Are Mind Maps a WASTE OF TIME?

Summary

Dr. Justin, a former medical doctor turned learning coach, challenges the effectiveness of traditional mind mapping techniques. He emphasizes that mind maps are not a one-size-fits-all tool and often fail due to a lack of cognitive engagement. Through his experience, he illustrates the importance of creating mind maps that genuinely reflect one's thought process, advocating for a deeper, more intuitive approach to learning that enhances memory and understanding. The video also features interviews with high-achieving students who share their insights on the transformative impact of effective mind mapping on their academic success.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Mind maps are not universally effective and require a deeper understanding of the thought process behind them.
• 🌐 The effectiveness of mind maps is not about their appearance on paper but the cognitive processes they represent.
• 👨‍🏫 Dr. Justin, a former medical doctor turned learning coach, emphasizes the importance of evidence-based techniques in learning.
• 📚 The script discusses the commonality of mind maps not working for many students and the need for alternative learning techniques.
• 🔍 Dr. Justin critiques popular mind mapping methods as often being unsupported by evidence or theory, potentially leading to ineffective learning.
• 🤔 The process of creating a mind map should engage higher-order thinking and not just be a passive activity.
• 🔄 Grouping information in mind maps should be an active process that reflects the relationships and understanding of the concepts.
• 📉 A lack of effort in creating a mind map can lead to disorganized thinking and poor retention of information.
• 📈 The organization of a mind map should aim to be as intuitive and logical as possible, reflecting a deep understanding of the material.
• 💪 Engaging in the effort of creating a high-quality mind map can enhance memory and lead to more efficient learning in the long run.
• 🌟 Top-performing students like Archer and Derek have found success in learning through the effective use of mind maps, underscoring the importance of technique over effort.

Q & A

What is the main issue with mind maps according to Dr. Justin?

The main issue with mind maps, as Dr. Justin explains, is that most of the time they do not work effectively because they are often created without a proper understanding of the cognitive processes involved, leading to disorganized and ineffective representations of information.

Why did the student in the seminar ask for an alternative to mind maps?

The student asked for an alternative to mind maps because she had tried mind maps and found that they did not work for her, indicating a common experience where mind maps do not meet the individual's learning needs.

What is Dr. Justin's professional background, and how does it relate to his expertise on learning techniques?

Dr. Justin is a former medical doctor who transitioned to being a full-time learning coach. His professional background and over 10 years of experience as a learning coach make him an expert in teaching effective learning and self-management techniques.

What is the significance of the mind map being an 'accurate reflection of your thought process'?

An accurate reflection of the thought process in a mind map is significant because it ensures that the mind map is not just a random collection of information but a meaningful representation of how the individual understands and connects different concepts, which is crucial for effective learning and memory retention.

Why do some mind mapping methods fail to be effective according to the script?

Some mind mapping methods fail to be effective because they are often based on personal preferences or 'favorite flavors' of the technique creators rather than being supported by evidence or sound educational theory, leading to recommendations that may be detrimental to the learning process.

What is the importance of the appearance of a mind map on paper in relation to cognitive processes?

The appearance of a mind map on paper is important as it can be a reflection of the cognitive processes happening in the mind. A well-organized mind map can indicate clear and organized thinking, which is essential for effective learning and retrieval of information.

How does Dr. Justin suggest improving the quality of a mind map?

Dr. Justin suggests improving the quality of a mind map by ensuring it is a true reflection of one's thought process, engaging in deeper thinking, and organizing the information in a way that feels simple, logical, and intuitive, which facilitates better learning and memory retention.

What is the role of effort in creating an effective mind map?

Effort is crucial in creating an effective mind map because it involves active learning, deep thinking, and processing of information. It helps in forming clear connections and relationships between concepts, which enhances understanding and memory.

How does Dr. Justin use the analogy of a city with disorganized streets to explain the ineffectiveness of certain mind maps?

Dr. Justin uses the analogy of a city with disorganized streets to illustrate that just as a confusing map of a disorganized city would not be effective for navigation, a disorganized mind map would not effectively support the learning process or the ability to navigate between different concepts and ideas.

What are some of the common mistakes people make when creating mind maps according to the script?

Common mistakes include creating mind maps passively without engaging in deep thinking, organizing information in a way that is not intuitive or logical, and focusing too much on the appearance of the mind map rather than the cognitive processes it represents.

How does Dr. Justin define 'human cognitive architecture' in the context of learning?

While the script does not provide a direct definition, 'human cognitive architecture' refers to the underlying structure and processes of the human mind that influence learning, including how we form networks, pathways, and connections between different pieces of information.

Outlines

00:00

😖 The Inefficacy of Traditional Mind Mapping

The speaker, Dr. Justin, a former medical doctor turned learning coach, begins by addressing the common misconception that mind maps are universally effective study tools. He shares a personal anecdote from an early seminar on study skills where a student's question about alternative techniques to mind mapping, which she found ineffective, highlighted a widespread issue. Dr. Justin emphasizes that mind maps are not a one-size-fits-all technique and that many popular methods lack empirical support. He suggests that the true value of a mind map lies in the thought process it represents rather than its appearance, urging students to focus on the cognitive effort behind creating one.

05:02

🧠 Mind Maps as a Reflection of Cognitive Processes

Dr. Justin delves into the importance of aligning mind maps with cognitive processes, explaining that the way information is grouped and connected in a mind map should mirror the thought patterns and pathways formed in the brain. He illustrates how different individuals and even the same individual on different days may activate distinct cognitive pathways, leading to varied mind map structures. The speaker uses the analogy of navigating a city to explain how a well-organized mind map can serve as an effective reference and navigational tool for the thought processes. He also discusses the significance of explicit relationships between concepts in deepening understanding and knowledge retention.

