This One Mistake Made his Mindmap Useless
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful coaching session, the coach addresses common issues faced by students using Mind Mapping techniques for studying. The discussion focuses on the importance of balancing detail with the big picture, avoiding 'spider webbing' by restructuring maps incrementally, and the necessity of frequently 'zooming in and out' to maintain clarity and organization. The coach also emphasizes the normalcy of these challenges and offers practical advice on how to improve mind mapping skills, including starting with fewer keywords and delaying the addition of less critical information until later.
Takeaways
- 🧭 The importance of 'zooming in and out' on a mind map to frequently restructure and avoid overwhelming complexity.
- 📈 The suggestion to pause after adding new keywords or concepts to reassess the map's structure and retention potential.
- 🎓 The speaker offers free coaching sessions to active and supportive members of their study program, indicating community engagement.
- 🎬 The intention to record coaching sessions and post them on YouTube for wider access to the speaker's coaching style.
- 💡 The recognition that mind maps can be overwhelming when too many keywords are added without considering their relationships.
- 🔍 The concept of 'anti-spider webbing' where the fear of creating a messy map prevents further development of relationships.
- 📝 The advice to focus on a segmental approach, developing one area deeply before moving to others to avoid map clutter.
- 🔄 The recommendation to constantly rearrange the mind map as new elements are added to maintain clarity and avoid density issues.
- 📚 The realization that not all keywords need to be included initially; a strategic approach to learning can improve retention.
- 🤔 The emphasis on considering multiple relationships and not just the first logical connection when mapping out concepts.
- 🔑 The key takeaway that the skill of effectively creating mind maps includes the ability to balance detail with the bigger picture.
Q & A
What is the main issue the individual is facing with their Mind Map (M)?
-The individual is struggling with poor retention of information and feeling that the Mind Map is not effectively aiding in answering questions, particularly due to the complexity of the subject matter and the way the map is structured.
What is the purpose of offering free coaching sessions to some members of the icon study program?
-The purpose is to provide support and value to active and supportive members of the community, and also to showcase the coaching style and content, which has been well-received, on a platform like YouTube.
What does the individual plan to do with the recorded coaching sessions?
-The individual plans to post the recorded coaching sessions on YouTube to share the coaching style and content with a wider audience.
Why does the individual feel that their Mind Map is not helpful for answering questions?
-The individual feels that the Mind Map is not helpful because it lacks a clear connection between the mapped concepts and the questions they need to answer, possibly due to an ineffective structuring of the map.
What is the significance of 'zooming in and out' in the context of creating a Mind Map?
-Zooming in and out refers to the process of focusing on details and then stepping back to view the overall structure of the Mind Map. This helps in maintaining a clear big picture while adding new keywords and concepts.
What is the advice given for restructuring the Mind Map to improve its effectiveness?
-The advice given is to frequently pause and restructure the map by considering the relationships between new keywords and the overall structure, rearranging elements as needed to avoid a cluttered and confusing map.
What is the term 'anti-spider webbing' referring to in the context of Mind Maps?
-Anti-spider webbing refers to the reluctance or avoidance of adding new relationships to a Mind Map after the initial structure has been established, due to the fear of creating a messy and confusing map.
Why is it recommended to work with fewer keywords initially when creating a Mind Map?
-Working with fewer keywords initially is recommended to prevent information overload and to allow for a more manageable and clearer development of the Mind Map, especially for those who are still learning the skill.
What is the importance of mentally 'zooming out' when adding new concepts to a Mind Map?
-Mentally 'zooming out' is important to assess how newly added concepts fit into the overall structure of the Mind Map, ensuring that the big picture remains clear and well-organized.
What is the individual's plan after the discussion regarding their Mind Map issues?
-The individual plans to apply the advice given, such as working with fewer keywords initially and frequently zooming in and out to reassess the structure of their Mind Map, in order to improve its effectiveness.
