How to prioritize tasks with mind maps? Step-by-Step Guide

The first step to be able to prioritize individual tasks is to map out your main goals. You have 2 options:

1️⃣ Create your own mind map from scratch and simply brainstorm freely.

Go to the Mindomo Dashboard, click on Create and choose Blank mind map. Add the central topic Goals and then simply add them as topics.

Your diagram should look like this:

2️⃣Use a predefined mind map template for brainstorming or for goal setting. A template gives you a clear framework to follow, reducing decision fatigue and making it easier to get started.

Here are some great options:

Once you defined your goals, group them into categories, such as Career & Finance, Personal Growth, Health, etc. You can create separate branches in your mind map for each category and simply drag and drop your goals into place.

This visual organization gives you a clear overview of the different areas you want to focus on. To make the categories stand out, consider using colors or icons.

With your goals organized into categories, it’s time to break each one down into smaller, actionable tasks. This step turns broad ambitions into clear steps you can actually work on.

For example, if your goal is to “Launch a Personal Blog”, break it down into tasks like “Choose a platform,” “Buy a domain,” “Design the layout,” and “Write the first three posts.” In your mind map, add these subtasks as branches stemming from each goal. This makes the overall path feel less overwhelming and gives you a concrete roadmap to follow.

After breaking your goals into actionable tasks, you can make them checkable. To do this, click on the context menu (1), click on More options (2), select Tools (3), and then click on Set as task (4). Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + T to instantly convert the topic into a checkable task.

With Mindomo’s task functionality, you can set start and due dates directly on each topic, making it easy to move from planning to execution. Keep tasks clear, specific, and time-bound.

To set a schedule for your tasks, open the context menu (1) and go to the fourth tab labeled Task Customization (2). Click on the calendar icons to open the date picker and choose a start date and end date (3). If you have tasks that need to be repeated regularly, you can also set them as recurring tasks, with options to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and more (4).

This step is what separates the planners from the actual doers. It may seem like a small detail, but it makes a huge impact, often without you even realizing it. Why? Because we all juggle responsibilities across many areas of life, and without a visual reminder, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. Scheduling tasks directly into your calendar ensures they don’t just stay as ideas; they become commitments.

With Mindomo’s iCal feature, you can sync your tasks and deadlines directly to your personal or team calendar, like Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook. This lets you see all your activities in one single place (tasks, events, and deadlines from different tools). Extra tip: you should merge multiple calendars (from work, personal, and holiday) into one calendar. No more switching between apps, just one calendar where everything comes together.

Learn how to use iCal with Mindomo.

There are multiple ways you can use mind maps to prioritize your tasks effectively. You can start by adding visual cues like priority icons (1-2-3 or High-Medium-Low), and using colors (changing topic’s colors) or icons to highlight critical items.

Another great way to prioritize tasks is to use the Eisenhower Matrix layout, separating what’s urgent and important from what can wait. You can create 4 main branches on your existing diagram (Do First, Do Later, Delegate, and Eliminate) and then simply move each task to the category that fits best. Once everything is sorted, you can remove the original category branches to clean up the map.

This visual system helps you quickly see what needs your focus, making it easier to stay on track and avoid getting overwhelmed by less important work.

We’ll explore each of these prioritization techniques in more detail later in the article.

As mentioned in the Eisenhower Matrix technique, delegating is a powerful way to prioritize effectively. It’s important to consciously decide which tasks truly require your personal attention and which ones can be handled by someone else. By sharing responsibilities, you not only free up your own time but also create a more productive and collaborative workflow where everyone contributes their best. Focus your energy on the tasks that align with your strengths or require your unique input.

To assign a task, open the context menu once again and navigate to the fourth tab labeled Task Customization. In the first section, Assign Task, you’ll see a list of users you’ve shared the mind map with. You’ll also notice the option to assign tasks to ghost users—fictitious profiles you can create for planning purposes without inviting real collaborators. These are useful for visualizing team roles or future assignments. You can learn more about using ghost users here.

PRO tip: In this mind map, the search and filter function goes beyond just finding specific words—you can also filter tasks based on key attributes. For example, if you want to see everything assigned to Julia, simply click the search bar in the top-right corner. From there, you’ll find advanced filtering options:

• By Assignee (e.g., Julia)

• By Due Date

• By Specific Icons attached to tasks

Using these filters, your mind map will display only the tasks that match your criteria, giving you a focused view and helping you manage workloads more effectively.

Mindomo makes it easy to track the progress of your tasks at any time. You can use the search and filter options to view tasks that are due today, tomorrow, this week, or this month, as well as tasks that are overdue or already completed. You can also monitor the progress of tasks assigned to others.

Best of all, you’re not limited to a single mind map, you can get a complete overview of tasks from all your diagrams. Just go to your Dashboard and click on the search bar at the top of the screen. Before you begin typing, a menu with multiple filter options will appear, allowing you to refine your view with ease.

You can either select a filter from the list and press Enter, or simply type it directly. For example, to view all tasks across your diagrams with deadlines this month, just type due:month in the search bar. You will see all the tasks and the diagrams where they are added.

For more complex projects, you can also use the Gantt chart view. One of the biggest advantages of Mindomo in project management is the ability to seamlessly switch between a mind map and a Gantt chart. This is especially helpful because most projects begin with a brainstorming phase, where a mind map is ideal. Once you’ve gathered and organized your ideas, there’s no need to transfer the information to a different gantt chart software. Simply open the File menu (1) and click on View as Gantt (2) to switch formats instantly.