10:02

🔍 The Nuances of Grouping in Mind Mapping

This paragraph explores the nuances of grouping information within mind maps, demonstrating how different methods of grouping can significantly affect learning outcomes. Dr. Justin uses a list of basic learning principles as an example to show the spectrum of grouping, from a passive approach based on trivial criteria to more active and meaningful groupings based on historical significance, cognitive perspectives, or practical applications. He stresses that the depth of thought invested in grouping directly influences the quality of learning, and that even seemingly straightforward tasks like grouping can be cognitively enriching when approached thoughtfully.

15:02

📚 The Pitfalls of Passive Mind Mapping

Dr. Justin highlights the common issue of creating mind maps that are linear and passive, resembling the format of textbooks and lecture slides rather than facilitating the complex, interconnected thought processes of the brain. He critiques the superficial organization often found in educational materials and warns against the disorganization that can result from attempting to represent complex relationships without a deep understanding. The speaker demonstrates how even with identified relationships, a mind map can become overwhelming and ineffective for learning if not thoughtfully structured.

20:03

💡 The Importance of Active Learning in Mind Mapping

The speaker advocates for active learning through mind mapping, contrasting it with passive techniques that offer little cognitive benefit. Dr. Justin explains that a meaningful mind map should engage the brain in a way that simplifies and clarifies the relationships between concepts, making them more intuitive. He emphasizes the effort required to create a high-quality mind map and how this effort enhances memory and understanding. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for viewers to invest time and thought into the mind mapping process to achieve deeper learning and better retention.

25:04

🤔 Embracing the Cognitive Effort in Learning

Dr. Justin discusses the importance of embracing cognitive effort in the learning process, likening it to the physical effort required in a gym workout for strength gains. He dispels the myth of easy, effortless learning techniques, insisting that true learning mastery comes from engaging deeply with the material. The speaker provides tips for effective mind mapping, including ensuring the mind map accurately reflects one's thought process and not avoiding the effort required for organizing and understanding the material. He stresses that the mind map should serve as a tool for introspection and a visual cue to assess and improve one's cognitive processes.

30:07

📈 Prioritizing Intuition in Mind Mapping

The speaker encourages finding an intuitive and simple way to organize information in mind maps, explaining that this approach helps integrate new information with existing knowledge schemas. Dr. Justin illustrates how associating new concepts with familiar experiences or skills can enhance understanding and retention. He advises spending time and effort to reach a level of intuitiveness in mind mapping, which, despite being more challenging, leads to better learning outcomes and saves time in the long run by reducing the need for repetition and improving memory.

35:07

🎓 Student Perspectives on Mind Mapping

In this paragraph, Dr. Justin shares insights from interviews with two high-achieving students, Archer and Derek, who both use mind mapping as part of their study techniques. Archer, a top-performing medical student, and Derek, who achieved one of the highest IB grades in the world, discuss their experiences with mind mapping. They emphasize the importance of the cognitive process behind mind mapping, the value of effort in learning, and the realization that a mind map's appearance is less important than the depth of understanding it represents. Their stories serve to validate Dr. Justin's teachings and provide relatable perspectives on the effectiveness of mind mapping when done correctly.

💡 The Evolution of Mind Mapping Understanding

The final paragraph features the students' reflections on their initial experiences with mind mapping and how their understanding evolved over time. Both Archer and Derek initially found mind mapping unhelpful and even repulsive due to its perceived lack of structure and organization. However, after learning the technique properly, they discovered the value in the cognitive effort required to create meaningful mind maps. They realized that a mind map's effectiveness lies in its reflection of clear relationships and a simplified structure, which indicates a deeper level of understanding. The students also discuss the misconception that more content in a mind map equates to better comprehension, highlighting the importance of prioritization and clarity instead.

Keywords

💡Mind Maps

Mind maps are visual tools used to organize information, typically radiating from a central concept. In the video, the speaker discusses the common misconception that mind maps do not work effectively, which is a central theme. The script provides examples of how mind maps are traditionally taught and used, and the speaker argues for a more cognitively engaged approach to create mind maps that reflect deeper thinking and understanding.

💡Study Skills

Study skills refer to the strategies and techniques students use to learn and retain information. The video's speaker, Dr. Justin, is a learning coach who focuses on teaching effective study skills. The script describes a seminar on study skills where the ineffectiveness of mind maps was questioned, highlighting the importance of exploring alternative techniques to enhance learning.

💡Cognitive Processes

Cognitive processes involve the mental activities directed toward acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. The video emphasizes the importance of engaging cognitive processes when creating mind maps, as it's not just about the appearance on paper but what's happening in the brain. The script illustrates this with examples of how different grouping methods can affect cognitive engagement and learning outcomes.

💡Human Cognitive Architecture

Human cognitive architecture is a theoretical framework that explains how the human mind processes information. The speaker mentions this field as a leading school of thought behind learning. In the script, it is used to explain the different levels of thinking and knowledge mastery, and how mind maps can be a reflection of these cognitive structures.

💡Encoding

Encoding in the context of learning refers to the process of converting information into a format that is easier to remember. The video discusses how the way information is grouped and thought about during mind mapping affects encoding. The script provides examples of how different grouping methods can lead to different encoding processes, impacting the depth of knowledge and memory retention.

