Speaker 1: So how do you do a mind map the right way versus the wrong way? So the wrong way of doing a mind map is to, if you've got a piece of paper, starting in like one random corner and then just going and then just like just connections everywhere. Another wrong way of doing it would be to have stuff that's scrawled somewhere and then an arrow leading to another thing that's like leading to another thing like this that's leading to this thing over here that's leading to this and it's going out to that and then that's kind of going to this thing and then this is going all the way. The problem here is that this has a content focus. The purpose of a mind map, it is a map of your mind. The way you understand it in terms of the logic, that's how you need to have it on paper. Therefore, if this is how you understand it in your mind, that means it's messy. It should flow together and this is what we call concept flow. When the concept flow is there, your mind map will make a lot more sense. It's a lot more logical. It facilitates your brain's understanding of logic rather than just being an arbitrary, information dump. So, when the content is arranged neatly, logically rather, there is a clear directionality of information. So, you can see what is going on with the information. There's a clear flow. So, it's really common for me to hear students say, I've tried a mind map and it didn't work for me, you know, it took too much time, whatever it is. Look, the mind map is an incredibly powerful technique. It's a very powerful technique. And the countless students that I have coached on how to study more effectively, I've never, ever had a student who said that they tried mind maps and it wasn't working and was doing it the right way. I've also never, ever had a student who did mind maps the right way and found it not effective. Universally, when you do it right, the technique works. You are not a special snowflake. If the technique doesn't work for you, there is an overwhelming chance that the technique is being done wrong. And it's also very likely because the technique is hard. There's actually a book on how to do mind maps. It's like 150 pages long. It's a little bit excessive. I'm not recommending that you read that book. But there are some basic principles that you can follow. So, number one, basic principle, prioritize the arrows. Don't have arrows dodging content like this. You're never going to remember this arrow. You're never going to remember that it flicked around this thing and swooped around here and then this thing did an arc around there. You're never going to remember that. You're going to remember an arrow that looks like this. Super bold, really clear. You're going to remember this general flow. When you zoom out of it and you can't read what's on the page, you know the direction of the ideas. The logic is preserved. And when the logic is there, it unlocks all the rest of the learning as well. The other thing is don't write too much. You don't need a lot of information on the page to represent the ideas. And if you let yourself forget a little bit, it's actually good for revision because it allows you to activate recall instead of recognition-based revision tactics. Recognition is recognizing like, what is this? This is a watch. You can recognize this watch. Now, sketch that watch out for me. You can't do it because you can't recall the information. You can recognize it, you can't recall it. Recognition is useless. Recall is useful. You want recall, not recognition. Having small gaps in the information in your mind map allows recall, allows learning. Having all the information allows recognition. Yes, all the information is on the page, but it's on the page instead of in your head. If it were me, I'd rather it in my head than on the page. Subtitles by the Amara.org community