I've taught people to mind map for over 10 years I've made hundreds of mind maps myself and reviewed thousands more as a coach it's a skill that's allowed me and my students to not only get top results but to do so efficiently and without spending every waking hour studying so in this video I'll show you my six-step framework for mind mapping which I call grind and each step of this framework helps you unlock a different learning outcome following these six steps correctly will help you create the perfect mind map which allows you to have a deep and nuanced understanding of a topic much more quickly than what it would normally take you as well as a stronger memory on what you've learned and the ability to apply what you've learned in deeper more nuanced ways but first we need to clear up a common misunderstanding and talk about what a perfect mind map even is and once we understand what a perfect mind map actually means creating one becomes much easier you see the perfect mind map is less about the Mind map and more about the process you use to create it let's say you took one of the mind maps that I created and got first in class and then you imported that into your own notes would you do just as well with just that probably not and that's because you can't just copy paste Knowledge from one person's brain into another well at least not yet learning is not something that happens automatically or even naturally in some cases learning is a series of processes that we have to deliberately engage in great Learners are ones that have a lot of great processes and bad Learners are ones that are either not engaging in enough processes or they're wasting time with the wrong processes and when we engage in the right effective processes the side effects of that are better understanding better memory and a better ability to apply what we've learned when we use the wrong processes that's when we can spend hours and hours reading and writing notes and not really having any benefit on our memory or our understanding or our ability use knowledge so what most people don't appreciate is that the point of mindmapping isn't to have a mindmap the Mind map itself is not the knowledge mindmapping is a skill that helps us engage in the right thinking processes to build the knowledge and that concept is distilled in my six-step grind checklist when we create a mind map following grind we effectively Force our brain to engage in high efficiency in coding which is basically the technical term for our brain turning information into memory so let's start with the first step of grind which is also one of the most fundamental processes that you should ever do in learning there's almost no situation where you should not be doing this and step one of grind the G is grouping grouping is simply arranging related ideas together so for example if I have these pens then grouping just means that I'm categorizing them somehow and putting the categories together the hard part which takes thinking and therefore promotes learning is figuring out what kind of grouping I want for example I could group these pens based on color or I could group them based on how much ink is left in them or I could even group them based on sentimental value uh this one I got as a as a gift and this one I just found off the floor so you see the way that we think about how these items are similar or related to each other affects the groups we arrive at the point is that there are always multiple ways that we can group information and the right way for you and your memory is not always the first almost obvious one even if that's the way that it's taught to you so if we have a look here are some mind m that do not have much grouping going on and now we have a look at some mind maps that do have grouping when we create groups to organize information it has a twofold benefit the first one is that the process of grouping and figuring out how I want to arrange information promotes a stronger memory and depth of understanding but in addition the fact that we have organized the information in these categories makes it easier for our brain to then retain and access that information again in the future in other words we not only benefit from having these groups in our memory but the process of making the groups themselves is also beneficial in the learning science research will often hear the benefits of grouping refer to by terms like chunking or scaffolding or creating mental models or information schemas and as more and more research comes out we're increasingly finding that grouping is critical for promoting a strong memory now these days with AI there are actually some ways that we can kind of cheat the step and get the AI to group things for you and there are definitely some ways that you can use AI to help you but there are some ways that it can harm you instead I'll show you the right way to use AI later uh right after I go through the other steps of grind now step two of grind is something that we already started doing back in step one while we're grouping but here we take it to the next level the r in grind step two stands for relational we want to make our mind maps relational relational means we're thinking about how ideas are related to each other and we're expressing that on our mind map and there are broadly three levels of relationships that we can form while mind mapping in level one we have too few relationships and here's an example of that now at level two we are having too many relationships it's getting overwhelming and that's what it looks like here and then in level three we have a good amount of very organized relationships and it's the fact that you can actually have too many relationships that makes this second step tricky here's why a relationship can