💡Retrieval

Retrieval is the process of accessing stored information when needed. The video script discusses the impact of mind mapping on retrieval, suggesting that a well-organized mind map can facilitate easier retrieval of information. The speaker contrasts this with a disorganized mind map that can hinder the retrieval process due to its complexity.

💡Concept Mapping

Concept mapping is a note-taking strategy that involves organizing ideas into a structured diagram with concepts as nodes and relationships as links. The script mentions concept mapping as an alternative to traditional mind mapping, which the speaker found to be more effective but still messy without proper cognitive engagement.

💡Knowledge Mastery

Knowledge mastery refers to the deep understanding and ability to apply knowledge effectively. The video emphasizes the importance of achieving knowledge mastery through active learning and cognitive engagement. The script provides examples of how mind maps, when created with a deeper understanding of relationships and concepts, can lead to higher levels of knowledge mastery.

💡Effort and Cognitive Load

Effort and cognitive load refer to the mental effort required to process information deeply. The speaker in the video argues that the effort put into organizing and understanding information while creating mind maps is crucial for effective learning. The script contrasts the passive approach with an active one, showing that engaging in higher cognitive load activities can lead to better retention and understanding.

💡Intuitive

Intuitive refers to the ability to understand or know something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. In the context of the video, the speaker discusses making mind maps intuitive by organizing information in a way that feels natural and makes sense to the learner. The script illustrates this with examples of how organizing mind maps to reflect intuitive understanding can lead to better learning outcomes.

💡Repetition

Repetition in learning is the act of reviewing information multiple times to enhance memory and understanding. The video script mentions repetition as a sign that the brain is struggling to integrate new information into existing knowledge structures. The speaker suggests that instead of relying on repetition, learners should seek to understand the relationships and contexts of information to make it more intuitive and memorable.

Highlights

The speaker, Dr. Justin, challenges the effectiveness of traditional mind mapping techniques, suggesting they often do not work as expected.

Dr. Justin shares a personal anecdote about a student's question that sparked his interest in the nuances of learning techniques.

He emphasizes that mind maps are not a single technique and are often taught differently without solid evidence or theory support.

Dr. Justin explains the importance of the thought process behind creating a mind map, rather than its appearance on paper.

He uses the analogy of city maps to illustrate the idea that a mind map's effectiveness is tied to the organization of thought, not just its visual layout.

The speaker discusses the infinite ways to create a mind map and the importance of aligning it with one's cognitive processes.

Dr. Justin introduces the concept of human cognitive architecture as a foundational theory for understanding how learning works.

He provides insights into how mind maps can serve as a diagnostic tool for a coach to understand a student's cognitive processes.

The talk addresses the variation in mind mapping due to individual differences and the impact on cognitive pathways and learning.

Dr. Justin demonstrates the difference between passive and active mind mapping through grouping information in various ways.

He critiques the linear format of textbooks and how it can limit the understanding of complex relationships between concepts.

The speaker shows how to transform a linear list into a mind map, highlighting the importance of cognitive engagement in the process.

Dr. Justin explains the problems with creating mind maps that are disorganized and how it reflects on the mind's processing of information.

He advocates for a more active learning approach, emphasizing the effort required to truly understand and remember information.

The talk includes a side-by-side comparison of ineffective versus effective mind mapping, showcasing the impact of cognitive effort.

Dr. Justin concludes with advice on making mind maps that are intuitive and simple, reflecting a deeper level of understanding and knowledge.

The video features interviews with high-achieving students discussing their experiences and insights on the effectiveness of mind mapping.

