What is mind-dumping? Mind-dumping is the process in which you basically take everything you have that’s sitting in your mind and sometimes on bits of paper and put them all in one place so that you can see exactly what you have to do.
Contents:
Awakened at Night by Anxious Thoughts
Have you ever been awakened at night by anxious thoughts of all the things you have to do or want to accomplish? In the dark or the wee hours of the morning, they can seem like an insurmountable wall.
If you could see a visual of your mind, it probably looks like a giant roller-coaster that’s making lots of endless twists and turns in the air.
Not a good feeling, is it? Just thinking about it makes me feel dizzy, especially as I’m not a fan of roller-coasters.
Clutter does not exist only in a physical sense. Your mind can become cluttered and the result is a feeling of overwhelm.
So while clearing clutter from your surroundings, and even from your computer, are important it’s even more important to clear the clutter from your conscious mind, through mind-dumping.
Of course, when you feel less overwhelmed, it can save your sanity.
Mind-Dumping Exercise
1) I invite you to pull out a piece of paper or pen and pencil; or, if you want to use your iPhone or smartphone, that’s fine too.
2) List all of the tasks or To-Dos. These will include your personal, career, and your business and even your fun time. What you're attempting to do is to get a complete overview of all of your tasks so that you can begin to prioritize in order of importance and /or urgency.
3) A significant step is to create Categories. Here is what that could look like:
- Personal time
- Family time
- Fun time
- Work time
- Entertainment
- Key tasks you do on a regular basis
- Unique important tasks, etc.
4) Once you’ve created those categories, you’ll need to create subcategories.
Create Categories and Subcategories
Creating Categories allow you to see where you’re spending the bulk of your time. For example, you could think that you only watch one hour of TV daily, yet after you spend some time working on and timing yourself, you may find that TV watching with other personal activities, like personal phone calls, consume many more hours in your day than you realized.
There is also tremendous value in creating subcategories. Here’s why. Some of your main categories may include tasks that are quite huge. Just looking at those tasks or projects may create a feeling of overwhelming. By breaking each task into smaller pieces or categories, it appears to be less daunting.
In addition, as you check off smaller tasks, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and allows you to reward yourself for having accomplished a goal or completed a task.
6 replies to "Mind Dumping Can Save Your Sanity and Improve Productivity"
Great strategy! I have the mind overwhelm issue, particularly at night. I love the breaking down into categories and subcategories. I am definitely going to implement this in my planner/SMART journal right before bed. Thanks for sharing!
What a great way to deal with mind-clutter! I’m an avid prayer-journaler, and as I read through your post, I realize I’m doing aspects of what you’ve suggested in my journaling!
I’m going to try your suggestions separate from journaling – I see the value in creating categories! Thank you!
I think categories are important. Loved how simplified you made this. I need to brain dump.
List making! I love making lists and checking things off as they are complete!
Great post – an affirmation of what I’ve already been doing. It sure helps to clear the clutter in my mind plus so much more. Thank you so much!
Wonderful idea! I am anxious at the bedtime because I feel I should have accomplished so much more. Brain dump surely helps. I loved the idea of subcategorisation.