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All Entries Tagged With: "MindManager"
Working On That New Year’s To-Do List? Here are Some Tips
The new year is all about getting your act together and staying on top of those emails, to-do lists, and more. Here are a few software products to help you along the way:
- MindJet’s MindManager - a very popular application for brainstorming, managing projects, managing to-do lists, and integrating with Outlook. They also make a Mac version
- Outlook 2007 - The To Do list in the side bar is a great way of staying on top of emails that you’ve flagged or tasks you’ve created. To ways to keep tabs on an email: drag it to your Task List button to create a task from the email; or, flag it for follow up so it shows up in the To Do list
- Create a to-do template in OneNote 2007
- Franklin Covey’s PlanPlus for Outlook
- Create an on-the-fly To Do list in Windows Journal
What other tips or software would you recommend?
Mindjet Awards Two More Winners in GBM’s MindManager 8 Contest
I received an email the other day from Mindjet regarding the highly successful contest we ran. They were so impressed with the quality of entries submitted that they gave me an additional two licenses to give away!
So, congratulations to Tom McKee and Michael Wilson. You two, along with Jeff Pollard, are the proud owners of a MindManager 8 license! Read their submissions after the break.
Download your free 30-day trial here. and be sure to watch our InkShow video review here.
GBM InkShow: MindManager 8 Video Review
Mindjet’s MindManager has been an indispensible tool for many folks over the years, and with tablet pc support added in version, it took brainstorming and mapping to a whole new level. MindManager 8 continues to break new ground for the mind mapper.
Video review and much more after the break.
Congratulations to Jeff Pollard, MindManager 8 Winner
We had some awesome entries for our MindManager 8 giveaway. They all clearly showed how indispensible MindManager is to mobile users, and how the new features like embedded browsing and embedded editing are to the research / brainstorming process. Picking a winner proved very difficult and basically came down to randomly choosing among my ten favorite entries. Congratulations, Jeff Pollard! You are now the proud owner of a MindManager 8 license!
Stay tuned for an in-depth look at the new features in MindManager 8. I should have my InkShow review ready by tomorrow afternoon.
MindJet Releases MindManager 8, GBM Is Giving Away One Free License!
MindJet has officially unveiled MindManager 8, the latest installment to their very popular mindmapping program. There are a ton of new features under the covers that help keep you inside MindManager while brainstorming, researching, planning, and managing projects – keeping all the information you need just a topic away.
10 Reasons Why Mind Mapping Can Increase Productivity
The mindmapping softwareblog has a nice list of 10 reasons why mind mapping software should be the foundation of your personal productivity system. If you’re into mind mapping at all, I think you’ll find some agreement somewhere inside that list. If you haven’t yet given mind mapping a go, it makes for some good reasons why you might want to consider it.
I have to say though that I didn’t take to mind mapping easily at first, but now that I have wrapped my brain around it, it is not only an essential tool in and of itself, but the simple act of sitting down with my Tablet PC and doing some thinking and planning via mind mapping also has a very zen-like effect for me. I use MindJet’s MindManager sofware for those needs and I have to say I really enjoy the benefits.
My only problem is finding the time to do so.
MindJet Takes MindManager Online
I wonder if Kevin Tofel will give this a try with his ‘Computing in the Cloud’ challenge. MindJet, maker of the excellent MindManager mind mapping software, is heading into the cloud. MindJet Connect allows online collaboration for MindManager users with three different versions and price levels. (Click on the image below for a larger version.)
Via WebWorker Daily
MindJet Acquires JCVGantt Adding Ink-Enabled Project Management to MindManger
This will be good news for those who use MindManager and need to do some project managment. MindJet, the makers of the excellent mindmapping tool, MindManager, has acquired JCVGantt, a project managing tool. MindManager has long been one of the premiere Inking applciations for the Tablet PC, and accordng to James Kendrick of jkOnTheRun, JCVGantt is also very Ink friendly. I’ve used and continue to use MindManager as one of my core apps, but have never used JCVGantt, but it looks like this will be an interesting addition to the MindJet family and for users.
If you are a previous MindManager owner you can purchase the JCVGantt add-in for $129. If you’re heading into this for the first time a combo package will set you back $399. There is also a 21 day free trial.
