Dump Out Your Brain!

A simple process to regain clarity and sanity

I remember that time in my life well. There was so much on my heart and mind that could be done, needed to be done, or should be done in our church that I felt totally overwhelmed. I decided to obtain the help of our Deacons and tackle this giant maze of potential to-do's.

I took a marker and began writing the items on a dry-erase board. When I was finished, the board was filled with potential projects and actions to tackle. We started going through the items individually, deleting some, delaying others, and agreeing to complete some.

When we were finished, the list was much shorter, and my stress was greatly improved.

What worked that night in the board room can work for you wherever you're reading this. What you need to do is to dump out your brain!  That sounds weird, I know. It is often called a "Brain Dump," but I wasn't sure how that would sound as a title!

The process is relatively easy - grab a piece of paper or open up a blank document on your computer and begin writing down everything - things you need to do, buy, accomplish, decide on, and anything else that comes to mind. It should include small things (buy more staples) and big things (update my will). The point of the exercise is to get it all on paper and out of your brain.  If it's been a while, you may need two sheets of paper!

Once you have your brain all dumped out, you are ready to move on to the next step. Go through the list and evaluate each item. Is this something that needs to be done, delegated, deferred, or deleted?

The 4D's: Delete, Delegate, Defer, Do

If an item is no longer valid - delete it. Draw a line through it.

If an item needs to be done but not now, it must be deferred. Highlight all these items.

If an item needs to be done, but you cannot do it or don't want to do it, then it needs to be delegated. Highlight all the delegated items in another color.

If an item needs to be done and done soon, complete any items that can be done in five minutes or less. If an item can be completed this quickly, then do it and get it out of the way!

At this point, you are left with three kinds of items - items to delegate, items that are deferred, and items that need to be done that take longer than five minutes.

Here are the steps to take with those remaining three types of items:

Delegated items - pick out the 3 most important or most pressing items and assign them to someone else. This may mean making an appointment to get your car serviced, asking your wife to accomplish a task, dropping off your taxes with your accountant, or emailing your secretary. Be sure to put any time-specific items on your calendar.

Items that are appointments are straightforward, but what about the other delegated items like an ongoing project or a simple task?  Put a future reminder on your calendar saying, "Check in with (name) about (the item you’ve delegated)." If you use a dated task list app, you can put the reminder there on the appropriate date.

If you have more than 3 items, you'll need to keep the list, set a reminder to revisit it, and continue working down the list until all the items are complete.

Deferred items - Go through these items and assign a deadline to each one for when it needs to be completed. Once you know the deadline, estimate how long it will take to complete the item and determine when to begin the project. Always allow more time than what you think it will take!  Enter the item on your calendar or task list once you’ve settled on the start date.

Items that need to be Done - This list cannot be massive!  If it is extremely long, you will probably need to move more to the deferred or delegated list. Providing that the list is of reasonable length, you need to go through the list and begin ranking the items with letters and numbers. A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, etc. The A's are most important, while the C's are less pressing. Put the top 3 A's on your to-do list immediately and begin tackling them.  When you complete the A's, move on to the B's.

You may have figured out by now that you will want to hang onto this "brain dump" until all the items are complete or entered elsewhere. I suggest a new sheet for each month. You can move unfinished items to the new list and add to it as needed. You might want to designate a notebook for your brain dumps. Personally, I use some note pages in the back of my Full Focus Planner Wellness Planner for this purpose. This list serves me for the quarter and is easy to add to and reference.

With your brain dumped out, you should find yourself a lot less stressed because your mind is not trying to keep up with all of the open loops floating around. This simple exercise will bless you. Try it and see if I’m right.

 “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” - David Allen