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When writing this newsletter and other things I write, I wanted a program that would:

• Help me brainstorm.
• Assist in organizing topics, subtopics, and points I want to make.
• Give me a grand overview of the article.
• Allow me to move sections around and from one part to another.

I decided that mind mapping was the way to go. Mind mapping allows you to lay out your ideas like a tree with big branches and smaller branches and eventually even twigs. The connection between your ideas becomes clear and you can easily move them around and create new connections.

I like mind mapping for sketching out an outline of what I want to write. It is easier to find the connections. An outline requires that you already know the connections. Here is a simple example.

I prefer thicker branches for more important ideas and I like the words circled. There are dozens of styles. This shows an early Simplemind mind map for this article:

• Be simple to use and intuitive. I didn't want to waste time learning something new.
• Be cheap.
• No ongoing license fee or subscription.
• Work on both Android and Windows. I do a lot of my work on my Android tablet and I wanted to do some of my newsletter article brainstorming at least in the living room, not in the office chair. So, what I produced on my Android tablet, should be usable on my Windows computer.
• Potentially make something nice enough to use in a presentation.

I checked out some mind mapping programs and chose Simplemind. It met all my criteria; plus it’s been around and updating for over 10 years. It has a good track record. It was the simplest program I found and when I didn't know how to do something they had clear explanations I could find easily.

• Windows single user pro: 25 Euros
• Android: license: 8.49 Euros
• iOS requires version 11 or higher: $9.99

• They have a YouTube channel with lots of videos explaining aspects of it. The first video gives you a good quick overview.
• Their support page

Date: March 2022