Decluttering your BRAIN aka having a Brain dump

Okay so vulgar name aside if you are anything like me and have hundreds of thoughts going on in your head this could be your knight in glamourous shining armour (if you need saving that is).

So the idea behind a brain dump is to get back to basics and translate everything buzzing around in your head onto paper. In a world run by technology we are pretty much getting back to basics.

So what you do is you take a piece of paper (I use A4) and set a stop clock to give me 15 minutes. I then ignore the world an and write down everything that pops into mind. The theory is that if it’s popping into your head it needs to come out.

So you write down everything. It would be names, feelings, things you need to do. Things you’ve been putting off. EVERYTHING.

Once the 15 minutes is up you have two options:

1) leave the brain dump and come back to it later (in the evening/next day/next week)

2) create FOUR lists:
Must prioritise (e.g. Doctors appointments, Gas heater servicing, updating contact details with Schools, insurance renewals etc)
Things that must be done within a set timeframe (I usually give myself 4-6 weeks for this depending on how many things are on the list). This could be things like getting quotes for a gardening job, having winter things dry cleaned for storage etc. Things that need doing but if they are delayed they won’t have huge consiquences.
Things that can go on your Master To Do List (see article here on this List).
EMOTIONAL/Personal: feelings/conversations that need to be had etc all go on this list.

3) Now go through these lists. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you really need to do all these tasks yourself?
Can you delegate them?
Have you taken on more than you can cope with (note this down and don’t repeat this to just torture your soul).
Which tasks can you do the quickest to get your progress flowing.

Remove anything from the lists that you delegate out or shouldn’t really be on there. Be ruthless baby. Time is money.

3) Now you have to work through these lists. Be realistic with time frames. If you don’t give yourself time frames that are manageable you are setting yourself up for failure. Don’t torture yourself.

4) Come back to the lists when you are organising your week to see which tasks can be completed.

5) Repeat the brain dump as and when required. Treat this as a regular exercise that helps with your brain decluttering. Your lists may never be empty but this helps put things into perspective.

Have you tried Brain Dumping? How did you find it? Is it something you do on a regular basis to keep life organised? Share your pearls of wisdom below.

 

Love,

 

Alliyah