The Power of a Brain Dump
I don’t know about you, but my brain is all over the place lately thinking about squeezing all we can into the last few weeks we have left of summer break, back to school, work, travel plans, and more. If your brain feels like that cluttered basement of yours, it might be time for a brain dump.
A brain dump is essentially getting everything out of your busy brain and onto paper (or your digital version). It allows you to let go of the little reminders in your head that pop up when you are trying to focus on something else. It’s my go-to when things seem to feel super hectic. This post will cover not only the benefits of a brain dump, but what it is and how to go about doing it yourself. Saddle up partner - today you are going to free up some space and take a breath of fresh air.
What is a Brain Dump
A brain dump is recognizing every thought, idea, task, etc. that is circling around in your brain and putting it down on paper or your digital version of paper (Notes app, GoogleKeep, etc). A brain dump is not a to-do list or a must-do list, and should not consider prioritization or categorization. This allows the dump to take place without using up time or brain power.
Why is a Brain Dump so Powerful?
A brain dump is powerful because it allows you as the stressed out person you might be to get all of your thoughts out of your head. Without knowing it, these thoughts take up space and distract us from our current tasks/priorities. The thoughts taking up mental space include big ones like taxes, moving, or changing jobs to small ones like needing to buy toilet paper or scheduling an oil change. While they clearly aren’t equal in importance, they can sometimes take up equal brain space which isn’t helpful at all!
Clarity and focus: If you are like me, thoughts fly in and out of your mind on a constant basis. I mean, I can be thinking about what’s for dinner tonight one minute and the next be stressing about pulling the weeds in the front path, then zipping off to how to go about addressing our winter gear situation before the craziness of school/soccer comes into play. It’s exhausting and makes any type of productivity feel impossible! However once you have completed your brain dump, you will have a visual representation of what is on your mind and then be able to sort out where things fall. I’ll discuss some strategies on how to do this later in this post.
This clarity results in a better ability to focus which then improves productivity and reduces the anxiety of juggling too many things. It’s a positive snowball effect!
One of my daughters was having a hard night last week. The things she brought up in our short conversation made it clear that she needed one thing. To do her very own brain dump. It was bedtime, but I gave her paper and a pen and under the glow of her reading light, she wrote it all out and fell right to sleep. The next day she felt soooo much better and was amazed at what a difference it made! She didn’t even go onto the next steps - the dump itself was plenty and she moved on.
Time Management: Having all your thoughts on paper results in better time management. Seeing your tasks in front of you allows you to prioritize and delegate in an efficient manner. Without the help of your brain dump, you’d have to address every thought as it flew through your head (or risk missing it) and perhaps not making the best decisions.
Increased Creativity: Knowing your tasks are prioritized, delegated and planned, your new mental clarity can result in improved creativity! When you aren’t worried about missing a tiny “important” thought like remembering to put a hold on your mail during your upcoming vacation, you can use that space to enjoy a hobby or come up with new ideas. The decreased anxiety and stress gives you more ability to be creative and find enjoyment in your day as well.
Goal Setting and Achievement: Finally, if you are able to know when and how to do a proper brain dump (newsflash: there really are no rules!), you are putting yourself in a position of power. Goals become more clear and attainable, and you can focus your time and energy on what will take you closer to the next big thing on your list.
How to do a Brain Dump
Now that you know why you should be doing a regular brain dump, let’s review some techniques that can be used. As I said, there are no rules, it’s just about finding out what works best for you while keeping in mind that it may change Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
Set yourself up in a comfortable spot when you are not worried about time. Give yourself 5 minutes or 30 minutes - you may find your thoughts come out quick or you may need more time. Know that you can always add to the list later, this is just a starting point.
Use a single piece of paper and list write it all down, use a piece of paper that is broken down into helpful categories that might help those thoughts come to light (ex: home, work, calls, etc.), write individual tasks in index cards or post-it notes, or use an app that you like on your phone like Notes, GoogleKeep, or Evernote. The important part here is to not overthink it. Be careful if using a categorized brain dump because it might make you think enough for it to feel tedious or the extra decisions might be tiresome. The priority here is to get it all out and worry about sorting next.
Sorting your list is not necessary but can be very helpful. The way you sort your list will depend on your answer to this question: What is most important here? Is it to get the most done in the least amount of time? Is it to be able to get some things off your plate and delegate them to your new assistant? Or perhaps it’s just to have some clarity in your life. Whatever it is, use that answer to help guide you in this process. If you used a single list you could use highlighters for specific tasks. Pink for calls, yellow for errands, and blue for urgent for example. I have been using the index card method this summer and have found it very helpful to sort them out into piles - calls, errands, computer tasks, and etc. This strategy might not work all the time, but right now it does! My husband was heading out on an errand today with our eldest and I went through my errand cards quickly knowing they could get a few things accomplished while out and about.
Put anything urgent or time sensitive on your calendar. Put other items on your to-do list.
Do the easy things first. Anything that will take less than 2 minutes or feels super easy should be done as soon as possible. Better yet delegated!! Get them done and out of your mind!
As with any list, the fun is in crossing things off! Celebrate your accomplishments!
Create a routine. You will find that while all the crossed off items are fun to see, you may want and/or need to do a new dump on a regular basis. It can be hard to see what’s left among the scribbles and new notes. You can choose to do it daily, weekly, or on some other schedule. Pairing it up with something currently in your routine like meal planning would be a great way to integrate this new habit into your life.
Break things down into smaller to-dos. Instead of “Soccer gear for kids”, write “try on old cleats” and then “shop for new cleats”. Or instead of “buy new car” you might want to write “research small SUVs”, “discuss options with spouse”, “look into financing”, “test drive final options” and then “buy car”. You get the point. If “buy new car” was the only thing on your list it would be the first thing I’d skip over day after day. But setting aside 30 minutes to research some options is something you can easily fit into your schedule.
There you have it. Just in time for the busyness of the school year, a new tool to help improve mental clarity, increase productivity & focus, and get you well on your way to accomplishing those goals of yours. Let me know how it works for you!
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