Outlines
📚 Mind Mapping Challenges and Solutions
The speaker discusses the challenges faced when using mind maps for studying, particularly the difficulty in restructuring a map once it's too committed and overwhelming. They offer advice on zooming in and out to frequently restructure the map and to pause after adding new keywords to ensure better retention and understanding. The speaker also mentions offering free coaching sessions to active community members and plans to post coaching videos on YouTube. The individual seeking advice is in the army and facing issues with retention and the effectiveness of mind maps in answering questions, especially in a complex subject like economics. The speaker provides specific feedback on the individual's mind maps, suggesting improvements and better techniques for mapping.
🔍 Overcoming Mind Mapping Obstacles
This paragraph delves into the issues of segmental mapping and anti-spider webbing, which can lead to a cluttered and ineffective mind map. The speaker suggests focusing on one area at a time to develop it fully before moving on to others, thus avoiding the messiness of spider webbing. They emphasize the importance of constantly reassessing the map's structure as new information is added, comparing it to the process of arranging furniture in a new house. The speaker critiques the individual's mind map, pointing out areas of overdevelopment and neglect, and provides guidance on how to improve the mapping process to enhance retention and clarity.
🔄 The Importance of Constant Reevaluation in Mind Mapping
The speaker continues to discuss the strategy of adding new elements to a mind map and the necessity of considering how each new piece fits into the overall structure. They advocate for a pause-and-rearrange approach to prevent the map from becoming overwhelming. The analogy of moving furniture in a house is used to illustrate the ease of rearranging with fewer elements compared to a fully furnished space. The speaker also addresses the individual's specific mind map, noting the issues with adding new concepts without considering their relationship to the existing structure and provides a step-by-step guide on how to correct this.
🌐 Zooming In and Out for Effective Mind Mapping
The focus of this paragraph is on the technique of zooming in and out to maintain a balance between detail and the big picture. The speaker explains that by zooming out, one can assess how new information fits into the overall structure, and by zooming in, one can explore deeper connections. They point out that dense networks of connections in a localized area can confuse the big picture if not well-connected overall. The speaker also discusses the individual's mind map, noting that it was better organized and more intuitive due to the nature of the topic, and encourages the individual to continue practicing the zooming technique to improve their mind mapping skills.
📉 Adjusting Study Techniques for Better Learning Outcomes
In the final paragraph, the speaker addresses the individual's concern about going into too much detail and suggests reducing the number of keywords initially used in mind mapping to avoid information overload. They emphasize the importance of deliberate learning and partitioning time effectively, rather than trying to cover everything at once. The speaker reassures the individual that the challenges they are facing are normal for their skill level and will improve with practice. They conclude the session by encouraging the individual to continue refining their mind mapping technique and to stay in touch for further guidance.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Mind Mapping
💡Retention
💡Zooming In and Out
💡Segmental
💡Spider Webbing
💡Restructure
💡Concepts
💡Technological Advancement
💡Density
💡Big Picture
Highlights
The importance of zooming in and out while creating a mind map to give oneself opportunities to restructure before it becomes overwhelming.
Offering free coaching sessions to active and supportive members of the study program and recording them for YouTube.
The challenge of poor retention and ineffectiveness of mind maps in answering questions, especially in complex subjects like 'eons'.
The significance of restructuring mind maps more frequently to improve retention and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
The introduction of the concept of 'anti-spider webbing' and its impact on the clarity and retention of mind maps.
The strategy of addressing segmental mind mapping to avoid messiness and improve the overall structure.
The normalcy of feeling overwhelmed when first learning to create mind maps and the importance of constant practice.
The concept of mentally 'zooming in and out' to maintain a balance between detail and the big picture in mind mapping.
The advice on starting with fewer keywords (30-50) when learning mind mapping to manage complexity effectively.
The emphasis on rearranging mind maps as new elements are added to maintain clarity and avoid a messy structure.
The idea that understanding multiple relationships between concepts is crucial for effective mind mapping.
