Do you have difficulty winding down at night or difficulty going to sleep?
I did. I was tossing and turning all night long because my brain just wouldn’t stop thinking. I kept trying to repress it because, well, the bed is warm and cozy. I didn’t want to have to get up and make myself awake or face the dreaded coldness that existed outside of my covers.
I learned though, after a while, that the brain dump was going to be the fastest way to get to sleep.
Is it a miracle cure for restless nights? Of course not, but I do find that having less in my brain taking up space and well causing infinite clutter wasn’t that great.
So how do you brain dump?
You just start creating a list. It’s literally a list of everything going on in your brain at the simplest form. I like to do it by just free writing everything that comes to me. I sit for a few minutes after I think I’m done just to make sure nothing else pops up for me. It’s frequent that there is some little idea that is in the back of mind and cannot come to the forefront until all the other ideas are out.
After that, I don’t really worry about prioritizing everything on the list.
Everything on the list does NOT need to be done. You need to evaluate the list with your values, mission, and 90-day goals. You should cross off the things that don’t align with those things [unless it’s something totally necessary like scheduling a doctor’s appointment]. Then you should prioritize what’s left.
Once it has been prioritized, it can either be done as a 1 off thing or it can be added to your backlog. The things you add to your backlog will then influence your current backlog by changing its prioritization. You will look at this with your family when you determine what is going on in your next sprint.
This allows you to get much-needed rest and for you and your family to prioritize everyone’s needs.
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