I will publish it up in English, if you are interested in the content as well.

Analyzing two alternatives

2008-12-01T18:25:00.003+01:00

Whenever I have to decide between to alternatives, I use Mindmapping as a way to get a visual clue about the possibilities, pros and cons, in order to achieve a consistent decission, from different perspectives.
This weekend I have been involved in such a situation about changing the house where a friend of mine lives in.

A mindmapping reflection

2008-11-22T12:45:00.002+01:00

During these weeks I have a reflection in my head related to mindmapping.
Is mindmapping either a suitable tool for structured minds (optimizing menthal processes outcomes) or a tool helping to get minds structured?
I think there is not one answer and three ones are possible depending on the case and the use.
For an structured mind can be a suitable tool to get deeper on different kinds of analysis that with any other format could be achieved.
For a pseudo-chaotic mind could be a great tool to get further taking the most out and to take this chaos far beyond to a consistant conclusion.
For same type of minds in different moments the two ansmwers could be possible enough.

Christmas Lottery

2008-11-16T16:32:00.005+01:00

Reaching this time of the year, I usually recover a traditional mindmapping use, specially suitable to a fast determination of results.
The mindmapping use does not have any influence in the final result, for sure!!

100 uses for Mindmaps

2008-11-16T15:51:00.002+01:00

Surfing the web I had the opporunity to watch this fantastic map from Paul Foreman. What can I say about it? To me it´s just great.

Mindjet Mindmanager 8

2008-11-16T12:40:00.002+01:00

Hi all.
I am lately trying to get the most out of the new Mindjet Mindmanager 8.
I am gratefully impressed about the new features. Currenly I am testing them and applying on my professional and personal life.
I think it is another step forward avoiding restrictions when one compares software made maps and hand-drawn ones, with this new version one gets more flexibility, more possibilities to boost up productivity.
I am also impressed about Web Services and I am trying to investigate how to generate more on that, any help or information is welcome.

Key Account Management

2008-10-16T12:34:00.003+02:00

A friend of mine (Sergio Martinez Zarza), which has an extraordinary future in the management fields and which is currently working in Denmark for the Siemens Wind Power business, asked me about my opinion about key account management ideas.
I have gathered the different ideas that I have from this issue.

How to get an exponential growth in MM users?

2008-10-15T12:37:00.003+02:00

Vic Gee is also committed to spread knowledge about mindmapping, not just into the mindmapping newsgroups community but also with the people, int order to bring them in this new world.
I think it is an extraordinary idea and also he is gathering comments in order to get exponential growth in the number of people using mindmapping. The prize for the best response it is a free copy of iMindmap.
Extraordinary idea.

Events and trips planning

2008-10-15T12:10:00.003+02:00

I do usually plan my trips or events with a two or three months period (always I can) so I can take a perspective about the different weeks, in order to plan my work according to the goals that I have to achieve.
One of usages that I mostly do, it is planning these trips and events via mindmapping, so I can easily get back to them with simply a glance.
Also when I am outside the office and I need to remind events or trips, I used to remind the whole picture so I can, as a results, get the details and all the reservation status.

Three and a half months without posting

2008-10-14T16:16:00.002+02:00

Excuse me about this lack of posting during this three months period.
Taking my friend Phillipe Boukobza´s suggestion, I will be back writting new posts about different issues to promote mindmapping.

Maps for rethinking over and over

2008-06-26T16:59:00.003+02:00

Lately I have an important event from my company within the region I am responsible for. I am collaborating meeting the multinational strategies to the points in which this region can take advantage of.
That suppose rethink over and over in different time schedules and with different people, also contrasting these ideas every day in the last month in order the get something consistent enough.
This format is helping me with, cause the map is not really fully overloaded with information.

Two Mindmapping styles

2008-06-17T09:18:00.004+02:00

After a comment made by Robin Carper, I take the opportunity to explain in detail the two mindmap styles I used to work with.
Style no 1 is the one in the previous post, whenever I have a central idea and I must think over and over getting more ideas and relationships, that is the result from such a process. Examples of use: preparing meetings, speeches,...
Style no 2 is whenever I must attend a meeting, a conference,... where every detail counts on. In such a case, my mindmaps designs gather quite a lot information, and mostly I have no time to make drawings, but on the other hand I have the instrument to get details in the future. In the following picture you can get a live mindmap created within a meeting. I always try to transform the style no 2 in the style no 1 making a simpler map the next day.

Criticizing my mindmaps

2008-06-12T13:14:00.003+02:00

As it is pretty clear within this blog´s contents, I use mindmapping everyday (in both ways, software one and handmade).
Here it is located the last one, I have made (excuse because it is in spanish), it determines the two Siemens in Asturias (the spanish region I am responsible for) positioning keys (the business and the social one).
Key issues to improve: colors and drawings.

Mindmapping video

2008-06-11T17:08:00.004+02:00

I have found in Philippe Boukobza´s blog a video talking about mindmapping concepts, which are extremely useful to get deeper on it.
Currently it is in Spanish and French.

