Mind mapping has always terrified me. This isn’t a crippling phobia where the thought of a mind map is paralyzing, but I resist the idea of mind mapping through avoidance. When I’ve tried using mind mapping tools, looking at a blank page and manually creating blocks, charts, and filling in data has seemed a little too slow and daunting for my liking.
All that changed recently, when I discovered that generative AI has been baked into several mind-mapping apps to make them easier to approach. As it turns out, generative AI can actually solve the main problem I have with mind mapping – getting started.
That was the only push I needed to give mind mapping another chance. And so far, it’s paid off.
Tip: useful Mind Map apps you can use to capture and share your ideas.
How mind mapping helped me quit procrastinating
I looked up a bunch of mind-mapping tools and decided to begin my journey down this path with Whimsical, because it has a generous free tier. You get three collaborative boards, guests can view your files, and the free tier lets you use 100 AI actions. I fired it up and got started with the one thing I dread the most – scheduling my day.
Normally, the first half of my day is unproductive.
Okay fine, I lied. It’s actually the entire day because I only start working around 6pm on any given day.
I typically have a list of tasks in mind, but I resist the idea of putting them down on paper or sticking to any kind of schedule. This is where one of Whimsical’s AI tools helped me. Type a prompt, and it automatically decides which type of mind map will work best for you. In my case, Whimsical chose sticky notes for my schedule, and that helped me break my day into smaller blocks. This allowed me to prioritize time-sensitive tasks and make time for self-care work that is essential for my mental health.
Now that I’ve gotten started with mind mapping through this daily schedule, the barrier is no more. I frequently find myself coming up with new ideas to use mind mapping in my life.
Supercharging my hobbies
I want to learn a new language this year, so I used Whimsical’s AI to generate a simple workflow to begin learning French. I also want to start scuba diving and work my way up to an instructor’s license, so I again generated a neat mind map to chart the steps to get there.
In each of these use cases, the key was to overcome the initial roadblock – the empty slate. Once I used AI to create a set of steps that I could follow, my goals became more accessible. It basically did all the initial research around what I would need to chart a path toward the larger goal and added it all to the map.
With the second example that you can see below, getting an overview of what’s involved in earning a scuba diving license helped me get a better sense of this project.
You could use this to plan any new project you’re thinking about, be it a new podcast, a novel, or even a fancy dinner for your friends and family.
Whimsical helped me map my journey toward earning a scuba diving license instantly
I’m now enhancing my mind maps by adding more blocks, embracing flowcharts, and generally, doing things that I would never attempt before. I never thought I’d be using anything other than pen, paper, and a set of bullet points to map my projects. I’m now doing a lot more visual thinking in Whimsical, and I’ve found it to be a refreshing way to look at my aspirations. It’s reduced my resistance to attempting something new, and you can’t put a price on that.
Tip: other than mind-mapping apps, also check out these tools to improve your productivity.
Oh, and if you don’t really want to fiddle with AI, these other mind map apps work great too.
More AI mind mapping tools to consider
Taskade packs a ton of AI functionality for all your project management needs
Whimsical’s free plan is good enough for people like me, but for those who need more AI smarts and collaboration features, its paid tiers start at a reasonable $10 per editor per month (viewing mind maps is free).
Ayoa packs AI functionality into an easy-to-approach mind-mapping tool
You can explore other alternatives to see which AI-powered mind-mapping tool works best for you. The competition is strong with a wide variety of options:
- XMind AI has a free tier that offers 10 credits, with paid plans starting at $79 per year. It’s got a snappy interface and lots of customization options. Credits are consumed based on the number of words in your AI queries; the more credits you have, the more you can use generative AI in your mind maps.
- Taskade has a far more generous limit of 1000 AI credits per month in the free tier and it has apps for Android, iPhone, Windows, and Mac. Paid plans start at $48 per year. This tool is especially suited for more ambitious project planning with collaborators.
- Ayoa is a pretty solid mind-mapping tool, but AI features are only available on the Ultimate plan, which costs $156 per year. Its freehand mind maps let you give every diagram a personal touch. Its design is also optimized for neurodivergent people.
- Edrawmind has GPT-powered AI features too, and it’s priced at $59 per year or $118 for a perpetual license. This tool is great for people who want to turn mind maps into presentations.
- Jeda offers 3,000 AI tokens per day on the free plan, which it describes as 3 works of AI-generated art or 1,500 words of text. Paid plans start at $10 per month. One of its features lets you convert your mind map from one type to another, such as from a flowchart to sticky notes. This makes it great for folks who want a truly flexible brainstorming tool.
Image credit: Diva Plavalaguna / Pexels
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Pranay Parab
Pranay Parab is an independent tech journalist based in Mumbai, India. He specializes in tutorials, reviews, and in-depth features.
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