be any way that two facts or concepts relate to each other this could be a influence that they have on each other it could be a cause and effect relationship it could be a chronological relationship like step one or step two or any other conceptual link which means there are really a lot of different ways that two things or three things or an entire topic can be related to each other so it's not enough just to know that two things are related we have to understand the nature of that relationship when we put down just every relationship we can find that's when it ends up looking like that level two where there's too much going on we have to consciously decide which relationships are important enough for us to put down on the Mind map and that's a decision that we need to make now the reason that the grind checklist is so effective is because because each step of grind influences the other step so for example depending on the types of relationships we want to emphasize it also affects the groups we will form so if we take this example of uh a medical disease this is the method of grouping and the types of relationships that are a little bit more obvious this is usually how it'll be taught in a textbook but here is that exact same topic and the same information arranged differently by looking at different types of relationships which leads to different types of groups and you can see that the two look very different to each other and that reflects it being organized in a different way in our mind now there's no right or wrong answer it's the process of trying to figure out which is best for me that promotes that stronger memory and depth of understanding you'll also see later on how the other steps influence your grouping and relationships as well now the third step of the grind checklist is something that should naturally occur if we did step one the grouping and step two the relationships properly but if we do happen to miss step three then we'll find that we know each individual concept pretty well but we struggle to apply that information especially in more complex problem solving having deeper discussions we're just trying to use that knowledge in a way that's different to how it was just directly taught to you so if you've ever felt that way about what you've learned then step three is the one you need to look out for and step three the eye and grind stands for making our mind maps interconnected once we have formed the groups and relationships in step one and step two we need to make sure that the groups themselves are related and connected to each other to create an overall structure AKA a big picture understanding of the topic and here's an example of a mind map that has done step one and step two correctly so there are groups and there are lots of relationships but it's not very well interconnected you can see that there are these really dense uh bodies of relationships but the overall connection between each group is relatively weak and loose when we zoom out it's a little hard to see how that entire topic comes together this is a pattern I call Islands and it's actually one of the over 90 patterns in my training program that I teach people to avoid this usually happens when we get Tunnel Vision on what we're learning and we're not really thinking about how what we're learning right now relates to that overall big picture frequently enough and when that happens and we end up with these islands of quite concentrated but sort of isolated uh groups then it compartmentalizes our understanding of the topic and it restricts our ability to use that information more freely and fluidly which is exactly the type of way we need to be able to think about the information to do complex problem solving or to have deeper more nuanced applications so here's an example where there is a similar density of information but it's been organized with a much better overall structure and aka the interconnectedness is a lot better and you can see it actually just looks cleaner and more organized as well and by making sure that our mind maps are grouped relational and interconnected we're able to form what's known in the research as a knowledge schema which is basically the way that our brain organizes information to form knowledge and memory now just for your reference getting to this point with your mind mapping skill is not something that you can usually pull off in just one or two attempts at least not correctly most people try mind mapping they're not really able to hit these first three steps correctly they don't find mind mapping as very useful for them and then they stop and yes if you're not doing it correctly it's not going to be effective on my training program I normally teach these types of processes over 3 to four weeks and then an additional 3 or 4 weeks to refine and consolidate them and the reason is because each step of grind has several cognitive processes that we need to get correct to be able to do it properly and those processes are not always obvious trying to do all of them correctly all at once is pretty much impossible but when we spend a week on just nailing one part of the process and then the next week on the next part of the process then it means that every week we can consistently improve unlocking B and better results along the way by the way these processes do get quite complicated so if you want me to dive into any of them and more detail let me know in the comments alternatively if you want to learn each step of making the perfect my map straight away in complete detail with stepbystep instructions and feedback on your work then you might be interested in my program at I can study I'll leave a link in the description if you want to learn more about it and see if it's right for you now by this