There is no limit to the number of Thoughts and connections you can make in a single Brain.

This unique ability of PersonalBrain makes it ideal for visualizing and organizing large information networks as well as moving beyond standard mind mapping applications

Many users take advantage of PersonalBrain’s scalability and create an all compassing Brain for everything. While others opt for smaller, separate Brains. In this article I will explore each approach to creating a Brain and provide some guidelines for what might be best for you. 

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   The Power of Multidimensional    Information Organization for    Visual Thinkers

There are a wide range of information management tools that can help you get organized. Even just creating a folder of all key documents and web links is helpful for any project manager. However, the problem with your computer’s folder structures is that they are very linear and incapable of representing your multidimensional thought process.

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This Wednesday, December 16^th
11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern Time
Now Featuring Seeds of Knowledge Contest Winner 

Omer Aziz
Manager, Nortel Networks
& GTD Enthusiast

Omer is joining Matt Caton and I
So You Get Three Unique Perspectives
on GTD and Task Management  in One Ultra Productive Webinar

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It’s All About You,
Really.

Accidental Autobiography:  Your Digital Mind

Navigating through someone’s PersonalBrain gives you a very intimate look at who they are. You can learn a lot about that person not only by the Thoughts they’ve chosen to add, but also the way things are connected.

Creating a Brain that moves beyond the sum of its parts usually happens by accident as your Thoughts and ideas grow. But actually taking on the task of self-reflection and exploration using PersonalBrain can be just as fun and rewarding. With this in mind, let’s explore some ideas for purposefully mind mapping yourself.

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Adding People and Mind Mapping Social Networks in Your Brain

If you don’t have your family or colleagues in your Brain you are missing out. Adding people in your Brain whether it’s their name connected to a project or their contact info will help you get the big picture on your relationships. Creating a people centric Brain will improve the quality of your interactions so you can remember key details that might otherwise be forgotten.
Visualizing Teams and Organizational Expertise

Getting a handle on complex projects can be challenging. Part of the equation in any large project is people. Connecting people to projects will help you understand who is responsible for what and yield more productive meetings.

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Adding More Meaning to Your Brain

There are so many possibilities for classification and organization of information in PersonalBrain. If you are just creating a new Brain, the first step is to map out your ideas with Thought relationships. Once this is done, you can add another compelling level of insight to your knowledge map with Thought Types and Tags.

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Clear Your Mind. Get It Out of Your Head and into Your PersonalBrain.

“First of all, if it’s on your mind, your mind isn’t clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, or what I call a collection bucket, that you know you’ll come regularly back and sort through.”

David Allen, Getting Things Done

A central premise of David Allen’s Book and cultural movement, Getting Things Done, is that you can experience a tremendous sense of relief and control by moving your tasks and ideas outside of your mind and recording them externally in a place you can trust and where you will review them regularly. This frees your mind from remembering and allows you to focus on completing your tasks. Capturing and improving your thinking of course is what PersonalBrain is all about.

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PersonalBrain 5.0 was unveiled today at Macworld 2009 to hundreds of very excited Mac users who dropped by TheBrain booth #3419, North Hall.

PersonalBrain gives you a conceptual space that puts your ideas and thinking at the forefront, creating a dynamic network of visually connected Thoughts that represent your mind.

New PersonalBrain 5.0 Feature Highlights Include

• Powerful “outline” view enables a broader view while retaining the flexibility of a networked structure
• Visual tagging gives another way to find information and enhances the ability to use PersonalBrain for Getting Things Done.
• Presentation mode enables full screen visualization
• Save customized layouts created in the “expanded” view
• Import of outlines and mind maps created in many other programs lets users upgrade their existing data into a scalable associative network

Augmented Mac OS X Functionality

• Spotlight integration enables searching of information in the context of how it’s all connected
• Address Book, iCal, and Apple Mail integration enables users to tie all the information on their Mac together seamlessly
• QuickLook integration enables users to instantly preview attachments
• Specially created Mac OS X look and feel fits in seamlessly
• Enhancements throughout PersonalBrain make everything from scrolling through information with the mouse wheel to creating reports faster and easier.

If you need to analyze, brainstorm and synthesize a wide variety of information, PersonalBrain will be an invaluable tool. It lets you express key relationships across all information sources, so underlying thinking and key ideas are instantly visible. PersonalBrain 5.0’s new importing features make it even easier to get started. Powerful new visualization and tagging features provide an increased level of semantic meaning to Thoughts.

PersonalBrain 4 users can upgrade to 5.0 for $74.95. The upgrade is free for users who purchased PersonalBrain 4 after June 1, 2008

Download PersonalBrain 5 at http://www.thebrain.com/download

From Edward Leedskalnin’s Coral Castle to product design, let your PersonalBrain bring your ideas home.

Where do you put your ideas and fledgling memories that mean the most but don’t really need a folder? There are snippets here and there: that interesting web site, or cool new car design…not always that important at the time, but always completely you.

As we surf the Web, meet new people and travel, we are exposed to new ideas and familiar ones that give us comfort and validation. Even though our minds process and retain these key events, over time and with our hectic lives, it’s easy to forget the most important project details and these new insights can get lost in daily tasks. Creating a digital memory or mental map of everything that is important to you will give you an expansive digital world new for inspiration and ideas.

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One of the most powerful features that PersonalBrain offers is Instant Activate. Just type in the first couple letters and up pops the Thoughts you need. Then simply click on that Thought and you’re exactly where you need to be in seconds.  The power of this feature should not be underestimated. It gives you the ability to get to any Thought and its related content in seconds. This is especially critical for users juggling multiple projects or tasks. Anyone who needs to shift contexts, respond and bring up information quickly will love this feature.

Instant Activate

Just type in the first couple letters of what you need and a list of your Thoughts appear.
Click on the Thought and get your information instantly.

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