Brain Dump – Why should you do it?

I hope you all are doing really well. I thank each of you from the bottom of my heart for your lovely comments and Instagram messages on my last post. A few years back if anybody had told me that my dream of writing and connecting with inspiring people would become true I would have laughed and carried on with my busy corporate life. Every one of you who read this blog, support my journey and share your stories makes blogging worthwhile for me.

Now let us discuss today’s topic the ever popular brain dump. If you go searching for the meaning of the word brain dump or brain-dump your search result will look something like this, “the transfer of a large quantity of information from one person to another or to a storage and retrieval medium” source: Wikipedia.

There are many apps and templates and techniques to ensure you do it the right way or in the most effective way. David Allen’s GTD method for productivity is a source where many people have heard about brain dump. Well if you are already doing it and you have your own technique nailed to the T keep going. I am a minimalist and that aspect is reflected in everything I own and do. So my take on brain dump is to take a white paper and blue pen and write down everything in my mind.

I have been doing it for years without knowing that this particular practice of mine had a name and scientific studies to back the benefits of it. There are articles that mention that brain dump is like cleansing your brain so that you are not scattered anymore. So let us jump into the few benefits of a brain dump and how you could get the most out of your brain dump session.

Sit in a quiet space with your paper or journal and your favorite pen. I prefer my blue and black gel pens for my sessions. It is highly beneficial to have a meditation music playing in the background or you could just write in silence. I personally do not like mainstream music with lyrics during my brain dump sessions because it diverts my attention. If you could get this done while relaxing at the beach the effects are phenomenal.

Now, instead of stating about the number of studies conducted on the subject matter and quoting the statistics of the positive effects on other people I want to share with you a part of what my recent brain dump looked like and the benefits I have had from doing it regularly.

“lost and tired. So much to do. Organize the wardrobe.

School forms. school registration.  New Blog post ideas.

 Daily smoothie. Ammama’s scent. Miss her.

Getaway

 escape

I’m just the way I am.charlie puth. depression

Feeling: I am not doing enough

A feeling I am slacking

I should do more activities with my son

Haircut soon. Talk to the pediatrician. Linkedin

Easy recipes?

Shaken self-esteem…Self doubt

Tidy home – I’m trying

Bake more.Healing.Write more”

Half of the time I was feeling overwhelmed and half of the time I was staring at my words. After all these months of self-love and self-care, a few unfortunate events in the last few weeks have completely derailed my progress and I am back to square one.  But, having it all on paper made me feel better. It felt as though I was in a therapist’s couch sharing my feelings and feeling lighter.

If you are curious, in the above brain dump list I mentioned Ammama who is my late grandmom. I was lucky to have an uber-cool and extremely loving grandma and the truth that she is not in this world anymore and that I cannot hug her or see her ever is a fact I am still not able to come to terms with yet. Her scent was comforting and reassuring and her stories about her era were always so captivating. I miss her every single day and she makes the regular appearance in my journal.

Now at this point, you could close your journal or throw away the paper. I go the extra mile to sort out my thoughts into to-do lists and to-buy list then mentally let go of the unhelpful thoughts. I do not judge me for having these thoughts I just acknowledge that these thoughts exist and let them go.

The benefits of brain dump:

• Increased creativity
• Efficient to do list
• Less chaos in the brain
• Increased focus on the task at hand
• Self-awareness
• Better prioritizing
• Increased productivity
• Better mood
• Increased ability to live in the present

If you have ADD or ADHD I highly recommend daily brain dump as it could turn out to be life changing for you. All your anxiety and ideas and thoughts could flow into the paper and finally after a little while all the chaos in your mind would just stop. You could doodle or write the lyrics to that song that is stuck in your head or make your grocery list. The point is to just get it all out there on that paper without giving a care to grammar or spelling.

How to make the best out of your brain dump session?

Analyze your list and make a to-do list for the week prioritizing from most important to least important. Ensure that your to-do list aligns with your weekly and monthly goals and also be very careful not to overbook yourself. It is okay to have limiting and self-criticizing thoughts as long as you do not dwell on them. My way of dealing with non-beneficial thoughts is to acknowledge their existence and then saying I let you go and I forgive you and myself.

I hope it was helpful and you would make it a part of your daily routine. Please let me know about your experiences with the same.

Stay blessed!