How To Brain Dump Properly and Leave Mental Clutter Behind

How To Do A Brain Dump Properly To Stop Feeling Utterly Overwhelmed!

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I hate to break it to you, but if you never learn how to handle mental clutter, you will always feel overwhelmed.

Ugh, I know.

It’s true, though. But…

Once you discover you can conquer that mental clutter you can leave overwhelm behind for good!

It’s life-changing, friends.

Unfortunately, it took me years to figure this out. I hope that’s not the case for you. Today I will share my go-to strategies on how to brain dump effectively and efficiently so you can continue to be productive and move forward in your life instead of losing sleep and procrastinating because you just don’t know where to start.

The power of a clear mind.

It wasn’t until I was introduced to brain dumping when I was in graduate school that I really understood the power of a clear mind. Probably because I hadn’t actually experienced one in years.

I was busier than ever with school and life, and constantly had what I felt like was millions of things on my mind. It was affecting my sleep, which was affecting my performance at school and my happiness overall.

The discovery was mind-blowing, really. I didn’t know it had a name at the time. I would just jot down everything on my mind and I could feel the weight lift off of me.

The best part is it is applicable to any portion of your life. Work, kids, business, life, home… EVERYTHING!

I’ve started brain dumping more and more since becoming a mom and blogger, too. Life, once again, has become super busy. It was hard enough managing my day to day before. Now I’m looking after me, my family and running an online business!

It’s way too much work for our brains to try to stay on top of everything. You end up feeling like you have 23 browser tabs open in your brain!

If that resonates with you, brain dumping will be your new best friend.

So let’s get to it!

How To Do A Brain Dump and Stop Feeling So Overwhelmed

How to do a brain dump.

Grab your journal. I LOVE to do this in my bullet journal. My go-to is this one here.

PS – if you are new to bullet journaling, check out this article here on how you can set one up today! All you need is a notebook and a pen.

But really, you can grab any piece of paper.

Heck, even a napkin will work!

Or download this gorgeous free brain dump printable I created just for you and simply print it out.

It’s your choice.

Next, write down every single thing on your mind. Trivial or not, just keep writing for a few minutes (or until you run out).

Phew.

That alone is sometimes enough!

But on we go, for the times it is not. Take a quick breather, and then we’ll categorize your brain dump.

Organize your brain dump.

Now you need to categorize the items and create a plan.

First, cross off anything that is not important or urgent. Anything you can do without, get rid of.

Next, see what you can delegate.

For example, say you are worried about needing to change a filter that your partner can take care of. Ask them to do it, and then remove it from your mind. The responsibility is transferred, freeing up time for you.

brain dump example
A quick example of what a brain dump may look like.

Finally, categorize the rest and re-list the items into groups. These could include home, business, kids.

Now, assign mini deadlines according to how urgent and important each task is. Write them into your calendar (a la time blocking!).

Boom. Handled.

Doesn’t it feel like you just completely untangled your brain?

It’s liberating. Freeing. Amazing!

Now that you are free of feeling overwhelmed, it’s time to skyrocket your productivity. Check out this article on 7 productivity tips for busy moms!

Did you grab this free brain dump template?

Are you still unsure about why brain dumping is so effective?

Have you ever found your brain traveling a million miles an hour? Switching from one thought to another at the speed of light? Do you ever feel yourself going crazy trying to keep track of everything you need to do?

That’s overwhelm.

It stresses you out and leads you to procrastinate. You end up wasting so much time just thinking about what you need to do, instead of actually doing it.

How long does it take to brain dump?

Doing a brain dump takes just a few minutes. It removes stressors and all the pesky thoughts nagging at you, and allows you to create a solid plan to tackle them.

It can totally help you sleep better too by slowing your mind before bed.

In fact, I leave my bullet journal on my bedside table, so I can dump quickly if I can’t fall asleep. That’s usually enough, and then the next day I’ll categorize it and make an action plan.

Happy Brain Dumping!

As you can see it’s not difficult to brain dump effectively and it’s completely freeing. You can use this technique over and over again to remove those pesky feelings of overwhelm from our life.

Xo,
Kinzy

For more ways to skyrocket your productivity, check out:
7 daily habits of ultra productive moms
How to create an empowering morning routine: 3 steps to kickstart your day!

Interested in learning about the best apps for boosting productivity? Check out this article over at VentureHarbour. My favorite is Trello!

5 thoughts on “How To Do A Brain Dump Properly To Stop Feeling Utterly Overwhelmed!”

  1. This is such great advice! I love that you categorize different things and get rid of items that are not important. Non-important things often cloud our minds and we need room for more important things to worry about.

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