point if we've gone out grouping relational and interconnected parts of the Mind map done we should be seeing some real improvements to our memory and our ability to understand Concepts deeply comprehensively and accurately uh and our ility to apply that information and in my experience this is almost certain so if you've done the grni steps and you're not seeing these improvements it probably means that one of those processes was not quite done correctly however even though it's effective a lot of people find that doing this can take a lot of time especially during uh lectures or seminars where someone is talking to you and you need to process that information and write notes on the go it can seem impossible which is which is where step four the N of grind comes in which is to make our mind maps nonverbal non-verbal simply means that we should try to express our ideas without necessarily using so many words there's a lot of research around how writing lots of notes can actually reduce the quality of your learning because it probably means you're not processing the information as much before you write it down you might have also noticed that in the previous my map examples I showed you most of the we're not that wordy and this is the first level of achieving in nonverbal which is just to reduce unnecessary words reducing unnecessary words forces you to synthesize and summarize what you're learning doing this also helps you to engage in What's called the generation effect of learning which is one of the most important processes to build new knowledge effectively one excellent way of reducing your wordiness is just to use your lines arrows and spatial arrangement to represent ideas for example instead of writing the sentence the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog she sells seashells by the seashore we can instead draw something like this and the bonus benefit of doing this is that it gives us an opportunity to look at the information and ask ourselves how can I group this what are the relationships that I can find those step one and step two processes for example why is the fox jumping over the lazy dog why is the dog lazy why is she selling seashells is there a relationship between the selling of seashells and the lazy dog is she raising money to build a fence to protect the dog from the fox because a dog is not lazy it's actually elderly and disabled this kind of thinking and uh questioning is one of the most important things that we can actually do is part of a process that's called Active Learning which is crucial for promoting a strong memory and a deeper level of understanding we can also take nonverbal to the next level by adding some simple sometimes abstract images you can see I did a very basic example on this here with the shells some symbols here for she and and and the money uh but here's another example where I spend a little bit more time to flesh it out and doing this is something that I call adding a memory landmark by drawing these memorable somewhat abstract images in our mind maps it makes it easier for us to review the information and come back to it in the future it creates a unique element in our notes that makes it more memorable and it also makes the process a little bit more fun does take a bit of time though so I probably wouldn't be doing that during a lecture or a seminar now to get to this point where we've got g r i and in down I would expect that this takes at least a couple of months of practice but remember before you have mastered this you're still going to be getting benefits from just applying this probably straight away and once you have mastered it your mind maps are going to be so beneficial for your learning that people around you are going to look at your notes and have no idea how you are doing so well and they will certainly have no idea about how deep the process was that you used to create your notes but it is the next two steps of grind that take our mind mapping skill to the highest level starting with step five the D of grind we have to make our mind maps directional a perfect mind map not only has groups has relationships is interconnected is non veriable it also has directionality or in other words flow and no I don't mean a mystical chakra flow uh I mean that we're using arrows to show how the ideas on our mind map interact with each other using mind maps purposefully to add Direction and flow in our mind map achieves two main things first of all it forces us to examine the nature of the relationships and the groups that we're formed like for example if I've got these Concepts here sure these might all be be related to each other but are they related to each other in a way that looks like this or maybe it's more accurate to say that the relationships are more like this they're the same relationships but it paints a completely different picture and number two it actually helps make our mind maps clearer and more organized which also helps with our retention have a look at this mind map that doesn't have great directionality and now have a look at this one that does you can see that this one with more directionality gives the mindmap more of a purposeful structure it adds meaning and context to the mymap which ultimately makes it more memorable now finally we're ready for the sixth and final step of grind which is arguably the step that most people skip but is also the step that probably increases our knowledge our memory our depth of understanding to the highest level a grind map without the final sixth step the E is not a perfect mind map and the E step six stands for making our mind maps emphasized emphasizing your mind maps is all about making decisions and judgments about what you learning AKA that critical level five of Bloom's taxonomy