Nightly brain dump
Welcome back, friends!
Do you have a hard time shutting down for the night? Racing thoughts about your day and everything you need to get done. In the past, I found it hard most nights to stop the hamster wheel of thoughts. My brain didn’t know how to shut down for the night. It would run through all the things I didn’t get done and all the things I needed to do the next day, week, or even month. I would toss and turn and struggle to get settled. If this is you, have you ever considered doing a brain dump?
I discovered brain dumping by accident while working on a gratitude list. I’m sure you’ve heard about brain dumping. The idea is to get everything off your mind and on paper. There are several ways to do a brain dump. One form is by dividing your page into categories and listing anything that comes to mind in each category. Another way to do a brain dump is in list form, but for me, I prefer a more freeform way of doing a brain dump. It’s like a form of journaling for me. As mentioned, I discovered the benefits one night while working on a gratitude list. I started reading a book and making notes on the same page. I then found myself making notes of different things I needed to do, which evolved from there—highlighting my notations with arrows and other forms of doodles, bringing the more urgent items easily to my attention.
“We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking.”
Why brain dump? There are several benefits to brain dumps. It can be done any time of the day and with as much frequency as needed to reap the benefits. The nightly brain dump allows me to clear all those random thoughts keeping the hamster wheel spinning. Brain dumps help with creativity and productivity. They can help reduce distractions and improve focus. Brain dumps can also help reduce anxiety and overthinking. They can also help you organize your thoughts.
How do you get started? Grab a notebook and set a timer. Would you like to create categories or limit them to one category? Some categories to consider are a gratitude list, tasks, intentions, goals, things to remember, or quotes that inspired you.
Once you’ve completed your brain dump, the next thing is to organize it. For me, because I do it freeform, finding a way of highlighting the priorities and bringing the most critical thoughts to my attention for the following day. In the morning, I grab my journal and add any missing items to my planner in the appropriate places for the upcoming week. Now I’m organized for the week and have added any missing items that would usually have kept me awake all night.
I would love to hear if you’ve tried it and how it worked.
Michelle
