When was the last time you took a good brain dump!? We recommend taking one at least twice a year or even once a quarter. It’s a great way to reduce mental stress, alleviate unnecessary worry, and increase your productivity. By laying out your thoughts, you give your mind a rest and you actually see your thoughts statically on paper rather than floating around in your head like a constipated mess.
Did you know that Brain Dumb is actually a bonafide word in the Webster Dictionary?
They define it as the act or an instance of comprehensively and uncritically expressing and recording one's thoughts and ideas (as on a particular topic).
Anyway, there are many ways to do this. Our technique isn’t more special than any other except that we’ve noticed there are some steps required after taking a dump that one might want to do in order to benefit fully from taking a brain dump.
Here’s our step-by-step approach for a thorough brain dump…
Simply "dump" every thought, task, goal, need, want, desire, and project onto paper until you feel a sense of full evacuation.
Once you've transferred and written everything onto paper, categorize them! You might have Personal, Relationship, Family, Work, Home Improvement, or any combination that places your thoughts into categories. We also recommend breaking them into projects, too. Under Home Improvement you might have ‘Build Work Bench,’ then a few necessary tasks under it to complete that project. A little categorizing goes a long way so it’s really up to you how specific you want to be.
After categorizing and placing your thoughts under labeled headings, it's a good idea to prioritize them as Low, Medium, or High priority. This can be done by placing 3, 2, or 1 next to them or even rewriting them in that order. Either way, you’ll be able to recognize the most important thoughts, tasks, and projects, and address them in kind.
It’s a simple process, dump, categorize, and prioritize. But it’s not always easy to complete. Regular practice and attention to these lists will foster more adherence and creativity in the process. It gets easier every time you dump. There’s no real secret other than finishing the process. If you do, you’ll find that you’ll feel less stressed, worried, and even more productive.
Go enjoy a good dump.