How to Overcome the Overwhelm with a Brain Dump

I am starting my new year planning late this year – 20 days late to be exact!  We started off this year with a house full of guests and all the fun that come along with that – groceries, laundry and a bit of chaos.  It’s fun and I love spending time with everyone but I also put off all my new year ideas until I could get back into a more regular routine.  In the meantime, I broke a tooth and then contracted a cold that seems to be lingering on.

So now I’m 20 days into the new year and my brain is overwhelmed with all the projects and ideas I want to accomplish and all those on the back burner.  It is high time for a brain dump.  What, you say, is a brain dump?  It’s a great way to overcome the overwhelm.  It’s a great way to clear my head so that I can get my ideas and energy moving forward and it’s something I recommend everyone do occasionally.

If your brain is anything like mine – it resembles a giant tangle of string. I might get on the internet to research a subject and pretty soon I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of ideas and links.  When I look up 2 hours later I’ve got 10 tabs open on my computer and I’m nowhere near my original subject. Then I climb into bed exhausted, only to lay there with my thoughts going all over the place.

Our minds can only hold so much information – that’s why we function better with lists, planners, notes and reminders.  We aren’t meant to hold onto every single bit of information we encounter, not even all the information that we really want to remember.  That’s where a brain dump comes into play.

How to brain dump

A brain dump is basically an unconnected list, or journal.  It can be one page or many – organized or not.  It’s the place to put down every thought and idea.  This is the place for the ideas that don’t necessarily fit into any specific project or to-do list. This is the place for the ideas that you’re trying not to forget and they’re taking up brain space.

Don’t try to organize your thoughts.  Don’t second guess your thoughts.  The whole idea behind a brain dump is just to get everything written down.  And yes, a pen (pencil or marker) and paper are the best tools to use for this exercise.  You may surprise yourself with all the thoughts that you can jot down in a short amount of time.  The first step is just to get everything down on paper – processing and organizing comes later.

When to do a brain dump

The first time you try this exercise it could take some time.  I allow at least 30 minutes to just sit and write and then schedule time for processing later.  You may or may not need 30 minutes – I can usually tell that I’m done when I’m spending time thinking about what I should be writing.  Usually there are so many ideas that I can’t get them on the paper fast enough so when I struggle to think of more, that’s a good time to stop.

I like to mark out 30 minutes at the beginning of the week for a brain dump.  It helps me clear my mind and organize my time for the week ahead.  Sometimes I don’t even look at my paper until days later.  The physical act of putting everything down is really all I need to clear my mind.  Later, I can read over my brain dump to see if there are any great ideas hiding there that deserve some attention.  Or I can compare lists to see if there’s something recurring that needs my attention and I’m trying to ignore it.

Once you’ve tried this exercise you may want to fit it into your schedule on a more regular basis.  If you’re a person that journals regularly you may not need to perform this exercise very often.  Your regular writing may keep your mind focused and keep those thoughts at bay.  If you don’t journal regularly you may need this exercise a little more often.  It can be a great way to organize all of your thoughts and ideas – and it may even show you a few that you hadn’t considered.

Processing Your Brain Dump

The best thing to do immediately after your brain dump is to let it sit.  Take a break and step away from your thoughts.  Give them a chance to breathe and feel how refreshing it is to get all these thoughts down on paper.

When you come back to the sheet realize that you are not required to actually “do” anything with it.  The exercise itself is the important part – it’s getting everything out of your head and taking a chance to clear your mind.  You can fold this paper in half and put it in a drawer, or recycle it.  You may not need to look at it again – or you may be compelled to organize all the things that you’ve come up with.  I generally like my paper to rest overnight so that I can look at it with clear eyes the next day.