Are you the kind of person who likes mind maps?
Or do you prefer a bulleted list with shoulder headings, sub-headings and so on?
The two are not so very different, although mind maps seem to be associated with more arty types. I think this is mainly because you can add sub-headings and sub-sub-headings in all different directions, whereas the traditional bulleted list is linear.
Arguably the bulleted list can restrict your thinking to the linear too – but that’s if you do it on normal lined paper.
Enter Workflowy. It works like a bulleted list going down the page, but each bullet can lead to a sub-heading, and each bulleted point can be hived off to have its own page.
Now I’m a bulleted list kind of person. Each day I make a to-do list on paper with perhaps just one word to remind me of a whole project, then I tick them off as I go through the day. Like everybody else who does this, I never get to the end of my task list, because life happens!
My notepad, or notes on my phone, will never stop being necessary, I think, but now I use Workflowy for the big picture, for my life over weeks or even months. The first “page” is the top level schema of the project, or indeed of a whole bunch of projects, and I can get into finer and finer detail on each successive “page”. Of course, it’s all on line, so you can access it wherever you can get on the internet.
At the moment I’m planning a book using Workflowy. The top level shows the twenty chapters with roughly five bullets for each chapter to show where in the book each event happens, and the way in which the plot develops. Each of those five bullet points has its own page with more bullets on it, which can each have their own page. In the end I can get the book down into five minute writing sessions which I can do on the bus or waiting for the kettle to boil. A bit like eating an elephant really, a small easily achievable bite at a time! Try it – www.workflowy.com.