Sundays, Planning, and a Tablet PC
On Sunday afternoons, I normally sit back in a quiet area in our house to do some reading, as well as planning for the next week. I’m normally in tablet mode, sitting back in a recliner, working in MindManager for the planning part. The really nice part of a Sunday afternoon is turning the Tablet off and getting in to some good reading ( which typically leads to a great nap! )
In our weekend discussion of why a person should look at a Tablet PC, the value of the below MindManager map is hard to explain to someone. Notice the personal handwriting, links to Outlook emails, links to sections in OneNote, and more. This is typically a map I’ll work out of the entire week, make changes / additions, etc. Sure, a person can MindMap and hyperlink with a regular notebook, but nothing compares to working in tablet mode and doing it with a pen. I’m able to stay much more creative when working with a pen than with a keyboard.
Ok, time to run. There is a big, fluffy pillow calling my name.
MindManager Planning in the Extreme
The extreme cold, that is. Mindjet just announced the completion of a 5 year planning process for an Ice Warrior team trekking the Northwest Passage and making a try for the Arctic Pole.
This latest expedition with a team of novices, marshalled by world famous Arctic-explorer, Jim McNeill, will attempt an extreme polar journey that will thoroughly explore the North West Passage. Jim will then return to his base camp in Resolute Bay, the second most northerly community in Canada before attempting to reach the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility in a crucial scientific exploration of the Arctic Ocean, by aircraft. The pole otherwise known as the Arctic Pole, has never before been reached and stands as the very last World First in Polar history. The planning for this epic journey started in 2003 under the leadership of Jim and with the use of MindManager, a visual information mapping tool. The software was used by the Ice Warrior team to plan all their logistics and critical contingency measures down to the extreme detail during the preparation of this human endurance test.
This has to be the most incredibly complex mind-mapping that I’ve ever heard of. You can read about the story in the press release, but I hope to hear more about how they team actually does with the trek.
Read more about Ice Warrior project.
via The Mindjet Blog
SnagIt and MindManager Note Taking
GBM reader Phillip sent us a link to a guy that used Snag-It and MindManager to take notes with during a training session. It’s an interesting concept to morph the two together. I use SnagIt, from TechSmith (one of our site sponsors), in a similar fashion, but not in combination with MindManager. I normally just take a ’snag’ and it automatically gets sent into the clipboard - then I can paste it about anywhere.
I can see how capturing the screen, adding ink notes/arrows and sending it to MindManager would be very useful during a technical session. I was in one last week and would have like to use it then… Maybe I need to take a look at that link for the MM plugin for SnagIt.
New Videos from Tony Buzan on MindMapping
We’ve linked to Tony Buzan’s iMindMap software and videos on mind mapping before. Mr. Buzan has published some new videos and articles that might be worth a look if you are just starting to explore mind mapping. The articles lay out the principals of mind mapping and the videos do the same but from obviously a more visual approach.
After we first linked to iMindMap several users here gave it a try, as did I. For what it is worth on a Tablet PC, I prefer using MindJet’s MindManager. MindManager works much more intuitively with a Tablet PC and Inking in my opinion. But remember there are different strokes for different folks, so you might want to give iMindMap a try. There is a 30 day free trial for you to give it a go.
On The Road 2008: Heading To Auditions
Here comes a crazy mobile week. The big trip this week is to head to Memphis for auditions at the UPTA conference. That’s a 5 day conference where we will audition over 600 actors and then interview about 200 or so for possible jobs in our next season which begins in June. More on that later. (Note some of the links in this post are affiliate.)
In the State Capitol
But before we head off to UPTA, I am spending a day doing some political lobbying on behalf of the Arts in our state (and my theatre in particular.) I, and other members of my team, leave this afternoon to head to Richmond. (We’re leaving early enough so we can get into our hotel and watch the Super Bowl.) Early tomorrow morning, we’re off to the state capitol and a day full of appointments. We’ll be using our mobile phones (both voice and text messaging) to keep in touch throughout the day, as appointments often change due to the legislators’ schedules. I’ve planned out the day in MindManager and will be using my Tablet PC to keep track of our progress throughout the day. It will be a fast moving day and interestingly enough most of the work will come in the follow up that we have to do the next day, so keeping accurate records of conversations is a must.
