5 Common Mind-Mapping Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

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Being able to create effective mind maps is a useful skill that can help improve your productivity. That said, there are some common traps people fall into.

In the rest of this piece, we’ll go through some common mind-mapping mistakes and how to avoid them, so you can make the most of the mind-mapping process.

Later, we’ll talk about 3 common types of mind map you can use. First, though, we’ll discover what not to do and how to avoid these mistakes.

Mistake 1: Getting Lost in the Details

As you begin to formulate ideas, your main ones may branch off in several directions. Remember, the whole point of a mind map is to clarify your ideas so you can take in the information quickly, and easily share it with others.

If you note all the insights you’ve had about the ideas, you’re probably going to get lost in the details. This has two main downsides.

• It will be tricky to draw conclusions.
• You risk losing sight of your original idea, making the entire process of creating a mind map pointless.

How to Avoid

So, how can you avoid making this mistake?

Start by writing down any ideas and subtopics that are related or relevant to your primary topic. Doing that can stop you from including random thoughts in your map.

When you start creating your map, you should:

• Write the purpose of your mind map at the top.
• Use colour coding to distinguish between different branches of your main idea.
• Use relevant images to convey information and detail.
• Refer to the stated purpose of your mind map repeatedly to remind yourself of your goals and stay on track.

Mistake 2: Style Over Substance

It is all too easy to become distracted by visual elements, components of style like colour and font styles can also detract from your focus. There is nothing wrong with making your mind map look pretty, but if you start to forget why you wanted to make a mind map in the first place, it’s time to rein yourself in, lest your map becomes ineffective.

How to Avoid

To steer clear of this pitfall:

• Separate design from content.
• Don’t multitask.
• Collect all the information for your mind map before adding style elements.

Mistake 3: Not Following Design Principles

If your mind map is lengthy, it can become difficult to read. This doesn’t mean you can’t use mind maps to illustrate big ideas. However, you do need to filter out any unnecessary information.

The problem arises when you don’t follow solid design principles to organise such large amounts of information. Things can become confused quickly if you don’t do this, eventually rendering the map useless.

How to Avoid

Use design principles that help you sort information. For example, you can:

• Imply movement from one idea to another using arrows.
• Use grouping to keep similar ideas together.
• Use distinct colours to highlight different topics and show your thought process.

Mistake 4: Not Using Images or Diagrams

Mind maps are meant to help you visualise ideas. You’re missing a trick if you are not using other tools to complement your map, so it has more of an impact.

How to Avoid

You can explore your main topic more fully or from a different angle, and investigate various aspects of it, to find logical relationships and identify gaps in your knowledge or the information you have collected.

For example, you can:

• Use a spider map to get an overview of your topic.
• Create a flow map to show the progression of ideas.
• Employ a multi-flow map when you need to convey cause and effect.
• Use a brace map when you want to take a closer look at a subtopic.

Mistake 5: Not Using Images and Using Too Many Words

Contrary to popular belief, if you use nothing but words in your mind map it could be a big mistake because the sheer amount of information contained in it can become overwhelming. Using too many long sentences can mean the map does not fulfil its main purpose of clarifying information for you and others.

How to Avoid  

Use images to break down complex topics and make it easier to absorb information on the main topics and subtopics. Use short words, and only note relevant insights. Remember that you’re creating a mind map to streamline and organise information.

You should:

• Prioritise information so you don’t get lost in a sea of extraneous detail.
• Use your map to ask questions designed to help you engage with your map, rather than just skim-read it. These can be questions like, why could this be so? The key is that all the questions you include in your map should be self-reflective.
• Not overload your brain with information. Doing so can hamper your ability to understand the ideas presented in the mind map.
• Explain ideas with an added note using short words so as not to clutter your map.

Now we know some key mind-mapping mistakes and how to avoid them, let’s find out about 3 common maps we can use before we wrap things up.

3 Common Mind Maps

Different maps are used depending on the type of project being undertaken. Library maps track information, presentation maps convey ideas to a given group, and tunnel timeline maps are used to create and organise a project plan.

Let’s go into a little more detail.

Library Mind Maps

These are used to organise information in a visual format. Library maps:

• Start with several ideas, which are then grouped together in a tree-like structure.
• This structure encourages you to link relevant ideas together, build logical relationships, and work out how each subtopic interacts with the main idea.
• Focus on ideas.
• Are particularly good for solving problems and organising information into an easily digestible format.

Presentation Mind Maps

These maps show how an idea or series of ideas progress from one point to another. Presentation maps:

• Are designed to follow a discussion and serve as a visual representation of the flow of that discussion.
• Focus on the people involved in the debate or discussion rather than on the ideas shared.
• Consist of a core topic that is controlled by team discussion.
• They can be used to detail a training program, discuss an argument and any viable solutions to it, or illustrate behaviour during a specific process. For instance, a consumer’s behaviour and actions during the purchasing process.

Tunnel Timeline Mind Maps

 These maps, sometimes also called planning maps, are used to plan projects or choose what actions you’ll take when working on a project.

Tunnel Timeline maps:

• Can be used for project planning, problem-solving, or to serve as a clear action plan.
• Take a core idea that is linked to the outcome or goal you wish to achieve. Each subtopic included in the map represents a step towards achieving your stated goal or goals. For more on this setting yourself targets and goals, see our post on ways to set goals.
• Are particularly useful for investigating actionable solutions to a given problem.

Wrapping Up

Now you know 5 common mind-mapping mistakes and how to avoid them. You also have an idea of the types of situations in which 3 types of maps are used, and so are well on your way to achieving mind mapping success.

If you understand the key characteristics of the type of mind map you want to use and know how to use it, you’ve won half the battle before you begin.

Why not try creating some mind maps and see if they help you better understand ideas and clarify information?

You might just find using them helps improve your problem-solving skills, helps you think more critically, and ultimately makes you more effective and productive at what you do.

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