A brain dump is similar to a brainstorm, except you’re figuratively dumping the contents of your brain into a notebook, planner, or digital document, recording your thoughts and ideas. Just write down every single thing you need to do for the day — don’t categorize or prioritize anything. That could include anything from finishing a project at work to taking the dog to the groomer. Don’t be afraid to put down anything you have coming up in the next few days if those things are weighing on your mind today. Your goal when you brain dump should be to see the volume of tasks and feel the weight of remembering them all lift from your brain. Next you have to prioritize your to-dos by identifying which tasks are urgent and which ones can wait. The brain dump helps you start your day by getting all of your worries, responsibilities, and tasks out of your head and onto paper, so you can see the volume of what needs to be done without spending your valuable time trying to remember what it even is. If you have trouble sleeping, you might want to do your brain dump at night instead of in the morning. That way, your brain is not trying to sort things out when it should be sleeping.
