Mind Mapping on iPad

As someone who uses the iThoughts mind mapping app on my iPhone, and as a user of FreeMind on my computer, I can’t help but imagine each time I make a mind map how amazing it must be to do mind mapping on an iPad.

Today, I looked it up. And I’m not the only one who thinks mind mapping on the iPad is incredibly cool — although I have yet to try it myself.

Mind mapping expert Chuck Frey points us to the new iThoughts HD iPad mind mapping app.

iPad Mind Mapping

I would love to one day use this mind mapping app on the iPad. It’s tempting to get an iPad for this app alone. Mind mapping points to a truth I’m realizing about the iPad: That even if it is just a “big iPod Touch,” the larger form factor of the iPad can certainly have an advantage in certain scenarios, as in mind mapping.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the practice of mind mapping evolves with time on the iPad. If mind mapping becomes popular (and I think it will), developers will compete to create the best mind mapping app, and we will all benefit. A feature I would love to see on a mind mapping app is the ability to link maps together. For example, if I am working on writing a book, I would like to brainstorm the book content with one mind map, the publicity plan with another, and a newsletter series with a third map. I should then be able to LINK all these maps together in the context of a project.

The Art of Mind Mapping

From Wikipedia:

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.

Mind Map on Notebook

As someone who has at times struggled to stay organized, I have found mind mapping to be a great way to plan and ease anxiety about a project. Mind mapping can boost your productivity tenfold by helping you prepare for an assignment ahead of time in a holistic manner that is much more all-encompassing than a To-Do list.

With mind mapping, you start with a central idea and then create branches, followed by more and more branches that collectively map out all the connections you can make about a project. Once you try mind mapping, you’ll get it right away and be hooked. At least, I was.

I have used mind maps to prepare presentations, plan papers, and create a newsletter that I’m currently working on — stay tuned.

The great thing about mind mapping on a flat surface like the iPad or iPhone is that it is dynamic. Unlike a mind map on a piece of paper, a mind map on the iPad lets you reorganize and edit your mind map as it grows.

Do you do any mind mapping on the iPhone or iPad? What is your favorite mind mapping app?