Do you mindmap?

I do! It’s one of the most important skills or disciplines I’ve developed over the past 3 years. Lifehacker recently surveyed their readership to find the best mindmapping tools…

“Mind mapping is a great way to add structure to brainstorming sessions and visualize your ideas. Check out the applications your fellow readers use to do their best brainstorming.” Source: Hive Five: Five Best Mind Mapping Applications 

Go to the source and read about the 5 favorites. Personally, I use Freemind, Mindmeister and Xmind in that order. What are your favorites? Comments please…

Update 10/21/09: Since I wrote this post back in March of 2009, I have become disenchanted with Xmind due to their difficult to manage licensing scheme. I have become enthralled, however with MindManager Pro. Whenever I have something I need to figure out for myself or want to explain to someone else [like a screencast] chances are I’ll mindmap it first to help me make sure I cover all the bases. I also use Mindmeister quite a bit primarily because of their cloud computing approach to mindmapping. I can publish a mindmap on the internet and embed it in a post like this:

They also have an iPhone app that flawlessly syncs with the online version. These days, chances are I’ll start my map in MindManager Pro and make it public in Mindmeister when it’s ready to go. Only problem is that MindManager is very $$$. You can duplicate the same workflow with Freemind [which is free] and Mindmeister. Questions? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page to reach me — if you contact me, I’ll send you an invitation to try out Mindmeister!

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