Mind Mapping For Dummies

Step 1: Taking Mind-Mapping notes

It’s quite impossible for your brain to assimilate and retain the content of a book or lecture simply by reading or listening and without taking notes. Learning specialists and educationalists repeatedly emphasise the importance of note-taking. Prof. Stangl of the University of Linz describes note-taking as ‘written memory’, essential for memorising content. He gives the following tips on taking notes:

Arrange keywords in a non-linear sequence.

Don’t write everything down word for word.

Link what you hear to what you already know.

Structure what you’ve heard.

Develop a system of abbreviations and symbols.

Haven’t you heard that somewhere before? Professor Stangl doesn’t actually suggest making Mind Maps. However, the aspects mentioned by him are all contained within the Mind-Mapping technique.

What this first step means for you the learner is that you should always take notes, whether when reading a book or listening to a lecture. As you’d expect, I ...