Top 5 Mind Map Software For MAC to Organize Your Thoughts and Ideas

So you need to get creative? I assume by that you mean that you need to come up with an idea or perhaps a bunch of ideas to solve a particular problem. Well it is fortunate that you have the world’s most powerful creative mechanism for the generation of ideas – your brain. What you have between your ears is the potential to generate some of the most brilliant and innovative ideas ever known. The trouble is no one has ever shown us how to use our brain to generate ideas on demand (though it does it all the time naturally) and what I want to explain in this article is how Mind Map Software fits into the mix.

First of all a quick lesson on how the brain organizes ideas – it does so through a process of association and there are two mechanisms – association by chains and association by hooks. A chain association is one where a single idea prompts another idea which then triggers another idea which then stimulates a further idea and so on- a chain that can theoretically go on forever. For example if you think of fish you might think of sea which may prompt beach which might trigger the idea of sand. That is an example of a chain of associations.

Association by hooks is different in that a starting word is still used, but each word generated relates to that initial word. This is different from the chain of associations because the first word and the third word might have no obvious connection to each other except by the word in between. So for example starting with the word soccer a series of hooks related to that word might include players, ball, referee, goal, fans, world cup, and stadium and so on. Each word created links back to the starting point.

So why is this important and how does it relate to Mind Map Software?

Now that you understand how the brain organizes its ideas it shouldn’t be too difficult to see that the structure of a Mind Map is a graphical organization of a set of related ideas through a combination of hooks (each main branch on a Mind Map is an example of a hook in relation to the central theme) and chains (a main branch that has a sub-branch that also has its own sub-branch is a chain). This perfect mapping of ideas on paper as a reflection of how they are organized in the brain is one of the main reasons why Mind Mapping is such a powerful process and how it can help stimulate the generation of tons of ideas.

When you use Mind Map Software you are not only tapping into your brain’s natural thought organization and idea generation processing, but you are also using an automated tool that will help you generate and capture the ideas in a way that will stimulate and enhance your creativity.

Here is how you use Mind Map Software to stimulate your creativity.

1. First of all you must start with a focused definition of the problem or situation you are looking to generate ideas for.
2. Then you open up the software and select its speed Mind Mapping Mode.
3. Start generating ideas by typing them in on your keyboard – type the idea, hit your enter key, type the idea, hit your enter key. Each time you do this a new branch will form.
4. Do this for 10 minutes (set a timer if you have to).
5. At the end of the 10 minute period, take a short break and then return to the Mind Map and start organizing the ideas by gathering related ideas onto the same main branch.
6. As you do this, new ideas will come to mind triggered by a chain flow or an array of hooks – add those to the mind map as they come up.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 for as long as you need to generate enough ideas for you to work with.

Read More: Best Open Source Mind Mapping Software

By following the process using Mind Map Software that I have outlined above you will very quickly be able to generate and capture hundreds of ideas. A key point to note as you are doing this is DO NOT EDIT the ideas as they arrive – doing so will stifle the creativity – you can edit them later. The key to creativity is the quantity and not the quality of the ideas that you generate at this stage.

So Top 10 Mind Map Software For MAC to Organize Your Thoughts and Ideas:

XMIND

XMind for Mac has all the features of XMind and XMind Pro dedicated to Mac users. You can use paid features after purchasing XMind Pro and entering your license key.

MINDNODE

MindNode helps you visualize your ideas. Start with a central thought and then brainstorm, organize and share your mind maps.

IMINDQ

iMindQ for Mac is a mind mapping tool that gives you everything you need to create beautiful mind maps, flowcharts and concept maps.Updated for OS X El Capitan, iMindQ delivers innovative way to brainstorm, research and present your ideas.You can work seamlessly between Mac and iOS devices. And flawlessly transfer your maps to other productivity tools.

MATCHWARE

MindView Mac is a powerful mind mapping software that assists users in brainstorming, organizing and presenting ideas visually. MindView Mac has 6 interchangeable views including a Gantt Chart and Timeline, helping you turn ideas into action faster than ever before! With unique project management features and the industry’s best MS Office integration, MindView Mac is the leader in Mac mind mapping software.

MINDVECTORWEB

Mind Vector is the best mind mapping software, which is used for concept map making, brainstorming, business planning & managing ideas. This tool is available for free on iOS/iPad, iPhone and Android platform.