How to enhance your studies with the mind map?

There are so many thoughts going through your head that it can be difficult to organize the information in order to find the answers or express yourself in the best way. So wouldn’t it be nice to have a kind of guide to guide your thoughts about content?

This is exactly the idea of ​​the tool. That is, you assemble a visual map that helps you to perceive the important points of the matter and to remember them more easily when you need to.

But how to make a mind map for study? In this content, you’ll check out all the information you need about the feature and a step-by-step guide to put it into practice. Enjoy!

Why look for new techniques to study better?

Before learning more about the mind map, it is worth understanding why it is interesting to know new study techniques. The main point is to understand that each person has a specific way of learning, after all, we are not all the same. Thus, there are people who find it easier to learn through videos and others who find it better to read.

When it comes time to take notes or review content, some people will write summaries, while others prefer visual tools.

And how can you figure out which is the best strategy for your case? Knowing new possibilities and testing! Therefore, understanding better about mind maps can be very useful.

What is the mind map?

The mind map is a type of visual summary that uses keywords and graphic signs to synthesize content. Its objective is to start from a central idea and add branches and information along with it. In the end, the diagram resembles the structure of neurons in the brain, with various branches and connections leading from the center.

The mind map strategy was created by Tony Buzan, an English psychologist. His goal was to have a tool that would boost learning and memory. For this, he included visual elements — such as colors, more drawn letters, symbols and images. These aspects draw the attention of the brain and help to memorize the subject.

In addition, mind map connections allow you to link ideas and summarize content in a practical and efficient way. With that, taking a quick look at the mind map makes it possible to review the material easily. It also makes it easier to remember the subject later, as the colors, symbols and connections stimulate the brain and leave more marks in the memory.

What are the benefits of mind mapping for your studies?

By knowing what a mental map is, you could already see some advantages of it for your study. After all, the feature was developed by a psychologist based on knowledge about the human brain. Therefore, it presents several positive aspects for your learning.

Check out more details about the main benefits of the mind map!

Provides ease and convenience

The mind map is a very simple study tool. It can be made with materials you have on hand and doesn’t require a lot of planning. Just understand the subject and think about the connections it presents. Then you can list keywords and develop the diagram based on them.

In addition to the ease of making your mind map, it is also very practical to save and review it when necessary. If your material is on paper, just have a folder or notebook to keep the maps — and you can take them wherever you want. In addition, it is possible to use mobile devices, such as cell phones and tablets, to store them easily.

It has many uses

You can make maps for a test or organize your speech in a job, for example. They can be used for any subject. In addition, you can also use this tool for several other activities that you do in your life – whether it be study, professional or personal.

Its primary use is to organize information and help you plan or review it. Therefore, mind maps are widely used in companies, when an employee or team needs to coordinate new projects, record meetings, manage tasks or share important ideas with other people.

A mind map can also be useful in other contexts, such as:

• financial planning;
• preparation for interviews or lectures;
• organization of personal goals;
• routine activities .

As you can see, the mind map will not only help your learning today but throughout your life.

Help to visualize the content

As we have seen, the mind map is a type of visual content and this stimulates the brain more, thus facilitating learning.

When you only study from books or write summaries, it can be a lot harder to find relevant information to review. Already in the mind map, everything will be organized and easy to check with a quick glance.

Optimize review time

When studying, time is a very important resource—and it is not infinite. Many students face difficulties because they don’t have more time available to review a subject, watch a video again or check their notes.

Thus, using the mind map is a good idea, as it offers speed both when taking notes and when reviewing.

How to build your mind map?

Were you interested in using the mind map to organize your day-to-day studies? So it’s worth checking out a step-by-step to create your learning guides. Check it out!

Choose the materials

The first step to having good mind maps is choosing the materials. If you are going to use technology as an ally, you can make your maps on a tablet. These devices have apps and tools that help you design and store your abstracts easily.

But it is also possible to make mind maps on paper. For this, a tip is to use sheets without guidelines and thicker. This way, you can draw and make connections without harming the paper or staining the map with pen ink. That’s because colored pens are generally used that release more ink — especially to make details, such as arrows.

Study the content

The mind map is an excellent tool for your learning, but its efficiency depends on its power to synthesize the contents. Therefore, an essential step is to study carefully and understand the main points of the material.

In this way, you will be able to choose the keywords and think about the connections to express in the mind map.

Start with the main theme

You saw here that the mind map resembles the structure of neurons, with branches coming out of the center, right?

Therefore, the beginning of its construction is given by the central theme. If you are studying the industrial revolution, for example, you can place these terms in the center of the paper and, from them, insert the ramifications that are related to that historical moment.

Brainstorm

The mental map is not always clear in your head from the beginning. After all, his function is to organize thoughts. So it might be interesting to make a sketch to clean up later.

In that case, you can write a list of everything that seems to be related to the topic of study. After that, it will be time to organize and analyze what will be kept or discarded.

Organize the mind map visually

When you already have the ideas prepared, it will be time to make the mind map visually interesting. Bear in mind that visual aids are responsible for increasing the efficiency of this tool .

Therefore, use strategies such as:

• • bold or underline words;
  • merge colors;

• insert symbols or arrows to indicate connections.

But it’s also worth being careful. If the mind map gets too colorful and full of different symbols, it can be difficult to understand quickly.

So try to set up an easy-to-understand structure and make the hierarchy of information clear, so you know what to review first. One tip is to write the central themes in larger letters, for example.

What tools to use?

Although you can make a mind map on paper, it may be easier to organize your thoughts with the help of specific programs. Therefore, it is worth knowing online tools to help with your studies.

canvas

A website or app that might be helpful for this is Canva. It’s not exclusive to mind maps, but it has a lot of cool design tools.

Mindmeister

Mindmeister is a website designed especially for building mind maps. It has a free and paid version and offers several features. For example, you can share your mind map for others to collaborate on. In addition, there is the advantage of storing the maps in the cloud – to have access anywhere.

Coggle and MindNode

Other tools worth knowing are Coggle and Mind Node. Like the previous ones, both allow you to organize your ideas in digital mental maps. Therefore, it is easier to erase and insert information, in addition to saving your summaries digitally.

Now that you know more about the mind map, know how to make one and how to use it for your study, put it into practice to boost your ability to memorize and review content!