The suggestion to create a list of keywords and sub-lists for a more deliberate learning process in mind mapping.
The recognition that mind mapping is a skill that improves with practice and the encouragement to keep learning.
The discussion on the natural progression of mind mapping skill, where nuances become more apparent as one advances.
The strategy of partitioning time and focusing on certain keywords first to enhance the mind mapping process.
The final advice on deliberately taking time to pause and reassess the mind map's structure for better understanding.
Transcripts
I don't feel that my M actually helped
me in answering the question the main
thing for you to work on is doing that
zooming in zooming out and then just
taking a pause after you add on new
keywords and Concepts to just give
yourself more frequent opportunities to
restructure your map before it gets to
the point where it's already so
committed that it's overwhelming and
that makes sense every couple of months
I find some members in our icon study
program who are active and supportive in
our community and I offer them some 30
minute free coaching sessions some of
you do seem to really like my coaching
style content so I've decided to record
some of these and post them on YouTube
before we jump in I'd appreciate if you
give this video a like and if you're
interested in joining the full program
yourself then you can check out iin
study.com there's a link in the
description I have ended High School
currently I'm in army so is a compulsory
service in Singapore so I'll will be in
Army in two years and yeah so I'm
currently waiting to go University the
problem that I was having is uh first my
retention wasn't that good for the uh my
M then second um is like I just feel
even if I refer to the my M I don't feel
that my map actually helped me in any
way in answering the question because
the subject I'm doing is eons and is is
a subject that is really in the link
between like the concept
can you can you show me an example of
your my map uh so which one do you want
to look you can look at the mro six
first six okay yes at this first okay
this one was really not it is kind of
this one is better yeah it's better so
this this map here and then you know
like this map here as well as this one
here are you saying that this didn't
really help you and your retention on
these was still low okay attempt seven
was relatively better because I use
important Bas junk I would expect this
one your retention will be low and I
expect that this one will help you very
much yes it didn't it didn't help me at
all I just when I see the my it makes
sense but I just don't feel how it can
help me in terms of so this one this one
this one is wouldn't wouldn't help you
that much because it's it's not just
more things that need to be improved
with this um but I would expect that
this one and to some extent this one but
especially especially this one and
especially this one I expect that these
two would be more helpful and that your
retention for this these should be
fairly high like this one especially I
expect that your retention should be
reasonably High yes this one is the
highest for some for for some reason
okay for some reason the DD the demand
is this a later attempt uh or is this an
earlier one this one is the later
attempt this is later right yes the
previous one in order in order of
quality it's like this one this one
is yeah and then after is like maybe
this one is
also and then this one is the next best
and then this one is the best yeah but
the latest is actually ma seven yes yeah
this one's not bad though yeah this one
the thing is uh but I think this one is
not as good still yes because I was
using like over 100 ke
I think that was the problem yeah I was
having some problem with the chumin yeah
so if you I mean if you were to do it
like okay when you're doing this attempt
yes there are problems but your
Technique has gotten better now so do
you still have those same problems cuz
you mentioned that the retention on the
M map and also the M map wasn't helping
in general is that still the case even
with your new your better technique the
retention are better and uh I can link
the questions more yes then but it suff
to me another another question another
question is because I realize this was a
incomplete M yeah this one is the only
complet one is the other one that you
you expect the best yeah yes this one is
the only competed yeah so the main
things that I see yeah you go the reason
why that uh atemp seven was incomplete
was I really cannot
any more keywords any more keywords that
I add in I feel I really feel is like
it's overwhelming yeah is very
overwhelming and I feel actually I feel
this backbone is not the best yeah I I I
still feel this backbone I can change
but the back chang around five times
already yeah that's that's quite normal
especially if you're working with lots
of keywords okay so there's a few things
that I I I think is going on um one of
the things that I noticed is that it's
de It's relatively detail strip so what
that means is that um it's it's using
the biggest keywords but like for
example this one especially it doesn't
have really any of the like more
technical detail and so there's probably
like a whole level of information that
you would need to know for an exam that
isn't on this mind map that could be on
