Why Some Projects Explode: Mind Mapping Your Task List!
Whether planning a day, a week, a month or year of your life, a mind-mapped task list will help you create a dynamic, interesting and beautiful way to get your life in order.
Why not choose a day planner, an online "to do" organizer, or an outline instead? Because task-specific mind mapping has innumerable advantages.
First off, a mind map doesn't put you in the position of sacrificing your view of the larger context of your project. All too often, people lose track of the relative importance of a certain task when compared to the overall objective of the project.
A second, very strong reason for mind mapping your tasks is this: you can easily communicate a task priority or relevance by prioritizing it visually. The task may be illustrated with colors or numbered, whatever method that makes distinctions for you best. The fact that you can easily return to each prioritized task and note whether your actions are in line with the priority designated will also be of value.
And, of course, using a mind map and capitalizing on the visual, you can take away tasks as you complete them or check them off so each day when you begin again, you know exactly where you are, and don't have to carry forward uncompleted tasks. This saves you time and prevents you from losing track of smaller items that may, otherwise, slip from view.
Advantages of Mind Mapped Task Lists
Ready to implement your first Task Mind Map? Great. Let's do it.
Creating Your 'Organize Yourself Through Tasks' Mind Map
- Create a new Mind Map and place the time frame for the tasks in the center.
- Next, conduct a brainstorming session. In most situations, your work will be goal-focused. In this case, create branches for each overall goal for the period and then break the overall goal down into a series of smaller tasks.
- Once you have this down, you can create checkboxes on the branches to check off as you complete each item.
- Also, add priority markers so that you know what goals are most important, as well as time commitments, estimates or deadlines like 5 hours or 2 days, to further clarify expectations surrounding those goals.
- Be sure to link your weekly map into your monthly map, your monthly map to your yearly map and so forth to manage the connections over time.
Example Task List Layout
Final Observations on Using Task Mind Maps Powerfully
If used intelligently, task mind maps can become very powerful documents both for future problem-solving and personal growth. Try it. There's nothing more interesting than seeing where attention, consciously applied, can lead.
Some Useful Links on Mind Mapping Software and the Art of Mind Mapping
- Example Mind Maps
- This shows a gallery of lots of sample Mind Maps developed to improve productivity and communications
- Business Guide to Mind Mapping book
- Everything you need to know to use Mind Mapping in a business context.
- Smart Goal Setting
- How to set goals that you will actually achieve.
- Making Presentations Flow
- How to enhance your business by making compelling presentations.
- How to make Mind Maps
- Information about how to make Mind Maps from Mind Mapping expert and founder of NovaMind, Gideon King.
- How to grow your business using Mind Mapping
- Information and example Mind Maps and videos showing you how to grow your business using Mind Mapping.
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