I just remember expanding and collapsing things a lot to keep what I wanted in view. Clicking and scrolling -- perhaps I never got proficient in the keybindings so that could explain it.
Spacebar expands and collapses nodes. I think part of the problem is just that the default settings are bad. Changing these couple things makes FreeMind 10x better:
Preferences -> appearance
1. Check "edges start from 1 point at root node"
2. Uncheck "enter confirms by default"
