One of the most useful  Mindjet MindManager 8.0 productivity tools for writers is its Sort command. This makes it easy to organize all topics, or just the subtopics associated with a single topic, in alphabetical order.

For example, today I was taking a fresh look at the left-hand navigation of my Published & Profitable site.

I started by simply listing all of the project categories without regard to order. The list quickly took shape, as shown in the above, early stages. But, the unorganized information was awkward to work with; lacking a logical order, it was difficult to identify missing or duplicated topics.

Using MindManager’s Sort command

Start by selecting the Main Topic, or any topic containing subtopics you want to sort. With the topic selected, click Format and–when the Format Ribbon appears–move your wrist to the right and select Sort. MindManager quickly reorganizes subtopics into a more logical order.

Advanced sorting options

More sort options, however, are available if you click the downward-pointing arrow below the Sort command. This reveals the downward-pointing arrow reveals the Sort Options dialog box, where you can:

• Choose between sorting in increasing or descending order
• Select Alphabet only instead of the default Alphanumeric
• Most important, if your map contains Task Information, you can sort on Task Priority or Percentage Completed.

You can also specify the number of subtopic levels to be sorted.

Notes

MindManager’s Sort command is only available after you have selected your map’s Center Topic or any other topic containing subtopics. If you the Sort command is not available, you may not have selected an appropriate topic.

You can explore MindManager 8 for yourself by visiting Mindjet and downloading a 30-day trial version. That’s how I got started!