How to Mind Map: The Ultimate Guide

Note-taking shouldn’t serve as a tool for memorization.

It should be a tool for reflecting your thought process on the page while learning, and refining how you think about what you learn.

In other words, you should seek to improve how deeply you think, not how foolproof you memorize.

Using note-taking for memorization is a very common mistake in the studying world–– in this article, I want to help you avoid that mistake, and offer you a significantly better alternative.

But first, you’ll have to rethink how you even take notes in the first place.

Linear → Non-linear Notes

These notes are very linear – they run down the page, left-to-right, and don’t have many connections between concepts.

The highlighting and circling, although aesthetic, has been repeatedly shown to have little effect on retention and academic performance.

When you evaluate any learning technique – might that be note-taking, or anything else – its potential can be boiled down to how much and how deeply it makes you think about the information.

That’s why highlighting is ineffective – you’re saying “this is important,” but never think deeply about why it is so.

So, a good method of note-taking should transition away from linear note-taking, because it doesn’t encourage this kind of deep thinking (comparing/contrasting, making connections, evaluating, etc).

This is where mind maps come in.

What are Mind Maps?

In its essence, it is quite simple: a spider-web-esque network of ideas, intended to be analogous to a network of neurons in the brain.

There are many different styles of mind maps:

• Spider Map
• Concept Map
• Bubble Map
• Flow Chart

Let’s explore some of these, paying attention to how they are used, and what their weaknesses are.

Spider Map:

• What it is: A basic and versatile mind map that resembles a spiderweb. The central idea sits in the middle, with main branches radiating outwards, each containing sub-topics or details. Further branches can stem from these sub-topics for even deeper exploration.
• How it’s used: Generally for brainstorming and generating ideas. It allows you to capture everything that comes to mind without getting bogged down in structure.
• Weaknesses: It lacks a coherent structure, and can get complex pretty quickly. Because there is no structure, you can’t relate ideas to each other as easily––if I wanted to relate an idea nested deep in one side of the spiderweb with one all the way on the other side, it would be near impossible without drawing an arrow through the web. Continuing this practice would lead to indiscernible, messy notes. Remember, your notes reflect your thinking––if your notes are all over the place, your brain is all over the place.

Concept Map:

• What it is: A more structured mind map that focuses on relationships between concepts. It uses boxes or circles to represent ideas, and arrows with labels to show the connections between them.
• How it’s used: Ideal for understanding complex topics with intricate relationships. Concept maps help visualize how different ideas link together, making them great for studying subjects like science or history.
• Weaknesses: For most concept maps, grouping does not occur as frequently. A skilled learner may use chunking to group ideas into one node, but generally it’s idea –> idea. Grouping is, as I will talk about later, a very important part to a successful mind map, as it encourages chunking while thinking and learning about content––remember, note-taking should reflect your thinking.

Bubble Map:

• What it is: Similar to a concept map; a simpler mind map that uses bubbles to represent ideas. These bubbles can be color-coded or sized differently to denote importance or categorize information.
• How it’s used: Great for organizing information and visually grouping related ideas. Bubble maps are useful for brainstorming, vocabulary building, or creating simple overviews of a topic.
• Weaknesses: Although bubble maps can encourage grouping, more advanced relationships will still be lacking, especially if the practitioner isn’t an experienced learner.

Flow Chart:

• What it is: A visual representation of a process with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Flow charts use shapes like boxes, diamonds, and arrows to depict the steps involved and the decision points that influence the flow.
• How it’s used: Perfect for illustrating processes, algorithms, or any situation with a defined sequence of steps. Flow charts help visualize the logical flow of information.
• Weaknesses: Great for cause/effect relationships, not so great for grouping. Flow charts might not be suitable for exploring open-ended topics or brainstorming ideas. They are best suited for linear processes with clear decision points.

… but know this: all of these have the potential to avoid the real thinking needed for an effective MM.

On the other hand, take a look at these notes:

There’s a lot going on here:

• Connections
  • You can see clear connections between concepts, which show how they relate to one another.
  • Some of these connections are quite advanced, such as “this concept leads to this concept as a result of (or through) this other concept.”
• Grouping
  • Though this image is an abstract representation of a successful mind map, you can see that there is information grouped inside the “bubbles”
  • Also, concepts can “work together” to lead to another concept, as shown by the two bracketed bubbles
  • This is very important for a strong mind map
• Causality
  • There’s a lot of causality between ideas, and the “flow” from one idea to another is clear and intuitive.

This is a mind map. It’s a hybrid––it has the strong emphasis on cause/effect and relationships of a flow chart, the grouping of a spider/bubble map, and the structure of a concept map.

The Benefits of Mind Maps

Research has found that mind maps improve recall and comprehension by 10% compared to linear notes. When adjusted for motivation levels (which were lower in the experimental group, who were unfamiliar with mind mapping), the benefit is ~15%.

Although not mentioned in the abstract, it’s likely that the mind mapping method taught to students did not implement the techniques I’m about to mention, and likely missed out on lots of benefits.

In short––if you use them right, they can be very powerful. Let’s dive in!

The GRINDE Method

The GRINDE method, crafted by Justin Sung, is the best technique for high-quality mind maps that we could find so far, and is used by our team daily––you’ll see examples of our own mind maps throughout this post.