Mindmapping for facing crisis times

2008-06-11T11:55:00.004+02:00

Some weeks ago, I was questioned by Chuck Frey about the possibilities to use Mindmapping as a mean to face, in a better position, crisis times. Chuck gathered that information coming from different sources and join it up formatted.
Getting deeper in this blog, we talked about using Mindmapping to reduce cost even in a supermarket, also to consider different alternatives in order to get a low-cost decission and lately we have been talking about the relationship between Mindmapping and Productivity.
In my personal case using Mindmapping helps me to make tasks in less time, also I rank the task in different priority levels, so I am always focused on what is important to be solved, to be decided. Always I have a complex problem, I detailed the whole problem in a Mindmapping reaching lower details, thinking over that details and the relationships among them, it turns out much easier to link them in order to get the best solution, considering the priorities you have defined to take your decission.
These ones among others (many people is using mindmapping in a better way than me) makes you getting into productivity and also be a valuable worker facing crisis times.

Mindmapping vs Unemployment

2008-05-29T13:38:00.003+02:00

A friend of mine has been fired (following a cost reduction policy in his company), some people also call it in a polite way "the company makes your position redudant" ephemistically.
He is an enthusiastic about mindmapping but he has never got time to learn about.
Last weekedn we were talking about different ways to face the situation and looking for a new job. Talk derives and bonds into mindmapping world.
Mindmapping techniques are an extraordinary way to make your productivity reach further, because by using it you require less time to make more things, otherwise you can make more things with the same time.
Also all we know that the different companies (large multinational and the litlle chinese restaurant) are based on employee´s productivity, so by using it you are on the way to make your job position profitable for the company.
The next thing to do it is the marketing one, to publish it out, so the companies will know.
Even if you are not in that situation and you´re extremely safe in your job, using techniques to reach further in productivity will make you one of these two things: not be an overworked person or be a restructurationproof guy.

Fresh ideas coming from XMind

2008-05-28T10:59:00.004+02:00

I have had the opportunity to interview Stephen Zhu from XMind Ltd.
From his answers important questions arise.

A.M.: What are the fresh concepts/ideas/features that XMind brings into the Mindmapping software world?
S.Z.: In fact, XMIND has boruhgt many new ideas. First important is that XMIND is a real cross-platform software, which means you will have the same user experience among Window, Mac and Linux. Second, xmind design the brand-new 'drilldown&drillup', filter, presentation, 2D-chart and so on. In fact, XMIND has considered more to let users feel comfortable.

A.M.: In your opinion, comparing XMind with the different software tools nowadays on the market, which are the strongest features and the weakest ones?
S.Z.: The strongest feature is that XMIND is easy to use. This is also the most important rule for us. Then, our presentation and drilldown has great competitive strength. The weakest point may be the note. XMIND's note is not more powerful than others'.

A.M.: In your opinion, where the MindMapping software tools are evolving to.
S.Z.: Mind Mapping will be one tool for users to plan work, clarify the information. In fact, fishbone chart and 2D-chart are using frequently too.

A.M.: In your personal use, which are the main usages you made with mindmapping software applications?
S.Z.: Clarify our thinking. Then I will use XMIND to analyze the questions.(2D-chart), and do the meet note by using Audio Notes.

A.M.: How do you envision mindmapping software tools can help increasing productivity?
S.Z.: Increasing productivity means that we can use less time to do one thing or more things. XMIND, I can use it to achieve this target. It can let me think one thing more quickly and clearly.

A.M.: Would you mind providing me with some additional information about the company and what made the initiators getting into this mindmapping software world?
S.Z.: XMIND LTD is a company registered at HongKong, which has put all its energy and everything to create the tools to help human increase the productivity. You know, we, human, have the limited time in the world. So we need the tools like this to assist we do more good things for this world.

I do recommend testing it and determine if it fits your expectatives, I do really think so.

Mindmapping as a tool to create social networks maps

2008-05-26T17:30:00.004+02:00

Reading Philippe Boukobza´s blog, one can get really interesting applications out there for mindmapping.
Lately he is working about relationships between mindmapping and your digital identity and I think he is doing a very good job there.
The tool is called Visualizar and it is located within Facebook.
Shows visually the relationship among the different contacts I got in Facebook.

IQ Visual Mapping Conference

2008-05-21T18:37:00.003+02:00

On October 3rd, 2008 will be held the IQ Visual Mapping Conference in New Jersey (campus of the College of St. Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ ).
This conference will be hosted by Brian S. Friedlander, which, apart from being a friend, is one of most prepared experts in Assistive technologies and specially in Mindmapping techniques.
You can get more detailed information from the conference in his blogblog.
Also Adam Clayman, Stephanie Diamond, Chuck Frey, Arjen Ter Hoeve, Kyle McFarlin and Wallace Tait, which are preeminent visual mappers, will be honourable speakers.
I do recommend attending the conference.
I will do my best getting some conclussions from Brian in order to get you updated.

