Free Printable Brain Dump

Use this free printable brain dump worksheet to get everything on paper, and start the process towards organization and productivity.

Leading up to the new year, I’m going through my own planning process for 2018 and sharing the printables with you as well

This week is all about getting everything in your head out on paper.

The brain dump exercise is my favorite and often quite necessary, especially when you feel stressed out and overwhelmed. Somehow, when things are on paper, it does make it seem less daunting and looming, as it often gets exaggerated and all mixed up in your head.

Getting everything on paper in black and white is the only way to make plans for the future. Otherwise, it’s quite easy to minimize or maximize whatever thoughts you might have in your head.

So the idea of a brain dump is to write it ALL down.

Seriously, everything!

Do not limit yourself in terms of all the things you want to do or wish you could do. From personal to work to whatever – write down all the projects that are swirling in your mind. The things you want to accomplish or hope to accomplish in the new year or even one day.

You’ve got to get it all out of your head! This way, you free your mind from having to be a repository of a million thoughts.

Print as many pages as you find necessary and list everything out. After getting your list done – when you feel totally free of all the project ideas in your head… then you can categorize.

Some people like to categorize business goals versus family goals versus personal exercise or spiritual goals. However, you want to split it up – or not at all – is up to you.

But I have found it is helpful to create different buckets and that is why the category column is so helpful.

Once you have categories, then you can address each category separately and prioritize them. In order of important – whether how strongly it is for you – the urge to get it done.

We all know it’s impossible to do it all (at least in one year), so it’s important to prioritize and I find it easier when I have different buckets, because work priorities and family priorities just don’t mix for me.

If necessary, feel free to recopy the lists to a new sheet of paper, so you can put them in order, if things get a bit messy.

By the end of this exercise, you will feel a bit lighter, because all the ideas are out of your head and down on paper. And you will have categorized them and organized them into an order of priority.