Transcripts

so a lot of people know me as the mind

map guy that was one of the first videos

that i made that sort of went viral but

the thing is that mind maps most of the

time

do

not

work and let me explain why a number of

years ago i was giving the seminar on

study skills it was one of the first

times i've ever given a big seminar on

study skills and i remember that a

student in the front row she put up her

hand and asked what's another technique

that's not mind maps because i've tried

it and it didn't work for me and at the

time i wasn't experienced enough to

really know the nuance behind the

question that she was really asking

years on looking back at it now that's a

memory that sticks out to me because it

was a very simple question and a very

common thought that a lot of students

have a lot of you may have this thought

as well that you've tried mind maps

before and it hasn't worked so well for

you

and what's an alternative technique

and let me explain why that question is

kind of not looking at things in the

right angle for those of you that are

new i'm dr justin i'm a former medical

doctor now a full-time learning coach

and it's my job to teach students like

yourself and professionals how to learn

and manage themselves more effectively

i've been practicing now as a learning

coach for almost 10 years and if you

like the content i'd appreciate if you

give it a like and a subscribe now the

first thing that i need to establish

straight off the bat is that the mind

map is not a single technique

this is very important see a lot of

people teach mind maps very differently

there are different methods there are

different books each guru seems to have

their own kind of version of it and i

guess i'm no different i have a very

specific way that i teach it but the

thing is that most of these methods and

very specific instructions on how to do

the mymab are basically completely

unsupported by any evidence or even

theory in most of the situations that

i've seen especially with some extremely

common methods of mind mapping which i

won't name because i don't want to get

sued the guidelines seem like they were

just the favorite flavor of the person

that made that technique and then they

just felt that it would work or

something and then they published on it

and as a result inadvertently some of

those recommendations actually end up

being detrimental and can lead to a bad

experience and what i think a lot of

people don't realize is that there are

literally an infinite number of ways

that you can make a mind map because

what's important is not the way that a

mind map looks on paper once you've

written it all down

what's important is what's happening in

your brain it's about what you're

thinking about and how you are

processing the information that you

consume in your mind and how your

note-taking technique facilitates that

kind of thinking it is a mind map a map

of your mind and just like if you go to

a new city that has roads that are

really hard to follow and you look at

the map and you think man this map is

really hard to follow you wouldn't say

that therefore

maps are categorically not effective you

would say that this city is disorganized

and if you had you know some city level

god powers you could rearrange this city

streets and roads to make them more

organized and then your map would

reflect that and so it too would be more

organized and you would be able to use

it as an effective reference point as

well as to facilitate your ability to

navigate from point a to point b

obviously this is analogy because this

is kind of also how the brain works as

well we form these networks we form

these pathways and the more organized

and the clearer the pathways are i guess

the better quality the roads are that is

how deeply we've thought about the

connection and how explicit we are

because there's a difference for example

between knowing that two concepts or

ideas or facts are related together

understanding what the relationship

between those is

and being very clear and explicit about

the nature of that relationship and how

important that relationship is compared

to let's say another set of

relationships that may be very similar

those are different levels of thinking

live different levels of knowledge

mastery and that also translates to a

different ability to perform and

retrieve that knowledge it's very

logical and this is kind of all within

this field of what we

now call human cognitive architecture

which is one of the leading schools of

thought behind how learning works now

the appearance of a mind map on paper

can be a good reflection of what's

happening in the mind so often when we

have students working through our

program myself and my coaches

we

look at your work and then we pull out

symptoms like a doctor diagnosing we

look at signs we look at symptoms we

look at particular patterns we say hmm

if it looks this way if they've

demonstrated that they're writing words

like this and there's a certain arrow

going in this direction instead of the

other direction it indicates that they

probably didn't think about a certain

aspect of it which informs us about the

likely cognitive processes that you are

using but the tricky part is that there

is a lot of variation between different

individuals different topics even on

different days the same person studying

the same topic may activate different

cognitive pathways and therefore

they would have different thoughts and

therefore those thoughts would affect

other thoughts in a different way in a

different order and if your mind map is

truly reflecting your thought process

your mind map would actually look

different as well and you could in some

cases actually get a different result in

terms of your retention in terms of the

depth at which you were able to

understand the information

so there are relatively subtle small

differences that can make very large

significant impacts anyone going through

my program you will know completely what

i'm talking about here and in fact if

you are going through programming

actually can you leave a comment down

below just to tell other people about

how significant some of these tiny

little nuances can be at affecting your

result so let's take an example let's

take the six steps to a perfect mind map

video that i made and one of the first

things that i talk about there which is

grouping information now it seems

relatively straightforward all you have

to do is group information together how

hard could it be to group information

well i'm just going to demonstrate to

you right now

how big of a difference it is in terms

of how you group it and what thoughts

you have while you are grouping it so

what i've got here is a list of some of

the basic principles of learning it's

not a comprehensive list but i thought

it was enough just to set an example

now this could be a list of keywords

that you got from your curriculum or

from your coursework or wherever you're

getting the information from and what

we're going to do is we're going to go

through and we're going to show how

different ways of grouping can affect

this now the thing about grouping

something is that it's not a checklist

it's not just like oh here's a group

done here's a group done here's a group

done you're not activating much

cognitively from doing that you are

comparing the ideas against each other

you are having to evaluate them and you

are having to use slightly higher orders

