Brain Dump

Strange Concept? Give me a few minutes to explain and then try applying it to your life. I think you may be surprised what it does for you.

I am one of the busiest people I know and I bet you have a lot going on yourself! One of the greatest struggles with busyness is that we stay stretched out - and at times stressed out - trying to get it all done. Even when we are successful at getting it done we often don’t enjoy the journey because we are always wondering what we may have missed or let slip through the cracks.

Maybe your struggle is not time management but simply that you have so much you want and need that you don’t have enough space in your brain to hold it all together.

Enter my concept of the “brain dump”. This is a practice I started a few months ago which is not a new or novel concept, but it is one that is helping me in so many areas. It is simple… I take 30-45 minutes once a week, sit down at my computer, open a blank word document (use whatever note taking app that works best for you), and I dump. No rhyme or reason… I don’t try to analyze any of my thoughts. I just put them all down as fast as they come to me. Then I simply print out the document and keep it with me for the next week. I read over it every day and work on each project as much as I can. (I will write more at a later date about the process of getting things done, but the focus of this post is getting the thoughts out of our heads and onto paper.)

Some of the benefits I have experienced through the brain dump process are:

1) Less fear that things are going to fall through the cracks
2) Increased productivity by simply staying focused on all the balls I am juggling
3) More, not less, creativity because I am constantly freeing up brain space for new ideas

Take a few minutes right now and give it a try. Just dump your brain! Be random, but be consistent. Do it on at least a weekly basis. Sometimes I do it more often, and I have even done it a few days in a row during increased busy seasons. Find what works for you.