Take a look at your desk. Is it piled with a variety of tasks that need to be completed? Are you using this holiday in the middle of the week to assess and progress toward the light at the end of the tunnel?

When I am faced with a variety of things to complete, I take the visual route: mind mapping.

Whether I need to prioritize my task list or I am starting a multi-part project, mind mapping is a great tool for getting thoughts out of your head and onto paper in a quick, effective manner.

1. Start with the main idea and put it in a circle in the center of the page.
2. Think of the buckets of tasks that need to be completed or expanded on and put each bucket in a circle surrounding the center main idea.
3. Using bullet points, under each bucket write a few words to describe some of the tasks that are associated with each bucket.

Don't write details - don't think too much about what you are writing - just get it all out of your head.

If the project is large - each bucket circle may need to become its own mind map.

Check out these instructions for completing a mind map and then give it a try the next time you are thinking through all of the details of a project or just want to prioritize your day.

I purchased an inexpensive drawing notebook and each page represents a day of the week. The center circle is the primary focus of the day and each bubble around the center represents the different aspects of my day:

- follow up calls
- invoicing
- editing
- blogging
- errands

Have you had success with mind mapping? How do you use it?

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer, Cartographer
AllWrite Ink