You will have noticed that each of the three parts of this book starts
with a mind map. Such maps are a very helpful way of showing
visually what you are about to read. I also find that they are useful
as a method of capturing my thoughts when I am writing an article
or preparing a speech.If you are not familiar with this style of note making, make a mind map of the things you
want to do this coming weekend and see how it works for you.An excellent example of someone who really uses her visual mem-
ory is Jayne-Anne Gadhia, managing director of the UK financial
services company, Virgin One Account. Jayne-Anne never writes
things down. Instead, she “visualizes lists.” As a busy executive, she
always has a million and one things going on. Yet, she very rarely
forgets anything and can surprise her secretary with her total recall
of detail. To ensure that she can focus on one thing at a time, she
has developed an interesting technique, managing her memory
through visualization:I think of my mind as a set of new pigeonholes. At any one time I only ever
have one open. I consciously visualize the closing and opening of the
pigeonholes.Colin Marshall also has strong views about this area:I believe everyone has a latent photographic memory. It simply has to be
exercised and trained in order to achieve its potential for organizing and
remembering things. I have no mnemonics that I am conscious of, but find
that if I concentrate on statistics and information, making a mental pic-
ture of the words and numbers, they stay with me.Another interesting approach to note taking is called “free-noting.”
It was invented by American Win Wenger and is the note-taking
equivalent of brainstorming. Instead of organizing your notes into
a map or a series of linear notes of the kind that many of us were
taught at school, you write down whatever comes into your head
during a learning experience. Instead of trying to group your124 Power Up Your Mind