How to Do a Brain Dump: Technique, Steps and Benefits of Mind Dumping
- Adilla
- May 9
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 16
Are you a victim of your racing thoughts? Whether it is about tasks you left at work, what to plan out for dinner, or even random thoughts that keep bugging your mind. If so, consider doing a bit of brain dumping to get it out of your system.
Taking a few minutes of your day to unload the growing thoughts that are overcrowding your mind is a good way to soothe the stream of overthinking and anxiety.
Table of Contents
Author Bio
What is Brain Dump?
The brain dump is a method where you write down everything that is in your mind, whether on paper or digitally. This is supposed to help you get your thoughts down on paper and free up space in your mind.
There are different types of brain dumps, which are:
beginning-of-the-day brain dump
post-learning brain dump
gratitude brain dump
They are self-explanatory and are easier than you think. Typically, this activity takes only 5 to 10 minutes out of the day, depending on how long you take to unload your thoughts.
What makes this different from journaling is that journaling is more of a personal record that encapsulates any topic or thoughts, with no set timer, as it encourages writing without any limits.
While there are brain dump journal methods, this is when two methods intertwine with each other.
Why Mind Dumps Help with Overthinking, Stress, and Productivity
The Brain Dump method helps in different ways beyond just clearing your mind. If you know about the cognitive load, it explains the limitations of the working memory of how everyone has a small capacity to hold onto thoughts, whether they are heavy or not.
So, here’s how mind-dumping methods can ease your cognitive load and mental space.
Reduce Stresses That Boost Productivity
As weird as the word “brain dump” is, it could help you list down the work that you are worried about. If you’re overwhelmed by a new project or the daunting number of tasks that you must do, this would trap you in a loop of stress as it lingers in your mind.
Take the time to write those tasks down on paper or type them down in your notes. This helps in identifying which intimidating task would take more time to do, giving you a realistic expectation for yourself when planning out your upcoming tasks. Hence, improving your work productivity in a day and reducing your stress.
Eases Overthinking, Leading to Finding Solutions
When everything is written down, whether in a list or spread out in your notes, you can get an idea of what your thoughts are juggling.
Since overthinking comes from your mind being clouded with multiple streams of ruminations, breaking them down in written form could help ease the mental load of jumping from one thought to another.
Once you feel a sense of clarity after brain dumping, looking through what you wrote could help you gain insights and ideas that lead you to overthink. Through it, you can uncover patterns that could lead to solutions to your issues.
When to Do Brain Dumping
While there is no set time when you should brain dump, we encourage doing it whenever you feel overwhelmed. However, if you do wish to make it a habit and better improve your mindset, we suggest choosing a time where you can spare 10 to 20 minutes of your day.
Whether it is during the morning, lunchtime or even the evening before sleep. To better establish this, set a timer or even block your calendar.
Variations of Brain Dump Techniques
Brain dumping isn’t just about listing out your worries and sorting them out. There are other ways to brain dump according to your preference.
Visual or Mind Map Dump
A technique suitable for visually preferred individuals. This can be done both with paper and digitally. The idea of this technique is to visually organise your thoughts with a mind map style.
For example, you can list your thoughts first and then break them down into different mind maps of different topics to organise them into different sections of either priorities or however you would want to categorise them.
Gratitude Brain Dump
For those of you who wish to fill your mind with positivity, list down a set number or time of what you are grateful for. Our recommendation is to list five things you are grateful for once every day to slowly build up a positive mindset.
Digital Brain Dump
This method is for those who would like to keep digital variations of their dump for easy keeping or even explore creative brain dump exercises. This can be done with the Notes app on your phone or by using apps like Notion or Evernote with the templates they provide for brain dumping.
5 Steps To Do the Brain Dump Method
Choose Where You Want to Write
Pick your preferred writing tool. Either in pen and paper (or a dedicated brain dump journal) or a digital note. While writing traditionally is shown to be more therapeutic, a digital medium would be considered easier, as you can move and delete it as you see fit.
Write Freely (Pick What Type of Brain Dump)
Before you decide to write everything down, choose which brain dump type you feel works for you. Or try all of them and see which helps you best. Don’t worry about being grammatically correct! No one’s checking. It’s just you and your thoughts. It can be a list or word clouds scattered around your notes.
Review and Organise
When you’re done, look through what you wrote.
Check which one is a doable work of a higher-priority task; categorise them if there are similar concerns. Making your brain dump into a useful tool in identifying your concerns and prepping before starting on them.
Step 4: Reflect & Adjust
Once you have implemented this brain dump method for at least a week or two, check with yourself whether it has helped or whether certain things can be tweaked to better help you.
As you readjust your method, eventually you will find the perfect way to unload your mind and ease your work.
Step 5: Maintain/Build the Habit
What’s the purpose of adopting a method that benefits you if you don’t establish a routine and turn it into a habit? To better ensure you follow through with this new habit, set a timer on your phone or a reminder to commit at least 10 minutes of your day to unload your thoughts.
If your main concern is your daily work task, and a written list of the task is not enough to ease your worries, our My Work feature in TESSR creative project management software could help you get a quick overview of your priorities!
This tool enables you to effectively manage your allocated duties and keep track of your projects, which helps you stay organised. Having a visual summary of your job helps you plan your day and keeps you from feeling overwhelmed by your workload.
Key Takeaways
Take the time to brain dump and let your mind be free of the shackles of your stress and overthinking.
Writing down your worries and thoughts will help you take a mental load off your mind.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are 'mind dump' and 'brain dump' the same?
Yes, these terms are used interchangeably. If you encounter help books that encourage mind dump exercises, it would be the same as the brain dump technique. If saying 'brain dumping' is a bit much for you, 'mind dumping' is another way to say it.
Will brain dumping help stop my anxiety?
While it may not stop your anxiety, it will help you manage it better. When you have your concerns written down, it can help identify which is making you more anxious or whether it is a collection of thoughts. This can help identify where you should put your priorities.
Are there other alternatives to brain dumping?
There are several other methods if writing is not something you are into. There are visual-based ‘brain dumping’ activities like vision board creation or doodling and sketching, and even collage making.
Author Bio
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, including parodies of animated shows and plots for board games like Dungeons & Dragons. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. One day, she is eager to publish her book. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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