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By buyballoonboy, February 16, 2010 6:45 pm

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In any given year, there are a host of important dates one has to remember. There are birthdays, anniversaries, and special events that occur, each of which is important to those celebrating the occasion. To keep track of these dates, most people use day planners, electronic calendars, and other organizational tools. Yet, Mind Mapping software tools provide a much simpler and more efficient way to remember dates, due to their inherent advantage over these alternatives for organizing data. With Mind Maps, users can organize a year’s worth of important dates and events into one, spatially formatted and highly intuitive diagram. Moreover, users can organize this data using colorful and creative visual representations, making the data easier to conceptualize and recall. Mind Maps, therefore, give users and incredibly easy and effective way to manage all the important occasions occurring in their year.

What is Mind Mapping Software?

Mind Mapping software is any software that is used to create diagrams, pictures, and other graphic visuals in order to show the relationship between ideas or other types of information. With Mind Maps, the key concept or main idea of the information being presented is represented by a central image, located in the center of the map. Any themes surrounding the main idea are shown on “branches” that are attached to the central topic, with subsequent themes of less importance attached by “child branches” or “twigs”. The resulting diagram is a “map” of the ideas and information shown in a spatial, rather than linear, format. Moreover, along with the ideas shown on the map are images, visual graphics, and colors that the constructor of the “map” associates with each of the themes and ideas. Mapping out information in this manner is widely believed to allow the brain to process the information in way that is much more consistent with its natural functioning.

Using Mind Mapping to Organize Important Dates

Hoping to avoid the hassle of keeping up with a day planner this year, a woman decides to use a Mind Map to organize important dates and events for the upcoming year. She begins constructing her Mind Map by representing the upcoming calendar year as an image, located in the map’s center. Next, the woman attaches “branches”, representing the major categories of dates and events she wants to remember, to the central image. On “child branches”, the woman then lists the actual dates and events for each category. She further lists any comments or special notes about the dates and events on the attached “twigs”. While constructing her map, the woman makes sure to use any colors, pictures, or graphics that she associates with each category or date in order to help her remember them. When she has completed her Mind Map, it looks similar to the attached Map diagram.

Using the Mind Map to Remember Dates and Events

As the woman is preparing to go to her dad’s birthday party, she remembers what a difficult time she had last year keeping track of dates and events such as this. She often misplaced her day planner, and could not remember whose birthday or wedding was approaching, or when an event was taking place. This year, the woman is quickly astonished at how easily she remembers dates and events. Now she does not have to worry about finding her day planner -- her Mind Map showing everything she needs to know is clearly displayed on her bulletin board -- but she remembers almost every event anyway due to the visual associations with which she constructed her Map. The woman now gives herself plenty of time to shop for presents or plan the outfit she is wearing to each occasion, having known for weeks ahead when the event will occur. With Mind Mapping, the woman finds that she can focus more on enjoying the special occasions in her and her loved ones’ lives, rather than on trying to remember them.