How to Do A Brain Dump

When you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, a brain dump is a simple activity that has the power to help you clear your mind instantly. It can even help you sort through your to-do list, and be the starting point for making progress on the things you want to get done.

The process is as straightforward as it sounds, you just have to empty your thoughts onto a piece of paper or a digital note. There are no rules, just write down whatever comes to mind, freewriting style.

You can set a timer if the added time constraint is a motivator for you, or you can take your time and list everything over the course of a day as it comes to you.

The point is to free your mind of the clutter and reduce the noise running in the background so you can feel lighter. The best way to achieve this is however you feel most comfortable doing so.

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What Goes into a Brain Dump?

A brain dump is often used as a tool to categorize and prioritize tasks so you can be more organized and take action on your to-do list.

You can write down any concerns you have, things that are weighing you down, anything you’ve been putting off, resources you need for a project or task, deadlines coming up, and any other life related issues.

That’s the primary purpose but if you just have too many thoughts rolling around in your head and need somewhere to put them, you can always use a brain dump for that too. The result doesn’t have to be meaningful or productive.

The act of being mindful and decluttering your mind can be enough.

Brain Dump Ideas

If you’re still drawing a blank, use the list below for ideas on how to start your brain dump:

calendar

Upcoming appointments
Work or school deadlines
Birthdays
Events

Personal

Anxieties
Concerns
Problems
Issues
Conflicts
Unresolved tasks

undecided

Favors for others
Tentative commitments
Overdue tasks

How to Sort Through Everything On The Page

Once you’ve emptied your mind and filled out a sheet of paper, you may be wondering what to do with so much information.

The next step is to sort and categorize everything to create a clear picture of what requires action, what you can let go of, and what your priorities are.

Get out a new sheet of paper and title your categories in sections, leaving room to write down your tasks underneath.

You can divide them like the suggestions above, by areas of your life (home management, health, finances, etc.) or whatever makes the most sense for everything you’ve written down.

Or if you prefer to color-code you could use highlighters or markers to mark-up the different categories directly on your brain dump page.

This Pinterest board from Notera Studio shows examples of how to organize, prioritize and categorize your list:

How to Take Action

Once your list is organized you don’t want to stick it in a drawer and forget about it. To get the full benefits of the brain dump you’ll want to follow through by taking action, starting with the highest priorities on your to-do list.

Benefits of A Brain Dump / why should you do one

You can see by now how simple the process of actually completing a brain dump is. Whenever you have that feeling of overwhelm like you just can’t manage it all and there’s too much on your plate, use a brain dump to undo the mental overload.

It can truly make a difference to lower your stress and anxiety levels, clear your mind and determine what your priorities should be.

Afterwards you will feel less scatter-brained and you’ll have the confidence to stop procrastinating and move forward on the important tasks you’ve been putting off.