Recovering concepts watching Mindmaps

2008-05-19T12:24:00.003+02:00

Reading a post within Kyle McFarlin blog, I reminded an issue that was basic to me from the first steps.
What are you making maps for?
a) Just for drawing
b) For making something that can be showed to others
c) For getting knowledges that can be work down with both main hemyspheres
In cases a. or b. you can show your ability as an Art creation or your ability to make your knowledge available to others.
In case c. the most importan point, to me, is making brain-friendly designs, specially for your brain, so utilize the format, colors, markers, drawings.. in which you feel really comfortable. Otherwise you can go deeper in the map, but it would turn out extremelly difficult getting back to the whole matter (you were working on) in a few minutes some months later, which is one of my personal goals making mindmapping, the ability to get back and recovering knowledges fastly.

Web-based Mind Mapping Applications Compelling Chart

2008-05-16T08:14:00.004+02:00

I have just received a very interesting and comfortable tool to sail through the Mind Mapping software tools waters, without losing perspective.
Chuck Frey, who is a relevant "guru" within MindMapping issues, has made an extraordinary work compilling all relevant aspects coming from the different software tools.
Thanks for your contribution, Chuck.
You can get this compilling chart by clickin within Chuck Frey Web page in the following link.

Learning to draw

2008-04-16T18:16:00.003+02:00

I must confess I have something to improve a lot. I have to learn how to draw.
I am stuck in the phase where my mathematical mind imposed over the logical one and attempts to take care of the whole brain. Nevertheless I am defending the logical one to get the wheel anew.
I have found a link that could be interesting enough to the people having the same problem.
Learning to draw
I hope you enjoy it.

Common Faces

2008-03-25T18:33:00.002+01:00

There are pretty clear points in common amount mindmapping, martial arts, meditation and so forth. Amount these common points, it would be the ability to link floating concepts, to generate new-coming ideas, free concept associations, concepts and images associations...
Where does this common root resides on?
In my opinion by using the right part of the brain.
As demonstrated, this part of the brain works much better when the arterial tension goes down. Martial arts and also meditation techniques do use the breath to control mental states.
By using these techniques one person can take down the arterial tension and as, a consecuence, induces activity from the right part.
Obviously, in these techniques the whens and the hows are very differents.

Mindmapping and intelligence development

2008-03-21T16:17:00.003+01:00

To my opinion, intelligence is not the capacity to store large amount of different knowledges, but it is the ability to create many multiple links amount the different knowledges you have.
At that point, mindmapping arises as a powerful tool to stimulate the creation of different knowledge links.
Summing up seems to be a clear link between mindmapping techniques and the intelligence stimulation. At least, in my personal/professional life it is a pretty clear statement.

The MindMapping Manifesto (II)

2008-03-20T18:34:00.002+01:00

The MindMapping Manifesto (I)

2008-03-18T22:15:00.004+01:00

Reading what is currently hot about mindmapping, there is a thing that can´t be infravalorated. This is the work done by Chuck Frey "The MindMapping Manifesto".
This is, to me, a very awesome tool to get deeper about mindmapping software and it is, also, a way to write down, black on white, the key elements about mindmapping software, from many different perspectives and with new and very interesting notes to have under consideration, if you want to enter these techniques, that will change your life.
During the following posts I will try to focus on the main concepts within the Manifesto, that is a gift to Chuck for keeping himself up for this work.
Congratulations, Chuck.

What maintains me away from mindmapping, push me forwards

2008-03-18T22:05:00.003+01:00

Excuse me for the incoveniences by not posting so frequently, I will attempt to overcompensate.
Thanks to all the folks that questioned me about the absence.

Goals setting and splitting

2008-02-13T18:27:00.006+01:00

Many times in business life, one is located in the middle of the chain.
One receives goals from his/her boss and must set up goals to the different collaborators. Obviously it is a rather good method, by using a good splitting, to have all the differente company levels working towards the same with coherence.
What´s inside this post, it is a method to split down goals to different collaborators and different positions, by using filter techniques within software-made maps (specifically MindManager).
You write down your goals in a map and using the Resources within Text Markers to define every one of your collaborators, which must be alligned with that goal.
After completing the secuence you can determine the different goals, which one of your collaborators have, by filtering the whole map.
Obviously the example is just for clarification, consider the case of having 35 goals to get and 30 collaborators and find a way to match them accordingly.

Getting a way forward

2008-02-04T14:02:00.000+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I was having a nice talk with Philippe Boukobza via Google Talk. We were talking about the two brain hemispheres and the sensations one could have by using the righty.
Also I was thinking about how to identify when you´re using it and the many multiple activities, in which you work primary with it.
In the map, I relate activities I use to practise, which I think they are getting a way forward to use that part of my brain.
Many multiple different activities seem to hace a common goal.
Getting the sensation like if you were driven by the muses.

Mindmapped house

2008-02-04T13:56:00.000+01:00

Finally I got the house, after many multiple mindmaps to optimize the costs.
Also I got a very cute mortgage from my banker.