Mind Map Notebook

Thursday, November 10, 2016 | Davilyn at Thursday, November 10, 2016 |

I have a notebook that I love to just doodle in.  I call it my mind map notebook.  It is one of those notebooks that is good for just getting some random thoughts and ideas down on paper, to see if they are viable to do anything else with.  Well, let's be honest, I have several of these kinds of notebooks.

I am the person, whom when I get an idea for a book, for a project, for a blog post, or an event, I pull out a notebook, often my mind map one, and start throwing ideas down.

The way I usually do it is I start with the central idea in the middle of the page, I circle it.  Then absolutely every other random thought that comes to mind about that particular idea, I write somewhere on that page.  If I can work up to about 100 thoughts to go along with that idea, then it is probably a good idea for a book, a blog, or the project.  If it is an event I need to work on, I write down every possible thing I need to plan for or worry about.

Once I have all of the ideas down in my mind map notebook, I can then start to sort and fine tune the idea a bit more.  Sometimes the ideas sit in my notebook for a long time before I come back to them for another visit.  I fine tune the ideas by color coding them.  All ideas that can be sorted under one sub-topic I will circle in green pen, others in red, blue, black and so on.  Once they are sorted into subcategories, I will start writing, or sorting even a little further to get my more complete outline of the idea.  It is just a method that works for me.

On Amazon

This particular mind map turned into an eBook you can find on Amazon titled Retreat Yourself - How to Create Your Own Writer's Retreat.  You can pick it up for less than $3.  It is a good little read if I do say so myself.  :)

My brain is one of those that is always thinking.  A quote, a thought, something someone says, something I read, a song, a picture, all can spur an idea in my mind and get me going.  When the thoughts are spinning, I need to write them down or I will undoubtedly forget them and move on with the next.

You can find printables of mind maps if you just google it.  If you are one that likes to have it neat and crisp then by all means go this route.  I thrive with scribbling down my thoughts and then sort them out neater - in outline form - later.

A mind map notebook is a great place to dump all of your random ideas that may or may not come to fruition some day.