We have busy lives. Not only are our lives filled with daily activities like working and going to school they’re also filled with much more activities than ever before. 1 in working professionals work more than 50 hours a week which doesn’t leave much time for other daily activities like exercise, leisure, chores and other things that might come up throughout the day. Mind maps can be used to organize your daily activities and there are many benefits to doing so.

1. Better recollection of daily tasks

How often do you get home from work only to realize you forgot to do something you really needed to do on the way home? Even if you are diligent at making to do lists, often those lists can seem to go on forever and things can be missed. Mind maps are created so that you can see everything on it in one glance. By using colors to highlight the most important things on your list combined with meaningful keywords, you will be better able to recall them when necessary.

2. Quick prioritization of tasks

If you have a lot of tasks to tackle at one given time it’s easy to become overwhelmed when you’re staring at a page long list. Because you can use colors and lines to highlight different tasks within a mind map, it’s possible to determine priority based on what’s most pressing. You can simply take a glance at the mind map and see what’s most important and focus on those tasks first.

3. Introduce new habits

Eating more healthy food, working out and getting more sleep are three things that everyone needs to work on doing better and more often. You can use a mind map to help you develop new habits by scheduling it in your day as well as highlighting the benefits of doing so. You can also create a routine where you schedule rewards for making specific goals. Here’s an example of a habit focused mind map to give you an idea of what one would look like courtesy of the website Asian Efficiency.

4. Increased productivity

Task lists are great at increasing overall productivity but mind maps can be even better. One of the downsides to task lists is that they’re often written using long

phrases or sentences. This can make it tough to manage them effectively, especially if you have a lot of tasks to accomplish. And who hasn’t had a task list that was more than one page long? Since mind maps use keywords and associations, it’s designed to tap into your memory effectively. Plus, having the ability to see all of your tasks in one visually stimulating plan makes it easier to review it all in a much more meaningful way.

Below are some samples of mind maps used for daily planning to help you get started using them outside of work or project related tasks.

The mind map in Figure 7-1 outlines a daily plan from morning to night. Some people need to schedule their entire day to ensure they stay on track. This mind map shows how it can be done with relative ease.

The mind map in Figure 7-3 is a much broader one. It outlines what needs to be done but doesn’t assign a timeframe to each one. It’s not very detailed but these key words are sufficient for the creator in considering what needs to be accomplished on this particular day.

The mind map in Figure 7-4 shows how a to do list can be transferred to a mind map. It addresses a few different projects that need to be tackled and goes into specific detail about those projects. This mind map may be for one day but it’s most likely for multiple days.

The mind map in Figure 7-5 is another one with a specific to do list, including check boxes. If you need to check things off, it is possible to incorporate those boxes into your mind map and check them off as you complete the tasks.

As you can see a mind map of a to do list can look many different ways and be used for everything from daily planning as it pertains to working to daily planning from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed. Mind maps are so flexible you can use them in any way that best fits your lifestyle.