Personally I like to pick up the pen and mind map when I see an idea I want to record. As a rule I drop the pen when I've written the word and relevant branches to that idea. It prevents me from mind mapping too much irrelevant detail and stay on focus.
For the same reason some choose to mind map after activation however they are confronted with the minds natural need to forget something in order to think of something else. So they feel like they lost it all. That's why many people avoid mind mapping. The way around this is to 1. leave the mind mapping until you are almost finished and then give yourself permission to look back over what you just activated to trigger quick recall and mind map or 2. leave the mind mapping till the end draw out what you can and then review the pages you just activated to polish it off.
I recommend option 1 while you are still developing mind mapping skills and option 2 once you have some confidence with mind mapping. You have the benefit of quick review with these two options which enhances long term memory. If you want to follow my technique I suggest you only do that once you've been mind mapping for a while.
AlexK