At its core, GRINDE is designed to address the key cognitive processes required for deep encoding––the learning you do when you first see the information and process it.

The idea here is to do most of the work in the encoding phase so you have to spend less time reviewing with a spaced repetition system, like flashcards.

The acronym itself—Grouped, Reflective, Interconnected, Non-verbal, Directional, and Emphasized—provides a roadmap for optimizing how information is absorbed and organized.

Grouped

Imagine a jigsaw puzzle––random pieces are hard to work with unless they’re grouped by patterns or edges. Sung’s method leverages this concept: breaking complex topics into manageable, grouped chunks. By organizing related ideas together, the brain handles the information more easily––now it’s only four chunks of two ideas, not eight singular ideas.

Reflective

Reflection is where the magic happens. Rather than plowing through material, Sung encourages moments of reflective thinking—pausing to ask “Why does this matter?” “What’s this idea’s role in the bigger picture?” or “How does this connect to what I already know?” Remember, notes should reflect your thinking. So your mind map should show that every idea has a “place,” a “role” in your knowledge schema.

This delves a bit into the idea of efficient reading and adapting how you think based on different types of information––this deserves an article of its own; expect more on this topic soon.

Interconnected

Learning doesn’t happen in isolation.

Its kind of like, well, you. During your childhood, you needed (and need) connections to people––parents, or guardians, friends, parental figures, teachers, mentors, etc.––to be able to grow, and quite frankly, survive. Information is the same.

If it doesn’t find connections to help it on its way into long term memory (LTM), it dies.

Interconnected learning is trying to not let it die.

In essence, it is connecting ideas to other ideas, concepts to past concepts you’ve encountered. It is making something make sense through analogy––which is, by the way, connecting something new to something your brain is already familiar with.

This way, when you need to think about a new concept, you can use a more familiar idea as a PROXY for the new one. I’ve underlined, bolded, AND italicized this because of how truly important it is. And I hate italicizing.

Non-verbal

Sometimes, words just aren’t enough.

Think about how you explain directions to someone. Do you just use words? Or do you start waving your hands around, pointing to landmarks, drawing imaginary maps in the air? That’s because our brains don’t always rely on language to make sense of things.

Non-verbal learning taps into this. It’s using visuals––diagrams, sketches, flowcharts––as, again, a PROXY for otherwise dense information.

In fact, your brain prefers this. It’s wired for more than verbal input. The same way we remember faces, or how a place “feels,” we can remember concepts by linking them to shapes, images, or spatial arrangements. These visual tools act like anchors in the brain, making sure the information stays put.

Note, your mind maps don’t have to be entirely verbal––a stroke of honesty here; our team haven’t quite mastered the art of having truly non-verbal maps, and I’m not sure that’s what Sung is going for.

Instead, the idea should be to use as few words as possible––when applicable, sketch out what the relationship entails instead of just having arrows. Here’s an example:

See how he’s used the sketch of an eye between the War Industries Board (WIB) and economic profit (the dollar sign)? Similarly, instead of saying “increases government power” the author simply drew a flexed arm to get the same point across.

So, don’t just rely on reading. Sketch it out. Make a map. Give your brain something solid to grab onto.

Directional

Learning without direction is like wandering through a forest without a trail—you just end up going in circles, confused, and frustrated.

Directional learning is about laying down that trail. It’s not just throwing information at yourself and hoping something sticks. It’s starting with a clear skeleton—your core concepts. The Level 1 ideas. You don’t build on sand, right? You build on bedrock, and that’s exactly what these main ideas are. They’re the foundation, the anchor.

Once those are solid, you layer in the next level: Level 2 sub-concepts. Think of these as the main branches that grow off your skeleton. They connect directly to your core ideas and are essential, but they still depend on that strong foundation.

After that, you dive into the finer details—Level 3, Level 4, and so on—each layer of information building on the last. By the time you’re at the deeper details, you know exactly where everything fits. Nothing is floating around without context.

This layered structure is what keeps everything in flow. Instead of scattered pieces of information, your learning moves from one solid idea to the next, with everything rooted in place.

When you need to recall something, you can trace it back, step-by-step, from the surface to the foundation. That’s how you keep from getting lost.

Emphasized

Not all information is created equal. Some concepts are just more important than others, and emphasized learning is all about recognizing that.

It’s about making value judgments—deciding which relationships matter most and why. Which connections between ideas are critical? Which ones will help you understand the big picture? You don’t treat everything the same, because some ideas are the backbone, while others are just supporting details.

Once you figure that out, you emphasize those key relationships. Picture it like a mind map: the most important connections get thicker arrows, bolder lines. They stand out. This way, when you’re looking at your web of information, your brain knows exactly what to focus on.

By highlighting those key relationships, you create a clear hierarchy of understanding. You’re not wasting time on minor details—you’re zoning in on the ideas that make everything else make sense.

And when the important stuff is bold and clear, the rest of the details naturally fall into place.

Final Thoughts:

When you take notes, you’re not just writing words—you’re documenting how you think.

The goal with mind maps is to encourage connecting ideas, layering your learning (with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level ideas), and continually zooming out to the big picture when arranging your ideas on paper. All of this is conducive to higher levels of encoding––remember, that’s the goal here.