Technology Tuesday - MindNode - Brainstorming Digitally

Many of us remember learning how to complete mind maps or brainstorming sessions from school. We used to draw it all out on paper or the chalkboard, yes those were a thing once. Today, there are many options for capturing and organizing your thoughts. MindNode is one of those tools and one that I find extremely useful.MindNode has many different uses. It is not just limited to the traditional mind map, because of its flexibility, you can put it to work for you in an assortment of different ways. I’ll share a few of the ways I use MindNode so you can determine if this may be the right tool for you. Throughout this article, I will use a sample ‘Node’ I put together as I planned this post.I use MindNode on occasion to flesh out ideas I have for writing projects. I can start with the central theme of the article and then build the key topics or components that will be the structure of the article.MindNode gives you a blank slate to begin with, starting with your central concept in the middle, the rest is up to you. It is simple to build on that central thought with a tap of the screen, a keyboard shortcut, or click of the mouse. You can build on the idea you started or begin a separate sub-node based on the central subject.The application provides you with many different themes to choose from allowing you to alter the look, feel, and color scheme to your liking and needs. This could be a tool you use for organizational planning, meeting notes, or just capturing your thoughts on the fly. That is the great part of this application.

Different Uses

Because of the flexibility offered within the application, it can be used for many different things. One example would be to use it as a way to capture notes from a meeting. On several occasions, I have used MindNode as a way to take notes during webinars and training sessions. Because you can add media, pictures, or other attachments it ends up being very handy to make those notes as I listen and capture a picture of the screen to connect to the notes I have taken. You can even paste other documents into the node to keep your reference materials altogether.I already mentioned it as a way to think through a blog post or longer form article I am writing. It allows a free-form thought process and an easy method of capturing things as they come to me. MindNode’s canvas expands with your ideas, so whether you have a simple idea that only requires a few extension or a bigger idea that branches out in many different ways, you are covered.Because MindNode has an excellent set of export tools, you can use it as a method of outlining almost anything you are working on. It will allow you to send your captured ideas to Microsoft Word or your task manager of choice. So if you are building an agenda for an upcoming meeting, it can be the perfect tool. If you are doing a brain dump of things you need to get done, it can both convert items to check boxes within the application itself, or it will allow you to send the information to many different popular task management tools.As you can see, MindNode is a handy and flexible application that can help you organize your thoughts, your tasks, as well as your activities in almost any setting. The application is available for iOS devices so that you can capture things on the go from your phone or iPad. There is a corresponding application for MacOS to connect your information seamlessly between your portable devices and your desktop devices. It can be purchased for $14.99 for your iOS devices and $39.99 for the desktop version. While it is not necessarily cheap, I have found that it is worth the cost in the productivity it affords me.I use MindNode on a regular basis and would recommend giving a shot for yourself. Even if you do not do much brainstorming, it can be a great way to get information and ideas you have in your head out into something more than you can put to work for you in the future. To find out more information and to see several examples in use via screencas, checkout the MindNode website.How can you put mind maps to work for you? Share your ideas in the comments section.