this mind map but the thing that's
stopping you from adding that on is
probably this these two things here um
which is the fact that your map is
segmental um slightly segmental and
there's also what we call anti- spider
webbing so spider spider webbing happens
when you have a flow and then you
realize that there are more
relationships that you than you thought
of initially and then so you try to add
those relationships on after you have
already built the overall structure and
then it starts looking like like this
and so that's now spider webbing so anti
and obviously this is it's quite messy
it's hard to follow your retention on
this is not going to be very good but
anti- spider webbing is when you know
that this will happen and so you just
don't like you know that as soon as you
try to do it that's it's going to be
become messy and so you just don't even
try that's anti- spider webbing both of
them are not ideal so the way that we
solve this by addressing the segmental
part of it when we're mapping
segmentally what this means is that
we're focusing in on one area and we're
developing it much more fully compared
to the rest so that might end up looking
like this it might end up looking yeah
there'll be like quite a lot going on in
just one area so that this part has been
really fleshed out in a lot of depth
however the other parts have been kind
of neglected like all of this area here
has been neglected so I can see this
when I look at this one this top right
corner is much more fully developed than
basically everything else in here and so
when you try to add more keywords you
might be wanting to add something over
here right by domestic and come you
might want to add something here and
then something here and then maybe
something here and something here but
you know that when you add something
here that's now going to relate to stuff
that's over on this side and then that
that's going to cause those arrows to
cross and it's going to become very
messy the problem is not adding more
keywords and seeing that the
relationships are there it's good that
you can see the relationships the
problem was that you feted out this
whole thing to this level before adding
any of that here right so the difference
is like this if you if you do what you
you've done and this is very common by
the way so this is all very normal it's
not like you did something wrong it's
just this is like a normal mistake that
everyone has to make when you do it this
way this is what happens with the Mind
map you end up going through and saying
okay well here's you know kind of like a
basic backbone that I'm creating this is
the overall structure of the topic great
and then we start adding on the extra
level of depth and so we say okay well
that's kind of split up like this and
then this and then that's split up like
this and then that and then this is
split up like into these three things
here and then this one is split up again
and then these two relate to each other
and these relate to each other like that
and so you look at that and you think
okay good I'm happy with that that looks
good and then if we move on to this this
bottom one if we move on to this one now
and then we start fleshing that out we
start say okay well this one has got
this and this one has got this and then
these two are related and then if I
flesh this one it's like okay well
there's more here but then this one is
related to this one and then this one
but then this one is actually related to
like this one and then there's this one
but then this one is actually related to
like this one over here so straight away
we run into like a an issue it's it's
now already too messy and that's just
from adding one extra concept right as
we add more and more and more it just
becomes even even even more crazy and
the reason is because there's just too
much density there's just too much
density in this area compared to the
rest of it so here's what you should do
instead okay so the first thing that you
did was you worked out that General
basic backbone you were like this and
then that is like this that's fine that
looks good you're happy with that this
is fine this is all good the next step
is like okay so what are the main
Concepts that come off of this you then
add those on across all of them you then
ask are are any of these related to each
other and you might think okay well
these are actually related to each other
and then this is related to this one so
straight away we know that even without
fleshing it out further we might need to
change this up so we would stop here and
we would then take this Unity to redo it
so we would go back we might rearrange
this so that instead it now looks like
this right so we just created a little
bit more space for ourselves and you can
see that already the structure is going
to change and then now we can add on you
know some of the other ones and you say
okay how are they related and that might
be fine and then you add on the next
level so we say okay well what is the
very next level so there's a couple
things here there's a couple things here
this one's just got a few more details
and every single extra thing that we add
on we always think how is that related
the rest how does that fit into the big
picture so as soon as you add on this
one you think okay how how does that
