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Brain Dumping
This week someone told me they did a "brain dump" a term that I had not previously heard of.
A brain dump is similar but different to a journal. It is a simple technique to help you declutter your mind and thoughts - writing down all the thoughts you are having, in no particular order in a journal and then using that information to help you organize your time and efforts. Meaning you usually are much more productive and calmer.
I like this explanation:
A brain dump is simply the act of dumping all the contents of your mind onto paper as one might dump the contents of a purse onto a table. You are spilling out stressors, your nagging thoughts, your pesky annoyances, jobs you need to do, goals you have. Simply open up a valve in your mind and let all those thoughts flow out of your hand and onto some paper. Write until you feel like the pressure inside of you is lessened and you can take a deep breath. Then you will have achieved a brain dump.
A brain dump gives you the raw data for processing into meaningful action.
When I understood the premise of brain dumping it reminded me of something that a friend does at the beginning of each year - writing down 100 things they might like to achieve that year. These included changes in her personal life, things to do round home, places she would like to go. It was something I was inspired to do before Mr Darcy became unwell. My friend who had been doing it for years said at the time of our conversation the best she achieved was 76. I don't know that I ever got passed 50 but finding one of these lists after a couple of years was interesting. I was able to cross off a number of things as being done, but also saw there were many things that we had not done that no longer held interest.
Brain dumps can be a once-in-a-while thing, or they can be a regularly scheduled, and very helpful, part of your weekly or monthly task management.
In the following two posts I will give a basic step by step guide as to the basics of what brain dumping. What I have written is only skimming the surface of what is another tool when it comes to looking after ourselves and if it appeals, you may want to give it a try, I plan on doing so.
As always I will remind you that whilst self help can be beneficial that sometimes the guidance of a therapist/ counselor can be beneficial and/or necessary.
In these first few posts I have quoted from these sources:
https://waylos.com/how-to-brain-dump/
https://littlecoffeefox.com/brain-dump/#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20Brain%20Dump,nagging%20thoughts%2C%20your%20pesky%20annoyances.
https://diaryofajournalplanner.com/brain-dump/