BRANCH OUT: start with a central idea starting a new career as a superhero, for example – and add branches for the concepts and tipics to consider. The diagram sprouts clouds and tentacles of topics and subtopics. iThroughts provides a big canvas for your mind map, about 100 iPhone screens.Swipe to move arround, pinch to make the map larger or smaller, or flip your iPhone or iPod on its side for landscape view.

BUBBLING with IDEAS: Tap a bubble to select it. Toolbars materialize to let you add a subtopic bubble or add another bubble at the same level tap the arrow at top right (or double tap the bubble) to edit an item’s text, color, shape, or add an icon. You can drag bubbles anywhere on the map, or cut, copy, and paste them into different branches, along with any subtopic bubbles.

Take note: Bubble text is typically brief, but iThoughts lets you attach longer notes to any item, including a link to a web page, phone number, or email address. Select a bubble with a note, and its text appears at the bottom of the screen, as shown here for the “secret identity” bubble. When the selected bubble has subtopics, tap the blue arrow icon to show or hide those subtopic bubbles.

Honorable Mention

If the freedom sprawl of mind maps makes you antsy, fall back to more traditional methods. Outliner lets you create and share outlines in an effortless interface that lets you get your ideas down fast. Changes an item to a task, and Outliner adds a checkbox so you can mark it done after you’ve knocked it off your list. Email your outline as plain text or OPML, a format for sharing with desktop outline software. You can also sync and share outlines online with a free account at the app’s website, where you invite others to come admire your clear, organized ideas.

Outstanding outlines: Create an outline of topics and subtopics. Tap one of the + icon in the dock to add an item at the same level as the selected topic, or to create a subtopic. Move a topic in the outline by tapping the four-point compass arrow; you can indent, outdent, or move it higher or lower in the list. Tap the blue arrow for an item to edit it, and a note, or turn the item into a task for your to-do-list.