Brain Dump: How a brain dump works and a free template worksheet to help gather those loose thoughts and how to take action.
Brain Dump
Whether it’s in my blogging business or in my personal life, creating a brain dump can SAVE me. It saves my sanity and helps out so much with organizing and launching new projects.
What is a Brain Dump?
Well if you’re like me and can relate to the saying,
If you ever want to know what a woman’s mind is like, imagine a browser with 3,241 tabs open. All.The.Time.
Someecards
then you know that you can have a gazillion thoughts going through your head every minute.
The kids. The House. Your marriage.
Work. His work. Bills. The list goes on.
So when a “brain dump” comes in to the picture, it means we take all of those swirling thoughts in our heads and jot them down on paper!
Suddenly, we can feel relief because we aren’t trying to remember all of the things currently rolling through our minds. Plus, it allows us a place to look back on to be reminded of the things that we need to do or become aware of.
How do you Create a Brain Dump?
A brain dump can be created in different ways. Here are my favorite ways to create them:
- pen and paper (in a notebook, on a post it, in a planner, etc.)
- template or worksheet (see below for your free download!)
- On the “notes” app or similar app on a cell phone
- On a computer using a Word doc, Google docs, etc.
- On a “mind map” website or something like Trello!
How do you Use a Brain Dump?
Of course you can do a brain dump of anything and everything you want (jot down all of the thoughts you currently have) and leave it at that. That in itself can be incredibly helpful to ease stress, and take a little off of our plate.
But managing or pinpointing what kind of brain dump you want to do, can add a whole other level of satisfaction. I like to divide them in to two different categories; “Feelings” brain dumps and “actionable” brain dumps.
Feelings:
A brain dump can actually be really helpful when it comes to feeling overwhelmed with thoughts.
For instance, if your mind is swarming with negative thoughts, depression, and anxiety, jotting down all of these thoughts can make us feel SO much better!
Somehow, being able to release those thoughts on paper can help release our ties to those feelings in some incredible way.
Actionable:
I like to take all of the items on my brain dump and organize them even more. Some of these “actionable” items can look like this:
Personal Life: School Activities, Doctor Appointments, Date Nights, Birthday Parties, etc.
Our lives can get so busy, between managing school activities, practices, date nights, dinner with friends, paying bills, cleaning the house, family gatherings and so much more… it can be easy to feel overwhelmed with everything we have to do.
Listing these items out can help us be more aware of what needs to be done, or what needs attention and that in itself can reduce the anxiety of the “unknown” feeling.
Work-Life: Creating Products, Preparing Speeches, Event Planning, etc.
For work, creating a brain dump can come in incredibly helpful if working on a big project, preparing for a big meeting, planning a big event… or even when it feels like there are an insane amount of items that need to be completed by a deadline… sometimes jotting down all of the things to do, ideas and or thoughts, can be helpful.
Plus, do you ever have those spur-of-the-moment ideas or thoughts when driving down the road or while out to dinner with friends? Sometimes it’s hard to remember them when it comes time to actually work on something.
So later, when we can refer to our brain dump that has all of those genius ideas on it, we don’t have to rely on just our memory!
Taking Action and/or Organizing a Brain Dump
Once your brain dump is complete, if you want to take it an extra step, a great strategy is to:
“Feelings” Brain Dump Action:
- talk to someone about the feelings you’re experiencing
- take some time for YOU to reflect on those feelings
- journal about those feelings
“Actionable” Brain Dump Organization:
- prioritize them in order of importance
- schedule the appointments
- list items in a planner, or in/on a calendar as to-do’s on certain days
- take action on the small, doable steps that can be completed easily and right then
- delegate to-do’s to those who can complete them
Free Brain Dump Worksheet
Although a blank sheet of paper will work just fine, I love being able to have a free printable for you to go along with your mind dumping process. Why? Well because I know how intimidating staring at a blank sheet of paper can be.
So when we have a cute printable to guide us or unconsciously give us permission to jot all of our thoughts down, it can make a BIG difference.
I’ve created the free “brain dump” printable for you. I’ve left it blank and have given you plenty of space to write in what you wish.
Get Your Free Template HERE!
To snag this brain dump worksheet just click the button below…
Then, download and print off as often as you wish!
Want more of detailed brain dump worksheet?
I have a desire to create more of a detailed, guided worksheet for you, to help you organize your thoughts and help you pull out those deep ideas that you may be stored inside.
If this is something you’d be interested in having as well, let me know in the comments below and I’ll start working on it!
Angela Thompson says
I LOVE this idea Jess!! A guided booklet could be very inspiring!
Jessica says
Thank you Angela!!! Ok, I’ll definitely keep that in mind!