Keyboard shortcuts

What’s one thing that people who are exceptionally efficient with some computer application have in common? They do most of the work using the keyboard and rarely need to touch the mouse.

Learn to use your keyboard for all the most frequent tasks. Start with the easy ones, like copy, cut, paste, insert new, edit, delete and save. But don’t stop there. Learn to move things around, to group and ungroup items, to create new maps and to link them together. Pay attention to tasks you do repeatedly and see if there is a shortcut for that.

The exact key combinations depend on the software you are using. Refer to its documentation for details. If your mind mapping software doesn’t let you do the most frequent actions by keyboard—or doesn’t let you define your own shortcuts—you might want to look for alternative ones. Having to reach for the mouse all the time distracts and slows you down. Using only the keyboard will help you stay in the flow.