XMind

Brainstorming and Mindmapping!

Today, we’re glad to share a special GTD template created by Mr. Adnan Adam Onart, working at Boston University.

The template is composed with 6 sheets which are linked with each other. Mr. Adnan also shares with us why he made this template,
GTD or Getting Things Done, the action management method, invented by David Allen, has a large following world wide. The applications for implementing it abound: From tiddlywiki’s to thick client softwares. You can also see many versions of its workflow in print or on the WEB. The advantage of using XMind for GTD is the combination of the workflow operations with its pictorial representations. The direct manipulation of the tasks on the screen creates some intuitiveness which is not easy to come buy with flat or hierarchical list system. I wish to keep the design of the map simple, free from unnecessary icons or markers. But this template comes to you as Version 0.3. As I’ll start using it, I may be adding new features or making improvements. I’ll be happy if I could also have your feedback and suggestions for future evolution.

If you’re interested, please download GTD.xmt.  After downloading it, you can directly double-click and open it with XMind,  Or open it from menu,  ”File — New — New from Template…” and select this template.

Recently, we received an email from our friend Marcin Wudarczyk, CEO of NG Logic, a Warsaw located company. He told us they have almost finished the development of XMindlook, a xmind plugin. This is a very good news. XMindlook is focusing on “Empower your mind map” via Keeping tasks synchronized at all times transparently between MS Outlook and XMind.

After using a few weeks, I think XMindlook is worth for you to take a try, and want to share some my usages:

The first one is about the installment. Please download XMindlook.exe and install xmindlook.exe to the XMind installation folder. If you are using the XMind Portable version, please install xmindlook to “Commons” folder.

When you finish the installment, and launch XMind. You can find that XMindlook has created a new menu named XMindlook, a “XMindlook Registration” under help menu, two toolbar buttons, a new XMindlook page in preferences dialog, and three views in your XMind.

The third point is about the function of these views.

• Categories view is used to add/delete/move/modify the categories and category groups.
• Outlook task view is used to import/export tasks from outlook, sync the tasks with same name, and show unfinished tasks.
• Taskinfo view is used to set the details of every task.

The forth point is XMindlook is not free($49.00), but you can free try 30 days. And it works well with XMind/XMind Pro and MS Outlook 2003/2007/2010.

And Mr Marcin also told us: “I am a heavy user od mind maps and GTD, so the product was made also to satisfy my own needs. This is our first XMind plugin, but hopefully,if you will like it, it will not be the last one. I will be happy to listen to the commuity feedback and continously improve our product to suit your needs, not only mine;) Our goal is to further extend XMind to make it wide-use and feature-rich mind mapping platform.”

At last, I want to say thank you, Mr Marcin. And we hope to see more plugins developed by the third party, no matter simple or big, free or paid. You are welcome!

There is a good news for all iPhone™ and iPod™ touch users. We can read and edit XMind maps anywhere via support of iThoughts, one of the Best iPhone Apps.

Thanks for the great work of iThoughts. 

XMind Support Looking Good
The following attributes ‘survive’ the import/export process:

• Text
• Notes
• Colours
• Hyperlinks
• Shapes
• Folded (collapsed) status
• Icons
• Start/End dates
• Priorities
• Percentage complete

Click and know more details about iThoughts-XMind

Recently, there have been some conversation about XMind tips with other mind mapping experts, like Philippe Boukobza. One interesting tip is to work with Gmail, Google Docs, Twitter, and etc in XMind. It uses XMind inside browser, and hyperlink. Plus the Taskinfo and Gantt View feature, we can implement David Allen’s Getting Things Done™ methodology more easily in XMind.
At beginning, we can easily drag-and-drop or add the hyperlink to a topic. Here we introduce below applications: Gmail, Google Docs, and Twitter. Because these are necessary tools in our work. Gmail is used to contact with customers. Google Docs is used to share the files inside. And Twitter is a great tool to communicate with some friends and XMind users.

Here were some screenshots and usages:
Twitter.com: I’m a heavy twitter user. Here, I can search some useful information, communicate with my friends who I never see before, accept suggestions from XMind users, and etc. All these information can let my plan or summary rich.

Gmail: Gmail is a powerful tool. By using Tasks and labels, we can organize work easily. At most time, I will map the plan and list tasks in XMind with more information(end date, priority, process). Here, we can read, write emails, and add detailed tasks soon.

Google Docs: What I do is to add my Google Docs account to a special topic. Of course, we can add an individual Google Docs file URL to a topic. Then we can edit the files and collaborate with others.

We believe this tip can enhance our productivity. Are you just using this?