Information Overload

We are all faced with an endless amount of information daily.  Information overload is truly an epidemic that everyone in some way, shape, or form has to tackle.  An interesting piece of information that I read recently discussed the distinction between “sensory overload” and “information overload.”  Sensory overload occurs when your brain is bombarded with images, sensations, and sounds; however, our minds are equipped to handle tens of millions of sensory information per second.

Why?  Our brains have had millions of years of evolution to adapt to this.  Information overload, on the other hand, is a relatively new issue and has only been such an enormous phenomenon in recent years.  Consequently, our brains have not yet evolved to be able to handle all the information that is presented to us.

As a result, we tend to lose focus, feel overwhelmed, and then become less productive.  We become obsessed with consuming as much information as we can (which is impossible) and steer away from what needs to be done.  This leads to procrastination, although we usually believe we are doing our work, because we are reading articles/blogs, etc.; however, the work that is necessary gets delayed or not finished at all.

Here is a link to an article from Lifehack that lists ways to overcome information overload and become more productive and thrive in the midst of the chaos.

Cupcakes!

Everyone loves cupcakes, but I bet most people don’t spend much time thinking about the “cupcake industry” or the ingredients that make cupcakes possible. However, that’s not the case for Jason at the blog Frugal Dad. In the following infographic he shares a lot of information about cupcakes and their ingredients.

You might not think such a topic would make an interesting story, but the quality of the visual information makes the graphic really fun to explore! Just another example of the power of visual information.

Enjoy! And don’t forget to treat yourself to a cupcake this weekend.

Clearing Out the Clutter

Lately, I have been focused on keeping my room consistently clean, a very daunting task for me.  I am notorious for throwing my clothes on the floor at times (ok, ok, often) after undressing, because I am “too tired” or “too busy” to properly put them away in drawers/hang them up.

Time and time again, I think to myself how much better I would feel if I just got rid of the clutter and mess in my room.  I would be able to move around my room effortlessly and actually be able to access the outfit I would like to wear on a particular day without rummaging through piles of clothes, stressed and frustrated.  There are times, as well, when I forget I even have a certain article of clothing because it may be hiding under my bed!

I am sure that many of you can relate to at least part of my story.  Often, I listen to my peers discuss their dreaded projects to clean their home/office and, I also come across blogs that frequently talk about the benefits of a well-organized/tidy environment.

However, how often do we think about decluttering our minds?  It’s incomprehensible to imagine how much information our brains are retaining, processing, and filtering at any given time.   Even more, this information has endless layers that go as far back to when we were born.  Our brains, although amazing, have to work so tirelessly all the time to contain all these thoughts and at the same time create new ones while analyzing new messages being presented to us.

Most of us try and keep lists and tasks in our heads throughout the day, while at the same time daydreaming about someone or something, communicating, performing our work related duties, reading, writing, and so much more!

How can our minds be efficient and creative when we are bogged down with so much clutter?  How can we have the space in our minds to generate new ideas and expand on and access thoughts that are not at the forefront of our thinking?

The answer:  We cannot.

There is only a limited number of information our brains can retain at one time, so that’s where mind mapping comes in as a way to map out our ideas that are at the forefront, so there is room for more innovative and imaginative thoughts to surface.  Then, you can add the new ideas to the map and continue generating more.  Also, your mind will be able to relax which is vital for productivity and creativity.  If you are overwhelmed with racing thoughts, you will not be as efficient and inventive.

The Power of Visual Information

Mind mapping is a powerful tool in large part because it allows us to organize information visually. Many of our widely-used communication tools are verbal– email, word processors, reports, phone communication– and we often forget the great power of visual communication. As children, we learned to understand the world visually long before we learned to communicate with language.

Mind mapping allows us to use our brain’s powerful visual processing abilities to organize information and solve problems in ways we might never have discovered otherwise.

The other day I came across a chart that truly shows the power of visual information. Inspired by the famous statistician Edward Tufte, Zach Beane at www.xach.com created a method of illustrating the box office runs of the top 25 movies in America for an entire year’s worth of time. You can check out the charts he’s made at www.xach.com/moviecharts/. The following image is from the 2011 chart:

Zach’s chart communicates so much information with a single image. Moving your mouse over one of the “streams” shows the movie title and total box office gross. His choice to use different colors lets you easily see how the performance of each movie changed as the weeks pass– some movies show a slow steady growth over many weeks, while other movies start strong but begin decreasing immediately.

Can you imagine trying to gather all this information from a spreadsheet or a list of numbers? The visual presentation makes the information so much richer and more exciting. Do you have any favorite examples of visual information?

Let your visual imagination go wild while you are using MindMaple and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Procrastination

After reading a post on time management and procrastination recently, I started thinking….  It is always important to be specific when creating mind maps, because listing ambiguous words like “write blog post” means there is still more information that needs to be generated; thus, people will generally put off the task until they feel like coming up with more specifics.   Equally significant, though, is to set appropriate time frames to accomplish tasks.   There is a term called, concentration threshold, which states that if people give themselves too little time to complete a task, they will not do it, because they view it as unrealistic.  In addition, if people give themselves too much time to finish a task, they will procrastinate up until the exact time when they need to start the task to get it done on time.  So, apparently, people do at least have a sense of how long it will realistically take to get tasks done, but do not necessarily allot the appropriate time to get it done.