of thinking to

group something even if you're grouping

it poorly you're still having to do that

but the level and the depth at which

you're thinking about things completely

affects the quality of the group and

therefore the quality of the learning so

for example if i looked at this group

and i just said okay i'm just going to

group this based on the things that have

the letter o in them well then i'd group

this and then this and so on and so

forth you get the picture so

that's not a very meaningful way of

grouping and you guys already know this

intuitively that that's not really going

to produce any learning it's kind of

like a meaningless activity but it's a

spectrum right so that method of

grouping is very brainless it's very

passive and so a more active way of

grouping it is to think a little bit

more about each of the ideas to see how

we can group it to make a bit more sense

but it's not binary like i said it's a

spectrum so even if we're saying that it

makes sense to group it this way it

makes sense to group it in multiple

possible ways so for example it would

make sense to group this list in terms

of maybe

the historical significance things that

were

you know old older schools of thought

versus transitionary versus newer

schools of thought see that type of

grouping is very logical and actually

makes a lot of sense but alternatively

we could group the exact same set of

words into things that are from a

cognitive perspective versus a

self-management perspective versus a

self-regulation perspective versus a

strategy perspective and so these would

also be completely logical and very

valid ways of grouping it or we could do

it in terms of things that are more

theoretical versus things that are more

practical we could do it in terms of

things that affect encoding versus

things that affect retrieval versus

things that affect both versus things

that allow you to achieve them so

each of these methods of grouping would

be potentially

valid

and they involve different types of

thinking you can imagine that the type

of comparison and the similarity and

differences that you're looking at when

you're looking through this list to see

which one is historically significant in

different ways is a different type of

thinking and a different type of

exploration as would be to divide it

into encoding versus retrieval for

example and in this process of grouping

we're gonna have to go through and we're

gonna have to learn a little bit about

each of the words and we're gonna have

to get a basic understanding of it so

that we can form these groups

so this is the thing is that the way

that we're thinking about the groups

completely affects the type of groups

that we form obviously but also that

changes the way that we are processing

the information and that changes the way

that we're encoding the information and

there's obviously flow and effects

because if we groups you know half of it

in one way that affects the way that

we're going to group the remaining half

so let's say i use a slightly more

passive way of grouping this information

and then i try to represent that on a

mind map and i'm going to show you an

extremely common issue that occurs so

the tricky thing is that often when

you're taught about things in a textbook

or even in lecture slides because of the

way that most of the information you

consume is written it's in a linear

format usually left to right down a page

bullet points and things like that it's

very difficult to show relationships

especially relationships between three

or more pieces of information

because that's simply just the

limitation of linear structures you'd

have to really explain a lot to show

relationships and if you've got four or

five things that are interrelated to

each other you kind of need to have like

a whole paragraph just talking about the

nature of those relationships across an

entire topic that gets extremely

overwhelming so textbooks often

structure their information in a way

that makes it easily readable for a

linear format and so they group the

information in a way that is suited for

that but that method of grouping is

often not the best way of grouping it

for our human cognitive architecture in

facilitating our memory and allowing us

to have high depth of knowledge after

all someone that memorizes a textbook

word for word clearly has a lower level

of true expertise than someone that is

able to use that information freely

back in front you know

side to side all over in a fluent way

fluidly utilizing all of those concepts

to solve real world problems there's

obviously a deeper level of expertise

and that relies on their ability to

manipulate that information and to find

those relationships and navigate them

so let me give you an example here so

what i'm going to do is i'm going to

take this list of words and i'm going to

group them in a way that would be very

similar if you would have read about

these in a book for example so let's see

what that looks like

[Music]

all right so we now have a order that is

kind of similar to how you might find it

in a textbook

it's looking obviously a lot more

organized you can see that i shuffled

things around now i'm able to do this

because i obviously have insight into

each of the

particular words themselves if you were

reading this in a textbook it would

already be laid out for you like this or

if you needed to shuffle things around

you'd have to go through the textbook uh

and and learn a little bit deeper about

it not that much but you know maybe

spend you know 30 seconds a minute kind

of reading about it just so that you can

figure out okay well i could move it

here i could move it here to see what

makes sense it doesn't take super deep

knowledge to be able to figure out

whether a group kind of makes sense or

not especially if you can revise it

later

so

we'll start with this and let's say that

we then want to represent this

information in terms of a mind map so

that my map would end up looking

something a little bit like this

[Music]

[Music]

and there we have it uh that took me i

don't know how long but it was super

boring

i'm glad i got that over and done with

so this is what it would often look like

with some changes and variations

obviously

this was a super super passive process

and most people when they do mind maps

for the first time it looks kind of

similar to this

now

here are the issues okay first of all

that took absolutely no brain power at

all my brain was completely not active

in doing that process and it was

essentially just the same thing as

writing this list

except in a non-linear format so this

thing here activated no real meaningful

cognitive effects and

it's you know kind of useless i'm not

really gaining much benefit from having

done this activity you can see it's

basically the same thing as what was on

the

uh the

the list it's the only difference is

that literally it's just in this webby

kind of mind map format that everyone is

used to now here's where some of the

problems start arising

is when we start thinking about it a

little bit deeper we start learning

about a little bit more we know that

we're meant to represent these

relationships so let's go through now

and start identifying some of the key

relationships not all of them just some

of the ones that are really important

that we want to show on this mind map

okay let's do that let's see what that

looks like

[Music]

[Music]

do

[Music]

