How Daily Brain Dumping Helps to Keep a Clear Mind
All you need is 10 minutes, a pen, and a piece of paper.
*At the end of this article, I made a three-minute brain-dump demonstration in real-time.
So, here is what you’ll do: Set a timer for ten minutes and then “dump away” and declutter your mind —and by that I mean: simply start to write. If all you’re thinking during these ten minutes is “I don’t know what to write. I don’t know what to write.”, then obviously write that down. But I am very certain that some other thoughts will cross your mind. Just get them out there and on the paper.
Leave no thinking gaps in between.
Write without stopping, your hands should be moving all the time. Write down whatever deep shit or bullshit comes to your mind. You’ll see that some days the outcome of your brain dump will be a wild mix of random, irrelevant thoughts, other days it will be a collection of to-do’s, some days it will be a whole bunch of worries, and other days it will be a journal entry-like creation about exciting things you’re looking forward to and so on.
Don’t worry about your handwriting.
This piece of paper is not really made to be read afterward. It’s meant to go to the bin, leaving you with a clearer mind with more space for positive thoughts. So, you can be brutally honest and ridiculously silly, too.
Brain dumping has lots of proven benefits, like:
- it helps you remember things that are important
- it helps you clear up headspace
- it helps you become aware of unhelpful thought patterns
- it helps you improve your focus and concentration
- it increases your self-awareness of thoughts and feelings
- it significantly decreases your stress levels
- it helps you address and solve problems
And now, just to show you what brain dumping might look like, I will do a three-minute demonstration right now and write down whatever crosses my mind:
I don’t know yet what to cook for dinner. Oh, well, forgot I have leftovers from yesterday. This little dance session right before I started this article felt really good and it actually helped to ease my period cramps. Maybe I could also write about that one day. Let’s see. I don’t know what to write now, because I already did the brain dumping exercise for 10 minutes today haha. Not much to dump anymore. What if I dump to much? No, that’s not possible. Funny thought though. Well, do I really wanna publish this? It’s like opening the curtains to the inner freak show of my mind. But I don’t mind. Word play. It’s supposed to be an authentic demonstration. Oh shit and I just realized that I didn’t check the time. Are the three minutes over already? Guess not. But I should close the window again, it’s getting cold. And holy shit, my parents told me today that they already had snow. It’s not that crazy though, I mean it’s end of November. Ah, I need toilet paper. Interesting how my thoughts jump from snow to toilet paper. Maybe because it’s both white? Anyway, have to remember to write that on my shopping list later. And before I leave to Cologne I need to wash my clothes. “… the voice of life. I am that I am that I am love, unstoppable love.” I really love this song that’s playing right now. Fuck, it’s cold. I close that window now.
So, are you ready to implement this easy technique into your daily routine?
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