relate to the big picture okay that's
fine this is this is as good as it gets
there's no other relationships we add
another one on here how is that related
okay now we see that this one is
actually related to this one here okay
we can draw that Arrow that's fine we
add another one how is that related to
the big picture okay we now see that
this one is potentially related to this
one that becomes a problem so we take a
we take a pause and then we rearrange so
maybe what I can do is I can move I can
move this one somewhere around uh maybe
I can move this one like all the way
over here so that this Arrow ends up
being a little bit cleaner like this yes
we're still going to have a Crossing but
it's still going to be much cleaner than
it is now so in order for me to do that
I need to reposition this thing so let's
do that so I might add this one on
something that looks like this instead
and that allow that allows me to draw a
connection like that which is a little
cleaner so every new element that's
added we're constantly rearranging if we
delay the rearranging process for too
long starts to get overwhelming cuz now
there's like so many things to move
around it's almost like you can almost
think of it like if you've got a a new
house and you're moving all your
furniture into it it makes more sense to
rearrange the room and think about
everything for each new piece of
furniture you put in because if you
already put all the furniture inside the
house and then you think you want to
rearrange it it's more complicated cuz
now you have to like move all these
other things out of the way and that
takes much more time and much more
effort and it's it's just more
overwhelming so instead it makes much
more sense to re-evaluate constantly as
you go to avoid it so if we were to look
at the uh the map that you that you
initially sent through like this one
what it looks like is probably you
created your overall backbone first with
this one this flow here and this
backbone flow is like it yeah maybe it
can be better but it's like it's not
terrible it's it's it's not bad and then
after that maybe what you did is you
added these ones these kind of blue
lines in first and then afterwards you
added in all these black ones here but
the thing is when you added these black
ones you should also be thinking how
does that relate to all these other blue
ones whereas I think what happened is
that when you started adding these on in
the top right you only thought about how
it creates a network in this space you
didn't think about how it might relate
to the other things that are that are
that are on here so if you were to like
add you know for example like
technological advancement which is right
here in the top right and you think well
how is that going to be potentially
related to domestic income or foreign
income that means that you're given
yourself an earlier opportunity to
rearrange the flow yeah it makes a lot
of sense because what happened to me
during the my mind being is okay let's
use the technological advancement
concept also it's like I is I'm
basically doing inp the web in a way
that I don't think about the
relationship between like technological
advancement to income I just actually
how I think of it is since it branches
out technological advancement so I was
thinking maybe that means that uh the
technological advancement is really Rel
at to income uh in terms of production
which actually is it is logically
logically speaking it is that way that's
why I didn't think yeah the idea here is
that it it it logically makes sense
technological advancement is related to
income because it affects production yes
like that that that does make sense
that's perfectly valid and I'm not
saying don't have it that way but it's
about it's about exploring more more
relationships and then coming to a
judgment about how you want to express
them it's not just like find one that
makes sense it's find like there's
usually multiple ways that things can be
connected to other things there are
multiple ways that things can make sense
and we want to understand more than one
of those ways so that we are aware of
aware of the possible Network that it
can form because like this technological
advancement will definitely be related
to some of these other Concepts as well
now whether it's important enough that
you want to actually put it in your map
that's another story but you do at least
want to think about it and I often talk
about this idea of like zooming in and
out very often zooming in and out very
often by the way I just want to mention
for your stage your current skill level
is fine like all the problems that
you're facing this is completely normal
and expected at your level and you will
probably just naturally learn to
overcome this as well as you progress
through the program cuz now we're
getting into some nuances the missing
part is how quickly you're scrolling in
and out like when you're here when
you're looking at things at a really
really Zoomed In level it's hard to see
the big picture so when you are zoomed
in you put something down okay you've
mapped out this thing you've mapped out
this thing once you've mapped it out
stop zoom out look at the whole picture
how does what you just put in fit with
the whole picture rearrange things if
you need to okay now you can zoom back
in Zoom back in figure out some more of