right now we've got some relationships

and that's this is by no means

comprehensive and uh in terms of

additionally the actual value that was

added here in this case i already know

the relationship so i'm able to do this

without looking at anything else but in

reality you would be going through the

words you'd be reading about them you'd

be learning about them you'd be thinking

about them and you'd be thinking oh this

and this thing i related and you'd show

that relationship and you draw it in so

every time i drew an arrow here that

process would take you maybe like three

to four or five minutes per arrow

because you're having to read like

paragraphs and think about it okay so

we've got relationships now

however

look at it it's impossible to follow you

cannot see what's going on it's super

disorganized imagine going to a new city

and then you get a map that looks like

this

who knows where to get anywhere and your

brain is thinking the same thing when

it's hit with a difficult question that

requires you to navigate these

relationships and connect multiple ideas

together to synthesize something that is

at a higher level it's going to be very

difficult to do that with this even

though technically it's grouped and

technically there are relationships that

have been thought of and they have been

demonstrated so it ticks all of the

boxes but it kind of doesn't because at

a cognitive level it still wasn't

sufficient it didn't really do much at a

cognitive level and this is why what i

said at the very beginning it's not

about what it looks like on page it is

what is going on in your brain to create

what is out here and so if it looks

disorganized here on paper then it

probably is going to also be

disorganized in your mind as well now

yes you can use different colors and you

can arrange things in space a little bit

differently trust me

i've seen many many many many many mind

maps in my professional experience not

even looking at my own experience it

doesn't make a big enough difference

it's still going to be messy and it's

still going to be a very hard limit on

the efficiency that you can gain so this

is not the way that we want to do things

so someone that does mind maps like this

it's just going to be a waste of time

that you're really going to get no real

benefit from doing this if we want to

have a higher quality of learning and

that is to spend time studying and

actually have that information in our

brain so that we can actually use it in

real life purposes

we have to engage our brain and have a

little bit more active learning a bit

more thought a bit more processing and a

bit more effort

injected into this process and the thing

is that even though that allows you to

have better encoding

most people do not do that because they

cannot be

bothered

and they see that the effort is a

negative thing they don't understand the

relationship that that effort has and

actually saving them time and effort

overall because they are enhancing their

memory and so they're forgetting less

and getting a deeper level of knowledge

mastery

so

i'm going to take that same list and

what i'm going to do is i'm going to run

through a few different steps and i'm

going to show you how the exact same

information can look completely

different and i want you to really pay

attention again not to what's on the

page but i want you to be more meta

cognitive what that means is we're

thinking about our thinking i want you

to think about what's going on in my

brain and i want you to think about what

type of thinking does that engage in and

think to yourself

in what world would that result in

my depth and knowledge mastery being

worse and what world would that make the

knowledge less relevant in what world is

my memory

not improved from engaging in that

process so let's go into that now

off the bat every time i do a video

people are always asking for more more

specific more examples

learning is a complicated thing it is

not possible for just these tips alone

to be sufficient for you this is the

reason why i have a whole program which

takes months to go through to completely

retrain yourself from start to finish in

terms of how to learn these techniques

properly if you're interested in working

with me to develop yourself from scratch

and completely transform your learning

system then i recommend that you check

that out you'll see the link in the

description below however these tips are

going to be very solid

starter steps for you they're not going

to be easy but they're not easy because

it's not meant to be easy there is no

path there it's kind of like saying hey

you should do these workouts at the gym

and you're like oh i would love to do

that and get stronger but i also don't

like the fact that it makes me have to

work out it's like there is no way for

you to achieve that

without doing the work you know those

like platforms that you stand on that

just like vibrates you and then like you

know it's like burn your belly fat and

there's like this you know this belt

around you and it just kind of like

vibrates on the spot

like the shake weight thing doesn't work

okay it doesn't work you need to put in

the work there is no secret magic hack

for this okay so here are the tips that

i'm going to start you off with the

first one is make sure your mind map is

an accurate reflection of your thought

process and when i say thought process

i'm talking about like the pattern of

thinking and the order in which you've

thought about things it needs to reflect

the type of thinking that you've done if

it doesn't reflect that then it's going

to be very hard to improve on it because

you've essentially got two completely

different processes that are not linked

together you've got thinking that's

going on which may frankly be quite good

and a lot of people that um have higher

levels of deep processing that are

naturally kind of a you know they don't

have to try that hard to get good grades

or their you know it's enough just to

use a few flash cards here and there

people that are like that often have

subconsciously a decent level of deep

processing that's going on that you can

really tap into and then absolutely

weaponize if you don't have that kind of

natural ability per se then it's even

more important to be in tune with that

because you need to know what's going on

in your head to start retraining

yourself to think more like the people

that are naturally intelligent so in

order to start fixing that you need to

know what's happening and it's a great

tool to have a mind map that shows

what's happening

rather than just like constantly being

just deeply introspective and reflective

um you know it's a lot easier to have

the introspection as well as like a

visual cue that you can look at and

think oh okay so this part looks a

little bit weird so therefore the way

that i was thinking about that must also

be a little bit disorganized right we

want to be able to have those insights

so that's the first reason

the second reason is because we want the

mind itself to facilitate the right type

of thinking so we need to get into the

habit of making sure that when we're

writing the notes we're not just writing

it thoughtlessly we're not just like

reading it and then just writing it

straight away we want to be thinking

about it first and we want to know what

we want to put down and how we want to

put it down when you i was doing this

you'll see that i was just i was just

going i was just going ham i was

essentially just spamming out the words

onto the page and it wasn't activating

any cognitive effects and as a result

you can see that you know it ends up

looking really really messy instead of

doing that i should have thought about

everything that i'm going to put down on

the page first and then organize that a

little bit more and so by holding

ourselves accountable to what we are

putting down

that's also going to force us to engage

in the right type of cognitive process

it's kind of this feedback loop it gives

us the chance to catch ourselves when

we're not doing the right type of

thinking so that's the first tip is to

make sure that they're very well aligned

you want to make sure your mind map is

truly a map of your mind in this example

here that i've shown it is a map of my

mind and the way that i've done this it

is disorganized it is hard to follow and

that's because the way that i was

thinking about it is passive i never

bothered to organize it and so naturally

it will just be disorganized even though

it looked so neat when i was in that

list form you can see in actual fact

just trying to get even a little bit of

depth uh it's it falls apart and in your

brain this is how it's gonna learn it

it's not gonna learn it in that list

otherwise studying would be really easy

if you could just be like

and then just store it into your brain

it doesn't work like that your brain is

going to think about it more in this

networked kind of way and if this is the

network that it's formed that's that's

not something that's going to last it's

going to say this is an incomprehensible

tangle of information i don't know why

it's relevant to keep let's bend this

and there you go you've forgotten half

of it the second tip is what i've

already talked about which is to not

avoid the effort and the thinking

process with cleaning this up and

organizing it and what type of thinking

