Managing tasks with Freemind [Hack Your Day]
If you’re not a huge GTD fan, or just want to try something different, how about managing tasks with mind maps? Freemind is an open source mind mapping application that lets you put down your thoughts quickly and easily.
Basic task management
Using the application is very easy, create a new sibling by pressing enter, and create a new child node by pressing insert. That’s really all you need to create a huge mind map, but let me show you what you can do to create a task management solution for yourself.
You can use the mind map in much the same way as you would use a list to create a line of tasks, grouped according to any context you wish. Since this is a mindmap your mind will be wandering all over the place which is not a problem, feel free to include any info you wish. Simply format all action items any way you like, I have given them a bubble format with an orange background. You can achieve this by selecting multiple nodes using the shift key, and right clicking to go to format and clicking on bubble (instead of fork) and selecting node color and background color.
You can easily track your tasks as you see I’ve done in the screenshot. Freemind has some handy icons on the left which you can choose from, and insert multiple ones for any task. This is great for tracking multiple occurrences tied to an item, let me explain. For example, my task labeled “finalize other theme” was completed, hence the first tick. I then sent an email about this to the client, and his reaction was positive, no further work is needed, hence the other arrow. For the code a day post, I am still waiting for a response, indicated by the icon.
Creating a management system
This might sound a bit far fetched, but with the right planning you can use this to create a highly productive management environment. The first step is to create a basic set of mind maps which you always use. My recommendation is to create a daily, weekly, a monthly and maybe a yearly mindmap. Ideally the longer the time frame, the less the mindmap should change, so you should determine yearly and monthly goals in advance. If you have all these open, you can right click anywhere in Freemind and simply choose the map to jump to, a very productive navigation method.
The key to making this a productivity system and not just a list you use is to be very consistent. Not in the actual things you write, but in the way you use your maps, especially regarding management of weekly tasks, the division into daily tasks and so on.
The great thing about this system is that mindmaps are one of the most flexible ways of storing information in a natural way, while still maintaining clarity. You can store task related ideas, thoughts, notes, reminders easily by just creating child nodes and so on.
Going commercial
While I love Freemind, I still find it a bit limited and simple. I actually haven’t bought any commercial software, but a few years ago I did get a free code to ConceptDraw’s Mindmap. What I love about this software (I actually use this, not Freemind) is that it has a planner function, which enables you to create a mindmap by writing a list. This is much more intuitive for the creation part for me and all the info is automatically transferred to a cool mindmap. There are also many advanced editing and reporting options, and I find the note addition much better implemented. There are many other great pieces of software out there, take a look at the recommended products, but if you don’t need bells and whistles Freemind should do nicely as well.
Original post here: Daniel
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