the relationships okay now zoom out so
you have to be constantly zooming in and
out to see how what you're creating fits
with the big picture right otherwise
what you end up with is you can have
very dense networks of Connections in a
very localized area but then when you
actually look at the big picture it's
actually very confusing and hard to
follow because even though there are
like these pockets of really well
connected things overall it's not well
connected together so it's still quite a
lot for for your brain to try to hold
into and and make sense of the reason
this one is better is because at a big
picture level the connections are
clearer but I suspect that the reason
this one is better is because the topic
was just naturally easier it was just
naturally more organized and more well
categorized and there's probably just
less connections between some of these
peripheral things that you need to think
about and your backbone just is a lot
more intuitive to begin with that's
probably the reason why this one ends up
being clearer whereas this one just ends
up being a little bit more complicated
cuz there's just more nuanced
relationships and again that's normal
and it just means that your skill level
needs to just catch up to that the main
thing for you to work on is doing that
zooming in zooming out and then just
taking a pause after you add on new
keywords and Concepts to think how does
that relate to the big picture so just
give yourself more frequent
opportunities to restructure your map
before it gets to the point where it's
already so committed that it's
overwhelming I think this may be a small
reason but the thing is when I see like
when you stream on live clinic or when
you when other coaches like Draw My Life
demonstration I realize when you dra my
you will be actually quite a zoom out
yeah you will be quite zoom out but for
me uh like just now you will showing
like the concepts the technological
advancement that's actually the whole
thing I can see on my screen when I was
yeah when I was doing ke like my my P so
is it that I just have to deal with this
for this app because yeah if I this is
part of the skill yeah this this is what
I'm saying is that actually the act of
literally just deliberately taking time
to pause zoom out reconnect Zoom back in
zoom out zoom in zoom out zoom in zoom
out right and that's not literally like
just pinching but it's mentally as well
thinking detailed thinking big thinking
detailed thinking big that is part of
the skill when you've got lots of
keywords lots of Concepts to try to work
with you need to do this more frequently
if it's a very small topic there's not
much consequence you can stay zoomed in
for a very long time very detailed and
when you zoom out there's only like two
other Concepts you need to connect it to
it's not too hard but if you've got like
40 different things to connect it to
then by the time you've already mapped
out one part in detail and you look at
the big picture you might realize okay
well you've just missed like all these
other connections now you'd have to undo
what you've just done to try to make it
fit which is just you know like an
ineffective use of time yeah I yeah I
can completely understand it yeah I I
will go and try more because actually if
you see my keywords the keywords that I
choose some of them are actually
relationships like the consequences the
advantages I will just bring you all the
key I think that is actually just my
problem of going too much into details I
think I think you can I don't think you
need to collect quite as many keywords
in the first part I think working with
like 100 keywords when you're still just
learning the skill is a bit too much I
would recommend maybe dropping it down
to like 30 or even 50 is manageable you
won't miss anything because you're going
to come back to it anyway you're not
skipping the keyword you're just
delaying it you're just you're just
partitioning your time differently
you're saying these are the keywords I'm
going to work on now and these are
keyword I'm going to work on later like
what you can do is you can create a list
of keywords and then you can create a su
list of keywords you can look at your
big list and then pull out the ones that
you think are more important and make a
separate
list right skipping information does not
mean you're actually skipping it it just
means that you're being more deliberate
about when you learn it the thing that
should create more uncertainty is if you
feel like you're covering it just
because you've got it down when actually
you haven't learned it properly like
that's the real skip right cuz now you
think you've studied it but it's not in
your memory anyway like if you this is
what we see with people when we they
just like read and reread and rewrite
their notes all the time like yes
they're reading and writing everything
they're not missing anything but
actually everything is being missed cuz
none of it staying in the memory so we
just got to shift our Focus that that
makesense cool all right good luck um
we'll keep in touch anything any any
final remarks or
questions you just yeah it's a very full
session yeah cool awesome thank you so
much um and yeah we we'll be in touch
okay thanks see you later thank you
Justin
[Music]
byebye
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)