On to the Auditions
Mid-week we head off to the UPTA conference. For this conference (and another one in March) we basically carry a small office with us. The tools I’ll be using will be the Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet PC, the HTC Mogul, the Canon Pixma i90 Printer, a LogiTech webcam, and, for brief bits of relaxation, the iPod Touch. I’ll also be carrying a video camera to tape some auditions. I primarily use OneNote 2007 in keeping track of interviews and auditions. I’ve chronicled how I do that in the past, but it has been awhile, so I’ll be updating my process some this year. It has been a successful method of keeping track of actors and interviewees.
Twitter: A Different Communication Method?
Not only do we audition and interview at the conference, but I also do much of my ongoing work for the theatre there as well. In essence a big portion of our office moves to Memphis for the week. Communication is the key as we have a number of big pressing issues (we’re in the middle of renovating the theatre) and there are some issues coming up that we know in advance are going to require relatively immediate responses by me. Auditions are like attending a public event. Cell phones are turned off for courtesy (if an auditor’s cell phone goes off during the audition he/she pays the fee for that actor’s audition!) but the WiFi is plentiful. We are going to try something different this trip as far as a communication method. In the past we’ve used SMS messaging at these events when the folks back home have to reach me. But the buzz of a cell phone in stun mode can still distract. So, I’m going to be using the iPod Touch to follow direct messages from the home office on Twitter. I could just as easily use the HTC Mogul for that, but I’m experimenting, and I want to see if the Touch will do the trick here. We’ll see how that works.
It should be an interesting, but exhausting period of time. As a side note, my participation here on GBM will be light during the auditions. I’m also trying out a couple of new (to me) gadgets and accessories and if all goes well, I’ll be reporting about that either from the road, or after I return.
Tony Buzan’s iMindMap Software
Although mindmapping has its origins from quite a few sources, Tony Buzan lays claim as the “Inventor of Mind Mapping.” He certainly has had an impact on the development of using mind mapping as a tool. Well now he’s selling his own mindmapping software, iMindMap. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, it looks to be a competitor for MindJet’s MindMap Pro, and from what I’ve seen works well with a Tablet PC. I’ve just run across this software (thanks to a link from Marc Orchant) and will be checking it out soon. There is a 30 day free trial if you’re interested in checking this out.
In the meantime, here is a video that not only gives you an idea of the software but a little background on mindmapping in general.
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I’m on a MindManager Kick
I’ve had MindJet MindManager Pro 6 (FYI, the current version is 7 and I can’t wait to upgrade and have a look at the new features) for quite a while now and used to use it from time to time. I usually break it out when we are starting a new project and need to map out project tasks and resources. Then we take that and bring in the subtasks, get a good feel of everything. Then with a bunch of other people in the office conference room we start brainstorming ideas. It wasn’t a daily occurrence for me, but it was a great tool for what we were trying to do.
Well, that has changed a little lately. I have taken on the quest of personally trying to get my daily tasks a little more organized. To do that - I am trying to follow in the footsteps of Dennis, one of our fearless leaders ( that’s scary huh??). He’ll create a map daily of what he needs to do in the morning so he can follow that throughout the day. That’s what I have been doing. So far, I have been doing it for a week and it has really improved my productivity and helped me accomplish things on a more regular basis.
I’ve been using the default ‘To-Do List’ template to start out each day for right now. That helps me get things going in a organized manner. So far I have made a few changes to the map and saved it as my very own template. The image above is the default view of the To-Do list, and one major change I have made is to convert all the default fields over to be “Ink” boxes instead of text. There’s nothing like sitting at my desk in tablet mode with my feet kicked up on the desk - pen in one hand and coffee in the other - writing out my daily tasks. :) And, something I found today is that you can drag and drop topics from map to map!! That’s great if you are waiting for an answer to a question or just carrying over different tasks from day to day. I am still exploring and figuring out new things as I work around MindManager Pro, but just thought I would share with everybody how things are going.
I’ll keep everybody updated and when I get my template set up after a little while longer, I might even post up the Map Template for people to use! How do you use MM in your daily routine?