Visualize a spider or a tree full of branches now. With a mind map, you take the concept of the airplane and write AIRPLANES in the center (the spider’s body or the trunk of the tree) of a horizontally oriented, blank piece of paper. Then, radiating out from the airplane, are different colored lines (tree limbs or spider legs). On these you write the associations you had to airplanes, such as PILOTS and AIRPORTS. From each of these are more associations, which you note on individual lines.
In association with pilots you might think of their pay or training. And so the map grows.[3]
A mind map mirrors how our brains actually process and recall information – dynamically and visually, not in a purely linear fashion as it was once thought.
For instance, mind mapping has proven very effective for note taking. Instead of writing down each word the teacher says as it’s said (linear thinking), you write the name of the lecture topic in the center of your paper. As subtopics, examples, dates and other information are discussed, you draw and label corresponding branches.
It’s also used instead of standard outlines in academia to prepare essays, to write research papers, to study for exams, etc.