How to make a mind map, step by step

A mind map is a diagram that starts with one subject in the middle and spreads outward in branches. It is a good fit when you have a pile of loose thoughts and need to see how they relate. This guide takes you through making one, from a blank page to something you can share.

Before you start: pick a subject that fits

A mind map works best for a subject with several parts that connect: a project, a chapter, a trip, an essay, a decision. It works poorly for a strict sequence, such as a recipe or an install procedure. For those, a numbered list is shorter and clearer.

Keep the subject narrow enough to fit on one page. “Marketing” is too wide. “Launch plan for the spring newsletter” is about right. If the map outgrows the page, split the largest branch into a map of its own.

Step 1: Put the subject in the centre

Write the subject as a short phrase, not a sentence. “Spring newsletter launch” is easier to read at a glance than “What we need to do to launch the spring newsletter.” The centre is a label, and the branches carry the meaning.

On paper, turn the page sideways so the map has room to spread. In the mind map maker, the blank map already has a central topic you can rename.

Step 2: Add the main branches

Now ask: what are the big parts of this subject? Add three to seven of them around the centre. Fewer than three and you probably do not need a map. More than seven and the branches are likely too fine, so look for two that belong under one heading.

Name each branch with a word or two. For the newsletter launch, the branches might be Audience, Content, Design, Schedule and Measurement.

A useful test for a branch name: could you sort a new idea into it without a long debate? If not, the name is too vague.

Step 3: Grow each branch

Take one branch at a time and add what belongs under it. Under Audience you might write “Existing subscribers”, “Where new readers come from” and “What they care about”. Keep each topic to one idea, and write keywords rather than whole sentences.

Do this part fast. Do not stop to reword or reorder. The goal is to get the thoughts out where you can see them, and tidying comes in the next step. If an idea does not fit any branch, put it somewhere loose for now.

If you are working in an editor, you can add a subtopic, press Enter to move on, and keep typing. In the web editor, Tab adds a subtopic and Return adds a sibling; the keyboard shortcuts page lists the rest. If you are on paper, a pencil is more forgiving than a pen.

Step 4: Tidy the structure

Read the map branch by branch and ask three questions:

• Does everything under this branch belong to it? Move anything that does not.
• Are two topics saying the same thing? Merge them.
• Is a topic really a branch of its own? If it has four or five children, promote it.

This is where a digital map is much easier than paper. Dragging a topic with all its children takes a second, and nothing has to be redrawn.

Depth matters too. If a branch goes five or six levels down, the detail probably belongs in a note or another document, and the map should keep the overview.

Step 5: Add detail only where it helps

Colour, icons and notes are useful when they answer a question you will have later. Colour each main branch differently so you can tell them apart from a distance. Mark the topics that are urgent or undecided. Put a longer explanation in a note rather than in the topic title, so the map stays short enough to scan.

Resist decorating every topic. When everything is highlighted, nothing is.

Step 6: Keep it or share it

Decide what the map is for. If it was thinking on paper, you may be done, because the useful part was making it. If other people need to see it, export an image. A PNG is the easiest to paste into a message, slide or document. If you want to keep working on it later, save a file you can reopen.

In the browser tool you can export a PNG image, a .xmind file, Markdown or OPML. Files stay on your device, and autosave is in this browser only, so export anything you care about. If the map started as notes, Markdown to mind map can turn an existing outline into a first draft that you then refine.

Common mistakes

Writing sentences. Long topics make the map as hard to read as a page of text. Cut each one to the words you would search for.

Starting with too many branches. Begin with the few big ones and let the rest nest underneath.

Tidying while generating. Mixing the two slows both. Get the ideas down first, then reorganise.

Never finishing. A map is done when it answers the question you made it for, not when every branch is full.

A quick example

Say you are planning a weekend trip. The centre is “Weekend in Lisbon”. The main branches are Travel, Stay, Eat, See and Budget. Under Travel you put flights, airport transfer and local transport. Under Eat you list the two places a friend recommended and a note to book one of them. When you look at the whole map, you can see at once that Budget has nothing under it yet, and that is the next thing to do.

That is the real value of the method. A list hides the gap, and a map shows it.

Where to go next

To compare a map with a plain list for your own material, read mind map vs outline. If you are making maps to learn something, see mind mapping for studying. For a ready-made structure to fill in, try the project plan template, or the brainstorming template for the loose first stage.

MindmapPal for iPhone and iPad is coming soon, and you can join the waiting list on the home page.