Xmind: a Free Self-Exploration Tool

Xmind is a great–free–mind-mapping tool that you can use to explore yourself!

When I was trying to decide what kind of blog I wanted to begin, I needed to find a way to organize all the aspects of my life, to see what was most important to me.  I was going to go out and buy a big piece of poster-board, when my friend Rebecca suggested Xmind–an open source software that is free to download and use.

The above mind-map was what I created within 1/2 an hour of using the tool.  It is very user-friendly and the only complaint I have is that you can’t share your mind-maps with others, unless they have x-mind installed on their computer (the file extension is .xmind). That’s why I can only share the screenshot with you.

I have only used it the one time, but I plan to use it soon for the novel I’m writing.  I have previously used poster-board to map out all of the characters/settings/conflicts in my novel to get a greater appreciation of any connections or themes that I may have missed.  This proved invaluable to me, but the problem is that the poster-board takes up lots of space and is hard to edit.

When I get that little project accomplished, I’ll make sure to share it here on my blog.  Below are some links I found about the uses of mind-maps for personal, creative and professional projects.

I’m really interested to know what others use xmind for, so if you have any great ideas, please let me know!

Here are some useful mind-map links:

• wiki on how to make mind-maps for various cognitive functions (planning, organizing, learning etc.),
• for note-taking,
• for creative efforts,
• for studying,
• for project management,
• brand designing,
• webspiration is another free mind-mapping tool that also includes other collaboration tools,
• Coming soon, using mind-maps for creative writing.