How often do you feel completely overwhelmed by the endless list of tasks spinning around in your head?

How often do you forget to carry out a vital task because there’s just too many things to remember?

Let’s get it all out of your head so that you don’t have to remember it all through the ‘brain dump’ process.

You’re going to make a list that you’re able to refer to so you need to think about where you’re going to record it so that it’s useful to you. If you’re like me and you’ve always got a notebook within reach – use that. If you’ve always got your phone handy – use the notes facility. If you spend the majority of your time at home you could make a list a stick it on the fridge door or somewhere else where you can easily refer to it.

There’s no right or wrong way to carry out a ‘brain dump’. You just want to get everything out of your head and into some physical form that you can refer to. The important thing to remember as you write your list is that you’re not going to be able to (or even want to) complete every task immediately. Just get everything written down, sometimes I just write one long list, at other times I categorise the tasks into home/ work/ errands. It doesn’t really matter, just write it down.

After you’ve written your list you need to make some choices:

• What’s urgent? If it’s urgent you need to get it done today, work out when you’ll have time to do it and give yourself a pat on the back when you’re done!
• What can I delegate to someone else? Go and tell them, leave them a note and try to forget about it.
• What can wait? If it’s not urgent, think about when you’ll get a chance to do it and set yourself a reminder on your phone.
• What doesn’t really matter? Sometimes we carry out tasks out of habit and never really ask ourselves if they actually need doing or if they could be done differently. Don’t be afraid of crossing tasks off your list.

For those of you who’ve been inspired to create a brain dump, either now or in the past, how did it go? How do you feel now that you’ve done it? Add your comments below.

Come back tomorrow for your next nudge into productivity.

Photo credit: Freepik