How has mind mapping software helped you to get more done with less?

Mindmapping is especially useful to me when combined with other images, sketches, and visualizations. I will say, that I love how crystal clear and usable iBlueSky is on my iPhone, but I wish there was a simple drawing feature. Maybe this is too small of a space to work in. But I believe that all mindmapping software would do well to include simple drawing tools. This enables a recognizable visualization of certain ideas, whether you are comparing a square with a circle or if you are giving proportions to a problem. Especially if the problem is numbers.
I find that during the down-turn that I have more searching thoughts. Perhaps this is why have turned back to mindmapping to crystalize/digest my thoughts. If I were to use mindmapping software to figure out my work and business, I think I would require a looser, more pictographic (drawn) approach.
Great blog.

We have shifted to using mind maps as mid-project documents on our technolgy scouting projects. Previously we had to prepare reports or presentation form documentation for the mid-project client updates which took time and resources away from the addtional research we still needed to do. Now we use a mind map as the mid-term deliverable instead, which can be produced in much less time and is more than adequate to convey the landscape or our research and progress of our research. A mind map can convey in one page what a several page report could convey in words. Using mindmaps probably saves 10% of the total project cost, which keeps us on or under budget and the client satisfied.

The tools and technique (Mechanism) of software Mind mapping (Visual mapping) can exponentially increase your capabilities in these engineered tough times.
Become more valuable to yourself, your colleagues and clients by leveraging the tools and echniques of Visual mapping for personal self development and business success.

I use mind maps to keep a weekly and daily log of the work I do.

I create a new mind map for each week with level one topics for each day. Under each day I have three main topics- Need to do, Working on, and finished. This way I can document what I do as I do it. Additionally, each item I add to any day or status can link to another mind map which might be more detailed notes, or reasons why I did the work. It's also very handy that elements can link directly to web pages such as a page for an individual bug in our bug tracking application.

Also at the top level is a topic I call "Nexus" which contains sub-topics for each area of my work. Under these are topics for each project or ongoing task that link to mind maps for those projects or tasks. The Nexus also contains important but miscellaneous topics like general charge numbers, contact infos like phone numbers and email addresses, and "Tips and Tricks" which is stuff I need to do infrequently enough that I need notes to remember how to do it.

With my setup I am able to greatly impress people who ask me vague questions about a particular issue to which I can reply the date and specific actions I least dealt with that issue- and frequently even drill down through my mind maps for detailed background information. And impressing others is in addition to the organizational benefits I reap directly!

One other trick- I am a FreeMind user. The FreeMind file format is ASCII based xml, so if for some reason drilling through my mind maps in the program proves inefficient, I can use things like grep to search directly in the text of the files to find what I want- ie. a conversation I documented with someone which I do not remember when it took place. I can search the text of all files in my mind map directory for the person's name and have a listing of all references to that person.

Perhaps what I do is not "Mind Mapping" (with capital Ms) per se, although I frequently use it that way, but it has massively improved the organization and efficency of every aspect of my work day.