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Even with a good system in place, sometimes I sit down at my desk and I don't know what to do. I could do the one or two specific tasks I've written down for the day, but sometimes I feel like I'm missing something. Maybe things are going a bit too smoothly, or maybe they’re not. I'll ask myself, “Have I forgotten to write anything down?”
When this happens, I do two things — and I always end up doing both: I make a Brain Dump List, then I process my daily and/or weekly pages and the Brain Dump I just finished.
What is a Brain Dump?
I've blogged about it before, and if you've been in the planning community long, you've probably heard it or maybe have heard it called a different name. I looked up a few of them:
- running list
- master list
- capture list
- master task list
I do mean everything — even things you know you're not going to do anyway but that ARE on your mind. You can do a Brain Dump as often as you want, but I usually do mine once a week. It has basically become my Weekly Planner Review. You may find that just writing it all down triggers ideas or tasks you had forgotten.
If you ever feel stuck and can't think of everything to include in your list, this classic trigger list can help jog your memory and prompt ideas:
Getting Things Done: Mind Sweep Trigger List
What I do next
The next thing I do is go through daily and weekly pages carefully to see if any items were left unfinished. If so, I write those items down on my Brain Dump. You're left with a list that needs to be processed. You can find inserts that can help with that, but I get a few highlighters and start marking it up.
- Highlight what needs attention immediately.
- If it’s urgent and the priority is NOW, write it on your today list.
- Otherwise, distribute it through your week as needed.
You will find that a lot of the things on your mind are not for now, but you don’t want to forget them. That's where a waiting-on list, or a someday list, or even a Next Actions list would be handy.
Other things that were on your mind might go to a grocery list, a Post-it note for a gift idea on your monthly calendar, or a phone call to someone important on your daily pages, or even a plan of action on a project page.
Over time, this one simple list has become one of the most important pages in my planner. It gives me a place to gather my thoughts, reset when things feel scattered, and move forward with clarity. Sometimes the simplest pages are the ones that serve us best.
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