It offers a structured, timeline-based view of your project. The Gantt chart is divided into two sections:

• on the left: you’ll see a list of tasks and subtasks

• on the right: visual bars represent each task’s duration along a calendar timeline.

You can drag and drop the bars to adjust start and end dates, making it easy to reschedule tasks. This view allows you to track progress at a glance, manage dependencies, and keep your entire project on track with minimal effort. You can alsways switch back to the mind map view.

If you’re working on tasks that require team effort, Mindomo lets you collaborate in real time on the same mind map. Team members can update tasks, track progress, and make changes simultaneously. Collaborators can also leave comments, attach documents or images.

Whether you’re working remotely or in the same room, everyone sees updates instantly, making collaboration smoother and more efficient. No more version conflicts or endless email threads. Just a shared workspace where decisions are made together and everyone stays on the same page.

The final step to ensure you prioritize effectively and stay on top of your tasks is to enable notifications and reminders. Open the File menu (1), click on Properties (2), and select the Notifications tab (3). You can choose to receive three types of email notifications:

• A daily summary containing all the changes made to the diagram

• An instant notification when changes are made to a task assigned to you

• A daily reminder with all tasks that are due today, start today, or the following day

For real-time alerts on the go, install the Mindomo mobile mind map app, where you can also customize your notification preferences to stay in control, wherever you are.

Find out how to set up mobile app notifications to suit your workflow.

Now that you’ve learned how to structure and manage your tasks with mind maps, let’s explore some of the most effective prioritization techniques you can integrate into your workflow. All these methods can be applied directly in Mindomo using templates or visual layouts.

This technique helps you decide what needs your immediate attention and what can be scheduled, delegated, or eliminated. As exemplified in the steps above, it divides tasks into four categories based on urgency and importance:

• Do First (Urgent + Important)

• Schedule (Not Urgent + Important)

• Delegate (Urgent + Not Important)

• Eliminate (Not Urgent + Not Important)

💡How to use in Mindomo: Use a pre-made Eisenhower Matrix template, 4-Quadrant Task Organizer, a quick diagram template that has the structure with 4 categories or create a mind map with four main branches (one for each quadrant). Move tasks into the relevant branch based on their urgency and importance. Add icons or colors for additional visual cues.

Popularized by Brian Tracy and often compared to the Eisenhower Matrix, the ABCDE Method assigns a letter to each task based on its importance and the consequences of not completing it. While both techniques aim to improve prioritization, the key difference is that the ABCDE Method grades tasks by importance and consequences, while the Eisenhower Matrix considers both urgency and importance to help eliminate low-value tasks and distractions.

• A – Must do (serious consequences if not done)

• B – Should do (mild consequences)

• C – Nice to do (no consequences)

• D – Delegate

• E – Eliminate

💡How to use in Mindomo:

Use icons to mark tasks. You can choose these 5 letter, or you can use flags icons in different colors (blue, green, yellow, oragne, red). Alternatively, create five main branches—one for each letter (A–E) —and organize tasks accordingly. This method works great with Mindomo’s filtering system escribed at the step 7.

This simple but effective method helps you stay focused without feeling overwhelmed. You choose 1 high-priority task, 3 medium-priority tasks, and 9 low-priority tasks to work on each day. It creates a structured plan that balances productivity with mental clarity.

💡How to use in Mindomo:

You have two great layout options:

1. Mind Map Structure – Create three main branches labeled “1”, “3”, and “9”. Drag your tasks under each category based on priority. Add checkboxes and use icons or colors to indicate urgency or completion status.

2. Kanban View – Switch your diagram to Kanban mode and create three columns named “1 Task”, “3 Tasks”, and “9 Tasks”. Move tasks into each column as you plan your day. This layout is especially helpful if you want to visualize progress as you work through them.

The traditional Kanban method organizes tasks visually into columns such as New Tasks, Assigned, In Progress, On Hold, For Review, Testing, and Done, helping you efficiently track progress and manage workflow.

💡How to use in Mindomo:

Mindomo offers a Kanban template where you can easily add tasks and move them between columns by simply dragging and dropping them to reflect their current stage.

At the end of each workday, write down the six most important tasks to complete the next day, in order of priority. Start with the first one, and work your way down.

💡How to use in Mindomo:

• Create a dedicated mind map or daily branch for your tasks.

• Each day, list six tasks numbered by priority under the date.

• Use checkboxes to track completion.

• At day’s end, reorder tasks and move unfinished ones to the next day.

• Repeat daily to stay focused and organized.

David Allen’s method emphasizes capturing everything in a system, organizing tasks by context, and regularly reviewing your progress.

💡How to use in Mindomo:

Use the Getting things done template and follow the flexible framework for managing tasks and projects:

The Pareto principle is very simple: identify the 20% of tasks that will bring 80% of the results. Focus on those tasks first.

💡How to use in Mindomo:

A great way to analyze tasks is using the Mindomo’s Impact vs Effort Matrix template. It visually helps you distinguish the tasks that deliver the highest impact with the least effort—essentially helping you identify the vital 20% of tasks that generate 80% of the results.

No single method works for everyone. The beauty of using mind maps is that you can combine techniques, visualize tasks dynamically, and adapt your system as your workflow evolves. Whether you prefer visual quadrants, strict rankings, or flexible task flows, Mindomo is a mind map maker that allows you to implement the method that fits you best—all in one place.