Mind map guides
How to use a mind map to study, plan a project, write, decide, brainstorm and present — practical guides from the team that builds Smart Mind.
How to make a decision with a mind map
Most stuck decisions are stuck on vague options and unstated criteria, not analysis. Map to find both, then leave the map and compare in a table.
How to fix a mind map that has become unreadable
Too wide, too deep or too tangled: three different failures that look identical. Here is how to tell which you have, and the five fixes in order of cost.
How to mind map a book you have read
Highlights are a list of the author's sentences in the author's order. Here is a four-branch method that records what a book argues, and how to revisit it.
How to outline an article with a mind map
A blank page asks you to find out what you think and put it in order at once. A map splits those apart: dump everything, find the shape, then export the outline.
Mind map vs concept map vs flowchart
Mind map: a tree. Concept map: a network with labelled links. Flowchart: steps in order. A side-by-side table, and how to pick by the question you have.
How to plan a project with a mind map
A mind map is the right tool for the first two hours of a project and the wrong one for the rest. Here is how to scope, decompose and then hand over.
How to turn a Markdown outline into a mind map
Any indented list is already a tree, so the conversion is a change of view. Here is how to write an outline that imports cleanly, and get one back out.
How to use mind maps to study
Building a map helps; looking at one is re-reading. Here is how to make study maps you can test yourself against, and what to use flashcards for instead.
How to turn meeting notes into a mind map
Linear notes bury what a meeting actually produced: the decisions, the open questions, who owes what. Here is a repeatable way to restructure them into a map.
Free AI mind map generators, compared (2026 guide)
Most free AI mind map tools cap you at three maps, watermark the export, or want an account first. Here is what each one actually gives away, and where it stops.
Start your first map in a minute
Free on iPhone, iPad and Android. No account to create, nothing to set up.