I think, when creating mind maps, which of course is about being productive and managing time more efficiently, it’s important to put realistic time frames on the maps as well.  MindMaple has a number of great features to help prioritize and set time frames.  For example, there are task icons which have numbers to choose the order of tasks, percentages to show progress, check marks for completed tasks, and more.  Here is an example of a mind map I created.  Happy mapping!!

Happy New Year from MindMaple!

A new year is almost upon us. For many people, it’s a time to reflect on the past year, make a new start and set some new goals for the upcoming year.

I have learned from past experience to keep the following things in mind anytime I set goals:

1. Be specific. It’s easy to make general goals, such as “live a healthier lifestyle” or “be more productive,” and it is helpful to keep these general directions in mind, but it’s more difficult to be accountable to yourself unless you have specific,. clearly-defined goals that you can achieve on a weekly or daily basis.

2. Don’t spread yourself too thin. It’s great to set ambitious goals! But if you set too many goals for yourself, it’s easy to get overwhelmed or discouraged when you hit roadblocks. A good strategy is to break up an ambitious, challenging goal into a series smaller goals. As you find success with these smaller goals, it provides a sense of accomplishment that propels you towards your larger goals.

MindMaple is a perfect tool for brainstorming and organizing your ideas for the new year.

Here’s an example mind map I made using MindMaple to illustrate a possible brainstorming session (these aren’t necessarily my goals; I tried to imagine goals that many people can relate to).

New Years Brainstorming Session

There are a lot of goals on this map, probably more than the average person would want to tackle in a single year. So I used MindMaple’s Icon Marker feature to mark priority goals with an exclamation point, such as financial goals and health goals. Since finance is a priority for this individual, I also used a “coin stack” marker to indicate goals that might be expensive and therefore in conflict with the primary goal of financial responsibility. I also used the a Relationship feature to indicate related goals, which led me to note the connections between certain goals.

After brainstorming and focusing on a few specific goals, I made a more condensed mind map with specific goals. MindMaple’s Task Information features and Completion markers would be great to use to keep track of goal progress throughout the year.

Goals for the New Year

Don’t forget about the original brainstorming map! You can continue updating it if you come up with new goals during the year, and it could be a great source of inspiration several months down the road.

Happy New Year! And good luck with your goals and resolutions.

-Jabe

Breaking the Patterns

Hello!  I just wanted to take a moment to highlight some points regarding MindMaple  that I believe are quite significant.  MindMaple has arrived at the perfect time, since the nature of work has notably changed as a result of our current economic situation.  Workers are having to wear multiple hats, performing not only their jobs, but others as well due to layoffs.  Workloads and projects have increased in addition to workers needing to be more creative and innovative to help grow business.

In terms of education, students and teachers are subjected to increased pressure and workload as well.  On a personal level, this overload then bleeds into individuals’ lives making it difficult to manage home, family and work.  This situation has left people overwhelmed, hindering them from taking on extra projects, finishing tasks, and completing work with as much quality.

I know my tone and content in this post appears to put a damper on the MindMaple celebration, but there is a happy ending to this story.  I promise.  This is where MindMaple comes in as a solution to this problem.  MindMaple enables people to be able to successfully tackle their work and take on projects they may not have been able to otherwise.  This product helps individuals to think more creatively and be more productive in both their personal and professional lives.

One of the greatest things about MindMaple is that it is for both beginner and advanced use.  It has a very user friendly interface which will not be daunting for new users and provides structure for the maps when you are just getting started.  In time, with more use, there is ample room for creative freedom with MindMaple and you can design your maps how you like with numerous features to choose from to enhance it.  Also, there is a context sensitive tool bar, so new users are not bombarded with the many options available.  Just another way MindMaple is very intuitive.

Now, I know that when you are stressed and overloaded, it makes it challenging to try something new and break ingrained, long standing patterns of the way you would normally brainstorm, take notes, and outline.  But let me point out the obvious…It has not been working well enough and you are still overwhelmed, right?  So, what do you have to lose?

I, myself, know how easy it is to get comfortable in habits even though they are not serving me.  So, the new year is coming.   Why not make a new year’s resolution to manage your life better, feel better, and try something new?  Who knows, perhaps MindMaple will revolutionize the way you think, work, and communicate forever.

Cheers!!

The MindMaple Blog Sets Sail

Greetings reader! Thanks for joining me on the maiden voyage of the MindMaple blog. Sorry, I’ve already smashed the champagne bottle.

To get this started, take a look at the following mind map, which I made using MindMaple. It’s a large image with small text, so you might want to open it in a new window to get a better look. The mind map describes how I envision the growth and purpose of this blog.

My vision for the MindMaple Blog

As you can see, one of my major hopes for the blog is that it can be a tool for interaction between us, the MindMaple team, and you, our users. We want to answer any questions you have about our product , so feel free to ask! And we would be thrilled to get feedback from you about MindMaple. We want to hear both the good–such as ways you use mind mapping to accomplish your goals, or mind maps you’ve made and that you think others will appreciate–and the ways we can improve and help you better.

Another goal I have for this blog is for it to be a site for sharing our ideas and inspirations related to mind mapping. I am continually amazed by the versatility of MindMaple as a tool. It can used by executives at powerful corporations to organize presentations and meetings and by children in school learning language and vocabulary. I’m sure each one of us has unique ways we use MindMaple. Let’s share our ideas!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Jabe