How do I make a mind map? This topic is fully explained in the Super Memory advanced manual, in which we show you the most advanced memorization strategies to prepare for your university exams.
However, the first step to approach the world of maps is to understand the mistakes that could be made if you are not careful to avoid them.
How many times does this happen to you? You start doing something, you bang your face and then you avoid repeating it the same way. Yes ok, you have learned something but how much time would you have saved if you had known in advance what to avoid in order not to make a mistake? After all, you’re not a professional paper writer, so here this article is for that.
Pre-Planning the Entire Map
A super map is nothing more than a VERY large mind map, which usually encompasses all the exam topics. My advice is to avoid throwing yourself headlong into such a difficult task, the risk is to create a lot of material and then not know how to use it.
The paradox of having too much information is that we DO NOT know what to do with it. Start simple, start creating your mind maps from low-credit exams or for leisure reading. When you feel master of the instrument, you begin to use it slowly, or, as a beginner essay writer, your speed of composing text would be also slow.
Not Adding Colors
“Colors? Now do I also have to be an artist? ”. No no, nothing too creative, I assure you. Colors are used to classify information in your cognitive map. They are used specifically to make you understand how the topics are divided between them and which “semantic branch they belong”. Without colors, it would be harder for your brain to classify information. In this way, however, you will know how to better orient yourself in consulting this amazing tool.
Making a Summary, Not a Map
This mistake pisses me off like a beast… but then I think I did it too at the beginning, so I breathe, relax and try to understand why it is committed.
We are obsessed with knowing everything for the exam. In the article on the study method, I will already explain to you why this belief is wrong, and it is better to know the right things damn well. The cognitive map was born with a purpose: to reduce the complexity of what you are studying. If you turn it into a summary, what do you expect to reduce?
AUREA rule of mind maps: on each branch, there must be a maximum of 3 words. That word triggers an association within you with others.
It’s like a series of keys that opens a series of gates that take you where you want to go. Each gate you open will have a key hanging from the inside that will be used to open the next, and the next, and the next!
Not Naming Branches
This is the opposite error of the first. Or should I call it horror? I mean, you wouldn’t want professionals at MasterPapers to not name chapters in your paper, no?
Creating a branch without naming it is equivalent to a knowledge hole in the middle of the map.
Each branch must be named because it is the only track you have to remember the following topics.
Imagine making a map of how a computer works.
From the computer concept, there are 2 branches: hardware and __________ empty part… (which would be software).
Under the empty part, I can also write all things related to the “software”, but I will make a tremendous effort in retrospect to understand what is written there.
OBVIOUSLY: this is a trivial example. But think about this error in exams in which the empty part is specific and very circumstantial, you want to look for it…. Seriously, be careful!
Using Maps in Wrong Contexts
Creating a mind map is not suitable for any exam. Hard to say but that’s how it is…
It lends itself much better in contexts where you need to remember a lot of information and create speeches.
In more practical or technical contexts, it can be a tool that is difficult to apply.
Making a mind map of a physics or statistics exercise, frankly, isn’t too useful for exam preparation… But, it can be, a tool for you.
Let me explain better, being able to insert the elements of the exercise, the steps, or in any case the most important parts of the exam on the map can be convenient because it gives you the possibility to organize the information that you will have to carry out in the exercise. More useful as a support to you than as a tool to take the exam.
Mind Maps, One More Tool
Here we are at the end of this article that explains the big mistakes you shouldn’t make when creating your mind maps. After giving you an examination of what cognitive maps are and how they differ from conceptual ones, I got into the heart of the mistakes. You now have extra tools to use them.
However, you shouldn’t stop there, learn more! Here’s an interesting article to read – How To Write A Great College Essay: 7 Step-By-Step Guide.