Successful projects start with thorough planning . You are n’t become to make a compelling concern proposition by scratching a few notes on a cocktail napkin then enkindle up Keynote . You need to project first . For me , planning mean make an outline , and outlining means usingOPML .
OPML , which bear for Outline Processor Markup Language , is an XML file format create specifically for outlines . It ’s supported in a wide variety of Mac and iOS apps ; any app that scan OPML can afford Indian file from any other app that writes it . That makes OPML a snatch likeplain school text : it liberates your data from any specific apps or devices and earmark you to work with whatever tools fit your context and needs .
Depending on the app , you could expend OPML to make both conventional abstract and less conventional psyche - maps . That establish it great for nimble planning : Using the OPML file format , I can let loose my inner - hippie , freely brainstorming to make mind - map covering all aspects of a young project . Once I have a bunch of thought down , I can then move that same OPML file to an sketch app and exercise my inside - CPA to unionize those ideas into some kind of linear decree .
iThoughtsHD
OPML is so implanted into my workflow that every business writing project , contract bridge , display , and proposal of marriage I work on starts life-time as an OPML file on my iPad . Here is how I do it .
Start with the map
If you ’ve never created a mind - map before , it ’s a barren - shape way to roll up and organize ideas . You enter words and set phrase , usually contained in geometrical shape , then arrange and connect them in a workspace — the single-valued function — to fix their relationship . For instance , lease ’s say you ’re writing a business plan . As you think about what that plan will require , you might create judgment - map submission forresearch , financing , manufacture , andmarketing;those entryway would be calledsiblings , because they ’re all on the same conceptual level . Focusing for a moment on the latter , you might create entries fortelevision , radio set , cyberspace , social networking , and so on and connect them aschildrentomarketing . As you continue to brainstorm , you sum up more entries and set up and connect those . There is a lot more to brain - mapping , but that ’s the general idea .
Most of my undertaking ( including this clause ) commence liveliness as a mind - map on my iPad . Using my fingers to make a creative thinker - map just feels more natural than it ever did with a keyboard and black eye . While there are several all right iPad creative thinker - mapping apps , my favorite is iThoughtsHD ( ) . This app justgetsthe hint user interface . To add a sib entry , I rap replication on the iPad ’s virtual keyboard three times ; to append a child , I tapdance the space bar three times . I can then move my entries around the projection screen with my fingers . Using iThoughtsHD , creating and manipulating mind - single-valued function becomes second nature ; the app disappears and countenance me get on with the hard work of brainstorming .
iThoughtsHD
When I begin a new labor , I open a new iThoughtsHD single file and start adding ideas . I do n’t concern about how they fit together ; the Florida key is to just rent my judgement roll up and give up my ideas to splatter onward . I usually start these mind - maps day — even weeks — before I have to do anything concrete on the labor . That way of life I can keep coming back to iThoughtsHD and polish . At any given time , I have a bunch of half - bake maps in the app . That ’s another advantage of iPad intellect - mapping : It ’s so easy to pick up in good order where I last pull up stakes off .
Polish with the outliner
Of course , iThoughtsHD can open and save files in the OPML format . So after a idea - single-valued function starts to take chassis , I can hand it off directly to an OPML - compatible outliner by knock the Action picture button in iThoughtsHD and then the Send to App button . I can choose to salvage in the app ’s native data file data format , PDF , or OPML . If I tap OPML , the app expose a list of installed apps that speak OPML .
After iThoughtsHD sends the OPML file , OmniOutliner win over the parent - child - sibling connections between musical theme in my psyche - map into a more integrated outline . Using the outliner , I can then start moving items around within that social structure , bringing some Holy Order to the pandemonium .
Seeing my ideas set in a more orderly fashion lets me see how well one idea link up to the next . This is specially dead on target with writing projection and presentment that finally will need a beginning , middle , and an end . Working in an precis also exposes hole in my thinking . If I ’m not satisfied with the outline at this point , I can direct the OPML file back to the nous - single-valued function app for more preparation . Some freehanded projects take several bounces before I ’m quick to move out of this planning phase .
If you do n’t have an iPad , you may use this same workflow on your Mac using outliners and mind - mapping apps that take and write OPML . There are plenty of honorable Mac mind - mapping and outlining apps . My favourite areMindNode Pro ( ) for mind - mapping and the Mac version of OmniOutliner for outlining , both of which translate and write OPML . you could also work on both platforms : iThoughtsHD , for example , works withDropbox ( ) , while OmniOutliner utilize a single file - syncing system much like the iWork iPad apps .
When the preparation is finally done , I can finally commence the labor itself . If it is a demonstration , OmniOutliner can export a Keynote filing cabinet with my outline . If it ’s a writing project , I can export the outline as a text filing cabinet ( from OmniOutliner ) and send packing it into my favorite text edition editor as a skeleton in the closet . For great writing task , I import the OPML file to Scrivener ( ) , which reads OPML files and creates pen projects ground on them . In fact , I just finished writing a 110,000 word book with that very workflow .
The point is that OPML lets me give Lot of ideas without worrying about how they agree together , then it allow me mastermind those ideas once I have them all down . It also lets me do all that no matter of where I am or which computer hardware I have with me . For me , it ’s the key to planning almost anything .
