Beyond Mind Mapping

100 Things To Do Before You Get Started Properly

A very healthy, wealthy and Happy New Year to you all. Do you have so much to do that you don't know where to begin? Clearly, you can't start properly until you're ready to start. And being ready to get stuck in and make the most of 2007 is non-trivial - you obviously have to get a lot of small things out of the way first. So to save you valuable time wondering where to begin, here's a list of 100 Things To Do Before You Get Started Properly.

1. Sharpen all your pencils
2. Fill your fountain pen
3. Clean up after filling your fountain pen
4. File some old CDs
5. Put music CDs back in the right cases
6. Reorganise your MP3 player
7. Dust your computer screen
8. Clean under your desk
9. Shred some old letters
10. Empty out the shredder
11. Clean your phone handset - yuck!
12. Check today's Dilbert cartoon
13. Delete old texts from your mobile phone
14. Check what's ending in 60 seconds on eBay
15. Google your own name
16. Clean the gunk off the underneath of your mouse
17. Delete some old e-mails
18. Chat to a co-worker
19. Download the pictures from your digital camera
20. Sort your CDs into alphabetical order
21. Clean between the keys on your computer keyboard
22. Update your wish list on Amazon
23. Find something to eat
24. Rearrange your office
25. Uninstall some programmes you don't use
26. Back up your PC
27. Have a meeting
28. Check e-mail
29. Tidy up your desk
30. Get a drink
31. Throw away biros that don't write
32. Find your house on Google Earth
33. Change the ring tone on your phone
34. Update your contacts list
35. Untangle the handset cord on your phone
36. Write down something you must do today
37. Find the best price for ink cartridges
38. Check your RSS feeds
39. Read a newsletter that's been in your inbox for five months
40. Refill your stapler
41. Clean your glasses
42. Dismantle your glasses and clean inside the frames - yuck!
43. Update your diary with things you have already done
44. Charge up your mobile phone
45. Check who's online on Skype
46. Calculate how much your commute costs you
47. Solve the problem of reprocessing nuclear waste
48. Clean your whiteboard
49. Make a pile of things that you don't know what to do with
50. Adjust the height of your chair
51. Join Second Life
52. Check your Webcam
53. Make a list of things you already did and cross them out
54. Order some stationery
55. Look out of the window
56. Find out how much your car is worth on eBay
57. Have another cup of coffee
58. Clean out your desk drawer
59. Read a newspaper from last month
60. Charge up some batteries
61. Update your CV
62. Check the weather forecast
63. Go on a circular walk of the corridors carrying a stack of papers
64. Comment on someone's Blog
65. Defragment your hard drive
66. Hang up a picture
67. Make sure your Antivirus software is updated
68. Check the visitor stats on your web site
69. Look up "Thesaurus" in the Thesaurus
70. Empty your briefcase
71. Discuss last night's TV
72. Find out the right time and set your clocks
73. Change the background picture on your Windows desktop
74. Clean up your Web browser history
75. Play Solitaire
76. Go to the bathroom
77. Browse YouTube.com
78. Check the football results
79. Find a safe place for your passport that you won't ever forget again, ever
80. Google your friend's name
81. Collect together all those odd business cards and sort them
82. Install some software off a free magazine CD
83. E-mail an old friend
84. Find out what day of the week your birthday is this year
85. Sort those old foreign coins into different currencies
86. Read the news headlines on-line
87. Water the plants
88. Throw away those dried-up whiteboard pens
89. Start planning a life-changing event
90. Empty out your wallet or purse
91. Check yesterday's weather forecast and compare it to reality
92. Allow Windows to do those pesky updates
93. Clip your nails
94. Decide how the country should be run
95. Check for new people on Friends Reunited
96. Reprogramme the speed dial numbers on your phone
97. Open that junk mail in case it's something important
98. Vote for a reality TV contestant
99. Read a list of 100 things to do before you get started
100. Wish you had more time

Welcome to the new Mindjet blogs

I would like to add my welcome to the Blogosphere to a rash of new blogs from Mindjet, the authors of MindManager. One of them is led by none other than the cofounder and developer of MindManager, Mike Jetter.

• The Mindjet Blog - Mindjet's official Blog, led by Mike Jetter
• Hobart's Mindjet Weblog - Hobie Swan, Mindjet's External Affairs Manager
• The Vast Blog - Francois Lavaste, Mindjet's VP of Marketing
• Writing About Art is like Dancing About Architecture - Chris Holmes, who leads the Business Solutions Group at Mindjet

I was wondering what to do with my spare time :-)

Am I in the right place?

You're very welcome, even if you're lost.

This little weblog is dedicated to Mind Mappers who are looking for the next step in effective use of maps, beyond the basic applications of learning, memorising, and thrashing about in a huge jumble of bits and pieces. The capabilities of mapping software open up new ways to tackle situations that we are only just beginning to understand and exploit. The overlap between Mind Mapping® and mapping software continues to weaken as software mapping develops its own identity as a platform for serious teamwork. There are many excellent resources for people starting out with Mind Mapping®, but very few for those who have reached something of a personal plateau in its usage. The strong assocation with unbridled creativity tends to place mapping outside the mainstream in business environments, which frustrates advanced users and creates a bubble effect. Let's burst a few.