Do you like to think about things? Me too.
I also like to visualize those things I think about. Usually these things are for web projects that I am developing.
It is very useful to "chart" and "flowchart" my program workflows or even mockup the interfaces even before programming - guess some of that software development mumbo jumbo sunk in.
A website that I came across last week has several templates for thinking guides or mind maps.
Exploratree, by FutureLab, is a free library of thinking guides. You can even create your own and submit it to other users. Very cool.
Here's a link to their video tutorial (this might help you grasp the concept).