Manage Your Office Files Using Mind Mapping Software

The organization of office files is an important part of almost all businesses. Whether a file contains information relevant to current or past business, being able to locate the file is key in allowing the business to function smoothly. One has only to recall a situation in which an important file could not be located in order to understand the truth of this statement. There are many tools that exist to help businesses manage their office files, however, few, if any, contain the advantages inherent in Mind Mapping software tools. This is because a Mind Map allows the user to organize information using pictures, colors, graphics, and other visual stimuli to make conceptualizing and remembering the information more intuitive. Thus, by using a Mind Mapping software tool, businesses can manage their office files more easily, seemlessly, and creatively.

What is Mind Mapping Software?

Mind Mapping software is any software that is used to create diagrams, pictures, and other graphic visuals in order to show the relationship between ideas or other types of information.¹ With Mind Maps, the key concept or main idea of the information being presented is represented by a central image, located in the center of the map. Any themes surrounding the main topic are shown on “branches” that are attached to the central image, with subsequent themes of less importance attached by “child branches” or “twigs”. The resulting diagram is a “map” of the ideas and information shown in a spatial, rather than linear, format. Moreover, along with the ideas shown on the map are images, visual graphics, and colors that the constructor of the “map” associates with each of the themes and ideas. Mapping out information in this manner is widely believed to allow the brain to process the information in way that is more consistent with its natural functioning.

Using a Mind Map to Organize an Office Filing System

Suppose that you want to organize your office files, and aren’t sure where to start. You decide to create a Mind Map using a Mind Mapping software tool to begin the organization process. The first step you would take would be to describe the central theme of your Mind Map, here, the office files, using a graphic that is placed in the center of the map. Next, you might continue by dividing the map into sections, each labeled for a time period, by listing these periods on “branches” attached to the graphic. After dividing the map into sections, you could then list all of your files for each time period on “child branches’ attached to the “branches”. You can continue to catalog the files in this manner until all of the files are shown on the map under their respective “branches”. When you have completed your map, it might look like the attached Mind Map diagram.

Creating an Organized Filing Space from the Mind Map

The described Mind Map in the attached example has provided you with the first step to an organized office — a catalog of all of the items by time period. You can now take the step of physically arranging the files by date according to your map listing, giving you a completely organized space for your file storage. The Mind Map proved helpful in allowing for the “mapping out” of the files into organized categories. In addition, the Mind Map’s colors and other visual graphics facilitated this process by making it more intuitive and easy to understand. Thus, by using a Mind Mapping software tool, your business can now manage filing systems through creative Mind Map organization and planning.

1. Farrand, Paul; Hussain, Fearzana and Hennessy, Enid (May 2002). “The efficacy of the ‘mind map’ study technique”. Medical Education 36 (5): 426–431.