do we want to engage in here's the kind

of sort of lighthouse that you should be

following is try to get it to a point

where the way you've organized it and

the way you've expressed the

relationships feels as simple and as

logical and here's the key one

as intuitive

as possible so when we say that

something is logical and intuitive what

we are saying is that our brain feels

that it just makes sense that feeling

that it just makes sense is our brain

saying this is relevant i get it it fits

in with my existing knowledge structures

if you're a strong competitive swimmer

and you learn something about biology

that reminds you of something you learnt

about swimming

that is going to be easier to remember

because it has a way to fit you know how

to understand it through the lens of

swimming if you are great at playing an

instrument or playing a sport and then

you learn something about how learning

works you might think oh yeah i actually

do that when i'm learning my instrument

or learning how to play my sport better

it would make sense that i might be able

to use that same kind of process in my

academic studies so you would be able to

understand that learning technique a

little bit more easily than someone that

didn't have that experience so it would

make sense because it fits with your

existing knowledge schemas so we're

always looking for a way to fit it with

what makes sense to us whenever we say

oh i don't really get this i'm gonna

need to repeat this whenever we get that

feeling i'm gonna need to repeat this

again and again in my head when we get

that feeling like i don't really get it

but i'm just going to smash it through

repetition if you feel that repetition

is going to be necessary

that is your brain telling you

my dude this is not relevant to me i

don't get it i don't know why i need to

hold on to it and you are overwriting

that you're saying keep it hold on to it

keep it keep it remember it remember it

and that's why it takes repetition

because your brain doesn't get it it's a

red flag it is a warning sign that

should indicate that you need to think

of another way to integrate and

associate that information into your

memory and truly consolidate it so

spend the time spend the effort to get

to the point where you can find the

angle that makes it more intuitive and

this involves reading a little bit more

you're gonna have to go through your

textbook again you're gonna have to go

through your notes you're gonna have to

ask more questions you're gonna have to

google a lot of things to get the answer

to see

does it make sense if it works this way

can i group it in this way does this

relationship make sense

that all takes effort and that takes

time however just remember as i've

talked about in many of my other videos

and as i've demonstrated through my own

practice and as thousands of my students

will testify to you can join the discord

if you want to talk to them directly

it will testify to the fact that it

saves massive time overall because by

not forgetting things and being able to

reach higher levels of knowledge mastery

at an earlier stage you just cut down

your total study time

by a ton especially for big complex

topics you know university level and

beyond it thrives with this type of

thinking so let me just go through all

of that i'm now going to exert effort

and energy to make it feel more

intuitive and more aligned and then i'm

gonna show you the end result of what

that looks like so let's take the exact

same list of keywords but this time i'm

gonna think about differently okay so

let's do that and we're gonna do that

side-by-side comparison

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okay so uh that would take normally i

suppose um i mean for me right now it

took probably two to three times longer

than the first one and in reality it

would also be like two to three times

longer because you're looking through

the material yada yada

uh to form it but

uh right now what i've got here is is

not even that clean or tidy or neat to

be honest it's pretty you know it's

fairly rudimentary it's not cleaned up

i'd like to space it out a little bit

more because it's looking a little bit

cramped hopefully you can see if it's if

i put them side by side you know this

one is just impossible to follow whereas

this one although there is a lot going

on

it actually feels like it has a lot more

structure so this would be the way that

the the brain of someone that has really

thought about it has more expertise

would think about it and hopefully you

can tell that when you're sort of

looking at me doing it there's a lot

more time spent thinking about what's

going on looking at things

a lot less time on actually writing

most of that time just on thinking and

in your case it would also be time on

reading and looking things up and things

like that but again a good time

investment very solid returns on that

result the my map itself you know you

can see that they obviously look

different but to an untrained eye you

would say they're different but you

wouldn't really appreciate necessarily

the significance of the difference

especially if you're getting something

that looks kind of neat and tidy however

again like i mentioned before there are

multiple ways you could group it i've

decided to group it like this but there

are also completely other ways of

grouping it and different relationships

that you could have that another person

could think of that would be equally as

valid if that's the way that was most

intuitive for them and their knowledge

structures for me this feels very

intuitive because i'm used to thinking

about things in this kind of structure

so again it depends completely on your

own mind and the way that you process it

and you know if you put in the effort

and you seek that intuitive simple level

then you will find that the mind map

technique becomes much deeper a little

bit more uncomfortable but much more

effective than you

would have thought if you had previous

bad experiences with it so now what

we're going to do is we're going to

actually flick to a interview that i did

of a couple of my students

one of them is archer who is a

top point zero

five percent achiever he uh

you know got one of the highest results

in australia in his final year of high

school he sat um you know like double

the amount of papers that you normally

meant to sit in the year and he got

first in the state for i think six of

them uh he did two university papers in

his final year of high school getting

the highest possible grade at the same

time he got a 99.95 atar which is the

highest possible um rank that you can

get in the country uh he was awarded

like some middle of commemoration he's

currently going through medical school

on a perfect gpa and archer actually

works at i can study

and so i'm i'm in close contact with him

all the time and archer works more than

full-time hours

while going through medical school

and he's received the letter from the

dean two years in a row for being one of

the top performing students of the

cohort so

this is a guy that does not study very

much because he's got his efficiency

dialed in i started working with him

after year 12

and

giving him more advanced

slightly more refined skills that he

could tackle medical school and do even

more than he was doing when he was back

in year 12. the other person we're

talking to is derek derek's a student

that i was working with in his final

year of high school um i started working

with them

in the early part of the year or the

late part of a second to last year and

they ended up finishing the year with uh

one of the highest

ib grades in the world

uh obviously just completely clocking

out again the highest possible mark but

also beating the great boundary for the

highest mark uh beating the threshold

that you need to get by sometimes 20 to

30 percent

so

derek is also

going through medical school at the

moment and doing exceptionally well uh

getting you know great results so far

and so what we're going to talk about

with them is sort of their experience

with mind mapping and

the idea here is to get you a

perspective that's not just my own but

of other students that maybe a little

closer to your current background or

experience or level in terms of the way

that they think about this and the

things that they've seen and the things

that they've noticed

just

so that if you're on the fence about

what i've talked about you've at least

got a few more people uh there as well

both derek and archer are coaches at i

can study as well and look at that

interview it's pretty short um and if

you want to watch uh more sort of

interviews with you know many of the

students that i have then let me know in

the comments as well i can always do

more interviews i've hundreds of

students that are super willing to jump

on youtube and do an interview with me

talking about their experience if you're

interested in seeing some of those types

of things then definitely let me know as

well i'd love to hear your thoughts if

you found this video useful and

insightful then please share it with

your friends don't throw them under the

bus and you know take all the good

techniques just for yourselves

share with your friends leave a like it

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you want to see more of this type of

