Five Ways to Organize Information

An article by Richard James Rogers (Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management)

I’m an avid reader and, at times, a ferocious information consumer.

Whilst I try my best to avoid the compulsion of checking my social media feeds every five minutes, I do find myself engrossed in a number of books at different points during a typical day. 

One of the old adages that I attempt to live by is the notorious ‘life is too short to learn from your mistakes, so make sure you learn from other peoples’. However, I know that I’m going to make mistakes just like anyone else, so I guess I’m going to have to learn from my own mistakes whether I like it or not, right?

Well, kind of. 

For quite a while now I’ve been writing about the idea that we can only learn from mistakes (ours or other peoples’) if we remember those mistakes. 

And that’s the problem isn’t it? – memory.

Organizing the information we receive from life can help to solve the problem of mistake memory, as well as help with our studies, build relationships with colleagues and clients and even help us to build up skills and new personality traits. 

As a high school Science Teacher I am constantly encouraging my students to organise their notes and resource-information effectively, so that they can revise successfully for tests and exams. However, these techniques can also be used to plan for, and solve, a plethora of day-to-day problems that we all face. 

#1: Bullet-points

Easy and simple: bullet-points list the important parts of a text or information piece in a somewhat-sequential order. Great for summarizing large processes. 

#2: Concept Maps

Concept maps are artistic and highly visual representations of concepts that link to a central theme.

Although concept maps have be used for centuries by people from all walks of life, they were first popularised by British psychologist Tony Buzan in the 1970s and given the name ‘Mind Maps™’. Buzan’s suggestions for creating the most effective Mind Maps™ are as follows:

1. Start in the center with an image of the topic, using at least three colors (I’ve clearly missed that in the example above, oops!)
2. Use images, symbols, codes, and dimensions throughout your mind map
3. Select key words and print using upper or lower case letters
4. Each word/image is best alone and sitting on its own line
5. The lines should be connected, starting from the central image. The lines become thinner as they radiate out from the center.
6. Make the lines the same length as the word/image they support
7. Use multiple colors throughout the mind map, for visual stimulation and also for encoding or grouping
8. Develop your own personal style of mind mapping
9. Use emphasis and show associations in your mind map
10. Keep the mind map clear by using radial hierarchy or outlines to embrace your branches

For more information about Mind Maps™ you can visit this website.  

#3: Mnemonics

These are fun phrases that help you to remember sequences, hierarchies or concepts. Here are some random examples:

• Naughty Elephant Squirts Water: North East South West (starting at 12 and working clockwise)
• King Prefers Cheese On Fresh Green Salad: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species (classifiers in evolutionary biology)
• My Very Energetic Maiden Aunt Just Swam Under North Pier: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Asteroid belt, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto (Order of the planets in the solar system starting at the Sun – yes, I know, Pluto isn’t a planet anymore it’s a dwarf planet – change pier into ‘Dark Purple Pineapple’ and you’ll have ‘Dwarf Planet Pluto’, I guess.)

#4: Acronyms

These are a little different to mnemonics – you just use the letters for these (no need to invent a new word sequence).

Here are some examples:

• MR FAB or “Mister Fab” (when spoken): Mammals, Reptiles, Fish, Amphibians and Birds (vertebrate groups in the animal kingdom)
• MRS GREN: Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion, Nutrition (the 7 functions of life)

Now this is where I reveal my weird side: you can actually use this technique to reinforce core beliefs and value systems.

In my case, my wristwatch is an ORIS Aquis:

Now, to me, ORIS means Order, Respect, Integrity, Strength: four life-principles that I try to live by. This means that every time I look at my watch, I am reminded of my core-values and that drives me forward to succeed a little more, every single day. 

Are there ways that you could use the acronyms in your life to drive you onwards and upwards?

#5: Infographics

Do you remember when teachers used to ask students to make posters? Well there’s a new kid on the block: the infographic.

An infographic is basically a detailed, organised poster and can include all of the organisational methods I’ve method, but all together on one page.

One of my favorite websites for making infographics is picktochart. You’ll have to sign up, but it’s free to use once you’re in.

Here’s an infographic I made over there:

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