that higher order thinking to achieve step six and make our mind maps emphasized we need to deliberately make a decision on which relationships and groups and combination of relationships and groups are the most important for this topic and we need to visually represent that on our mindmap this creates something that I often call the backbone of the Mind map here is an example without clear emphasizing and now here are a couple that have good emphasizing now those of you that are on my program have probably heard me or the other coaches uh talking about the backbone constantly and there is good reason for that it's because a mind map with a clear backbone means that the most important relationships and groups have been clearly emphasized which means we have made clear and deliberate judgments about which parts of the Mind map and the topic are most important now remember how I said that each step of the grind map actually influences each other well here's another example of that when we examine which relationships and groups are the most important often we find that the relationships and groups we expressed are not actually the best maybe there's an alternative grouping or relationship structure that we think would actually make even more sense and if that happens that's a disaster because now we have to go through and do step one two and three all over again and that takes time is what you might think but actually this is a good thing by forcing ourselves to think about what we're learning more critically and make more explicit judgments about the importance of different things it helps us to refine and consolidate our knowledge helping us arise at a knowledge that is more accurate and deeper and is also stickier in our memory this back and forth process where we're redoing parts of the Mind map and adjusting the structure and regrouping and testing different relationships and going back and forth between different resources this is actually a natural part of learning which in the research is often called the recursive nature of deep learning and you can't skip the step or at least you shouldn't if you want a high level of knowledge Mastery the ability to explain what is and is not important and justify that is a Hallmark sign of expertise likewise not being able to clearly articulate what is or is not important but instead just knowing a whole bunch of individual facts that are generally connected to each other is a sign of a beginner in that topic now earlier in the video I said that there is a right and wrong way of using AI to help you make a mind map and if we remember that mind mapping is a process a skill that helps us engage in the right thinking process to promote good learning it becomes much more obvious as to what will help us and what will harm us for example I could plug a bunch of keywords into chat GPT and get it to generate some groups for me and just like like that it's done would that be harmful or helpful for our learning well if we remember the fact that the process of looking for similarities and differences and therefore deciding on which groups we want to form in itself is a process that helps us with learning then getting AI to just do that for us would be harmful it saves us time but it defeats the purpose of grouping it in the first place okay but what about instead if I think of some groups myself but then I use chat GPT to verify whether those groups make sense or not after all those are the types of things that it could be hard to verify using a Google search or trolling through your textbook now that bit of feedback actually seems pretty helpful so was this going to be helpful or harmful for our learning well in this case it would be helpful because we've already done the hard part of thinking about the groups and comparing and arriving at some kind of hypothesis and verifying whether that hypothesis is legitimate or not through Google searches and reading through pages and pages of textbooks and lecture slides is not really that different from getting the answer in a single report so as a rule of thumb using AI in our learning is generally harmful for learning if it number one makes it cognitively easier for us to organize the information and number two if it bypasses the need for us to compare or make active independent judgments about what we're learning on the other hand AI is generally helpful if it saves Time For Us in just collecting information or in just summarizing large bodies for us to then process and compare and make judgments on or number three it saves time compared to doing a Google search of essentially the same thing now if you follow these guidelines you will be well on your way to creating the perfect mind map but as I mentioned before there's a lot more to mindmapping than just this and there are dozens of these cognitive processes that you need to pull off correctly to get to the perfect my map stage if there's a particular aspect of grind that you'd like me to go deeper into those processes for then please let me know in the comments and I'll think about that for some of my future videos or bit yet if you want to get started straight away at becoming a hyper efficient learner then you might want to check out my full guided program you can learn more about it in the link in the description and if you found this video helpful you will definitely also like my free newsletter every week I send you a key learning concept and a practical takeaway to enhance your learning efficiency taken from my years of coaching experience and some of the concepts I emailed you about are ones that I have never even made a YouTube video about I'll leave a link to join my newsletter in the description as well thank you so much for watching and I will see you in the next one