content then please subscribe thank you

so much for tuning in and i'll catch you

on the next one when did you have this

older method of mind mapping during yeah

year 11. okay the first time i i

actually did mind mapping was probably

like in year 10

so i would basically

and it was because my teacher said it as

like some task so basically we were told

to make a mind map on this topic so what

i did was i just got well i didn't even

collect keywords like it was just like

okay here's like a bunch of information

so let me try and like

vaguely

group it together but the groups would

basically just be like what how it was

taught and then i'll just it would just

be me reorganizing the information that

was like already taught to me

um

so it was essentially kind of like

useless like i like you i didn't really

remember much of it and yeah it was just

words right it was just like the topic

header and then just like a bunch of

sentences underneath

so that didn't really help at all and

that's why initially i was like yeah you

know my maps are useless but then

obviously like when i actually learned

how to do mind maps for real then it was

much different because i realized that

it's not about the physical act of

actually like writing things down on the

piece of paper it's the thing that like

is happening in my mind to

actually create that mind map like

cognitively in my mind in order to form

like a good quality mind map i need to

be like thinking about how things relate

and like the chunking and organizing my

trunking structure and comparing

different flows and chunk structures

with each other and that requires like a

lot of cognitive effort and that's

pretty much what the benefit is and i

realized that yeah it doesn't really

matter what the moment looks like as

long as what you're doing in your head

is you know correct so that was like my

revelation the biggest funniest thing

for me was essentially

when i was doing mind maps before it was

way easier felt way more i guess uh kind

of fun to like just draw lines and

connect it all together and then after

kind of learning how to mind map more

properly it just became way harder but

the difference was instead of me usually

like maybe my year 10 self where i'd

kind of like shy away from that um kind

of cognitive load and things instead i'm

like okay i actually know this effort

and um this discomfort's a good thing

and so i kind of always just relate it

to the way in which um yeah you might go

to the gym and lift weights you don't

want to lift like the five kilograms you

want to lift like 50 kilograms or

something like that which is actually

going to make you get better at that

process um and that's been like the like

a much bigger change for me and also you

know it's kind of like always uh

kind of against what you may expect like

my mind maps now

may have way less words

than um kind of my previous mind maps

which looks like they had way more going

on so if you were to look at my mind

maps now you'd probably be like well

archer probably doesn't know too much

about what's going on here but it's

actually completely the opposite when my

mymath doesn't have that many words and

there's very clear

relationships you can see the backbone

very clearly i actually know way more

and i can talk about it way more which

is just funny that's an important thing

right because like people think that if

there's more going on it means that it's

better but actually it's it's the other

way around because you need to have a

deeper level of knowledge to be able to

prioritize very strictly and know what

is relevant where to place things and

how to make it clean like if you don't

know that you got to overcompensate by

just drawing more arrows and writing

more words because you're just trying to

fill in these like knowledge gaps that

just i don't know like never really

bothered to think about i think my i've

had quite a few experiences with my mets

before learning the technique i think

the first one was out when i was

introduced to it really really young and

i think what the idea of a mind map that

was taught to me was like the main idea

in the center and it will be in a cloud

and then you'd have all the

big topics coming out from the cloud so

some arrows pointing out and i really

thought it was pointless because i might

as well have that same information

written out on a page that's easier and

neater rather than just a cloud with

some words here another group of words

here another group of words here and

just more in different colors i just

hated it i thought my maps were rubbish

because i didn't really like all these

colors and i was kind of a weird kid i

didn't really like all these colors and

extra decorations yeah that's how i

first learned it as well and i i thought

it was useless too when i first

encountered it yeah the clouds thing eh

yeah oh my god

so from there i every time i heard about

my map i

internally just felt some uh disgust i

don't know

but then i think the next time i

actually learned about similar

note-taking techniques was when i was

introduced to the idea of concept

mapping so this one is a little bit more

structured okay i don't remember

precisely how it works but it has a

structure of like linking different

ideas together by action verbs and then

you put the action verb in a square

so i think i've sent some of these in

the discord before but i don't think

i've actually shown it what i found that

it did help was much more effective than

the whole cloud thing but i found it way

too messy to be to be much used because

there were too many arrows with too many

words pointing here and then and things

get got crowded very fast

but i think like what you said is

it's not about what the mymap looks like

like what i just said it looks like

there's a lot going on and you think you

probably know what what but everything

is not really organized in your head but

when you're able to prioritize and see

the big picture and see how things

relate and you can see that very clear

structure in your mind map and that is

reflecting what's going on in your head

then you realize oh

actually when you've talked about it

more and you're able to simplify it does

show in your mind map and i think that

is the important thing and the other

thing as well as like

when i first saw mind mapping ages ago

maybe like early days of high school i

didn't really associate it with i guess

like a hard-working student it's like

too creative and fun to be you know a

thing that um someone who's getting like

top grades would be doing and so

something like having really nice i

don't know typed out notes of all these

diagrams and big terminology words was

something that when i was much younger

i'm way more preferred because it looks

like you're doing something

which again in this case you want to be

doing the opposite

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you