In Innovation WebBlog you can read about great idea:

"Vj Mariaraj is a big fan of mind mapping - so much so that he has created a new online business, selling mind map summaries of popular business books. This format can provide you with a useful overview of the key ideas contained within a book, without having to invest many hours reading it from cover to cover."

Read more about it on Business Book Mind Map.com.

Maybe, mind maps cannot replace reading books, but undoubtedly it is very useful to have needed book in mind map format if you want:

• recall an idea from this book;
• prepare for something using this book and so on.

This blog is running by authors of Mind Pad  (www.mind-pad.com)

I have found one interesting link about creating self-made calendars.

It is really fun to compose it. Also it could be a useful tool for you or a gift for your friends. Download a dodecahedral calendar after your own specifiation from this site.

You just need to print it and to laminate. That's all. Have fun!

I have recently found an interesting way to keep myself orgenized: Pocket Mod.

As they said: "The PocketMod is a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card."

You can keep it in your back pocket and it is really comfortable. Take notes during your day for further planning and thinking. Then, it is cheap as one piece of paper, it opens like a book and this book and can be designed as you want. You can easy create your own format of your Pocket Mod, becouse it is just a good idea.

During my work with mind maps I have understood one important thing and I want to share with you.

One of the most powerful advantages of mind mapping is universal viewing. Possibility of seeing all sides of the problem, all nuances and points of view. All you need – is to use brainstorming for describing your problem in the mind map. Other structures, such as lists and trees, restrict your thoughts, because they assign a direction of your mind somehow or other. Your ideas are organizing in compliance with a structure they should be wrote. So, if structure has limitations and directions, your ideas will be the same. And you may lose something.
Security professionals have an assertion that security of the whole system depends on security of the weakest link. In project managing it means that carelessness with only one side of your problem or project may cause a total failure.
I think mind mapping should be the same habit or rule of good form as a representative appearance or collective discussions.
It is not just a tool for increasing your effectiveness. It is a tool for protecting your work from unfortunate mistakes.

This blog is running by authors of Mind Pad (www.mind-pad.com)

I found useful idea in John's Ideas and Creativity blog. He suggest a technique for naming and listing people who can help you with your project.

As he said: "It can help to generate a list of disparate people to help with creativity; considering the fantasy input of others - both real people and fictional people - can provide interesting perspectives on creative effort or problem solving. The lists can also be used to help kick-start creativity at the blank page stage." Then he talks about concrete directives for doing this.

You can see details here. As I see - it is an interesting creativity technique. Other useful note: when somebody tries to think as another person, it helps him to access other ideas in his mind. Without such position changing he could never find many alternative ideas.

Remember, when you try to think - you think as Mister Smith, for example. You have an image - what exactly you should think as Mister Smith. It is not effective, isn't it? But you can also change your mind if you want. And you will think as somebody else.

This blog is running by authors of Mind Pad  (www.mind-pad.com)