Evolution

As you use mind maps more, you start to figure out what works and what doesn’t. At first you try some structures and categories that feel good to you. Maybe they even work for a while. Then something happens. Maybe they grow too big, or your focus changes, maybe your life situation changes, and you start to look at things differently. Maybe the balance between your work and personal life changes.

The focus and organization of your maps starts to shift. You come up with a new way to organize things. You don’t go and change all the old mind maps but gradually start to do things in a new way. It doesn’t have to be a result of any especially intelligent design, some of the changes just happen, some even by chance. You hit a wrong keyboard shortcut and accidentally discover a quick way to represent the stage of your project tasks by using colors. After a year you look back at your old maps and you notice that a big change has taken place.