Brain Dump Bullet Journal: How-To and Free Printable!
Everything You Need to Know about a Brain Dump
Do you feel like you can’t remember tasks and to dos?
Do you walk into a room to get something and completely forget what it was you meant to grab?
Do you forget appointments or meetings?
Do you find it difficult to remember simple names of things?
Do you want to improve your mental clarity?
You’re not losing your mind…you’re just overtasking it!
For some reason, we think that we are smarter if we try to keep all information in our heads. However, brains don’t work that way and can get easily overloaded with lots of bits of information and ideas.
It doesn’t have to be that way - you can have a clear mind so that you don’t forget all of the thoughts, plans, meetings, and lists that you need to keep organized.
This article will show you how to do that!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure for more information.
It’s called brain dumping.
Why do you need a brain dump?
Let’ say you have 100 water balloons you are taking to a picnic. You can’t drop a single balloon because they are all equally important for a balloon game later that day.
To get them to the picnic, you decide to pick up all 100 balloons and carry them in your arms.
What do you think happens?
Some of the balloons slip from under your arms, some can’t take the weight of the other balloons and they burst. Those balloons cause other balloons to explode, too.
Before you know it, you’ve dropped or burst most of the balloons and you’re left with tiny pieces of rubber that can’t be made back into water balloons.
Those balloons are the same as the thoughts you are trying to stuff in your head and it can’t hold them all!
However, what if you placed all of the balloons into a garbage bag?
Now, all of the balloons are in a safe place. It’s easy to move them to the picnic and access them when it’s time to use them.
In fact, it’s now so much easier to move them, you have an extra hand available for carrying the picnic basket as well as a blanket.
When you arrive at the picnic you leave the balloons in the bag until it’s game time.
Before the game begins, you organize the balloons by color so you can pass out one color to each team.
That’s the same way we will use a brain dump for your thoughts and ideas!
Moving the ideas that are in your brain and putting them on paper will provide a safe place for you to access the information later and organize as needed.
What is a brain dump journal?
A brain dump journal or a bullet journal brain dump page is a place were you can store information in a safe place so it doesn’t get lost.
You’ll use a brain dump to jot down anything and everything on your mind.
Brain dumping or “thought dumping” is a method of getting out all of your thoughts, ideas, meetings, goals, worries, problems, questions,…anything and everything actually. Put it down on paper so it’s not cluttering up your brain.
5 Brain Dump Benefits
#1. Reduces Stress
By getting everything down on paper, it’s now in a safe place where your mind doesn’t have to remember or worry about it.
#2. Creates Mindfulness
A brain dump declutters the brain to help clear your mind past events or future plans so that you can live in the present.
#3. Organizes Your Thoughts
When thoughts and ideas are locked in your head, it’s easy to make sense of it all. A brain dump allows you to see things on paper and then create groupings, see thought processes, and put ideas into action.
#4. Helps You Focus
Since your mind no longer having to be responsible for all of those plans, ideas, and random thoughts your mind is finally able to focus on the task at hand.
#5. Provides Perspective
Things seem so much more complex in our minds. Problems seem bigger and tasks seem more difficult. When you put your thoughts on paper, it allows you gain perspective on a project or problem and help you prioritize your tasks.
Next up, we’ll do a brain dump together! I’ll give you an example by doing my own brain dump so you can see how the process works.
Brain Dump Exercise
Prepare
Set aside 15-30 minutes
Find a quiet and relaxing place
Turn off electronics and the tv
Set a timer
FREE Download - Brain Dump Worksheets Free Printables are at the bottom of this article - designed to work with this tutorial.
Step 1 - Brain Dump
Unload everything you think of and DO NOT EDIT.
You may use one page or ten pages.
Take as much space as you need to get all your thoughts down on paper.
You don’t have to write everything out in detail. You can use bullets and short phrases.
Also do not organize your thoughts at this time. Just get EVERYTHING down on paper. We’ll edit and organize later.
So what should you be writing down?
Everything that is on your mind. Here’s a few examples that are on my mind today.
Health concerns (Write questions for the doctor)
Grocery items needed
Trim and paint my nails
Make new Pinterest graphics
Schedule graphics/posts on Tailwind
Schedule a newsletter
Finish Daily Planner printable
Email Linda re: job search
Dust and vacuum this weekend
Plan July blog posts
Pay for email provider
Buy shower gel
Log appointments in planner for next week
See movie Yesterday (add to bujo Movie Tracker)
Pay car insurance
Create July bujo page spreads
Finish reading current book
Get passport
Write on my bujo gratitude page
Do laundry
Map out schedule for new client
Plan dinners for this week
“Take one day at a time” quote to planner
Call my sister
Pick up photos tomorrow
I need a haircut (schedule appointment)
Check Dad’s electric bill
Fix zipper pocket in Traveler’s Notebook
Those ideas just flowed out of my head. As you can see they are all over the place but if feels REALLY good knowing I got everything down on paper and out of my head.
Once you feel like you’ve gotten everything on paper, move on to the next step.
Step 2 - Organize
Take a look at everything you’ve written down.
As I look over my brain dump, I notice many of my thoughts fall into specific categories: home, health, self care, work, and friends & family. I’m sure you’ll see the same thing with your brain dump.
Here are the categories I came up. Then I placed each of my thoughts under one of those categories.
Home
Grocery items needed
Dust and vacuum this weekend
Buy shower gel
Log appointments in planner for next week
Pay car insurance
Get passport
Do laundry
Plan dinners for this week
Pick up photos tomorrow
Fix zipper pocket in Traveler’s Notebook
Health
Write questions for the doctor
Self Care
Trim and paint my nails
Schedule haircut appointment
See movie Yesterday
Finish reading current book
Write on my bujo gratitude page
“Take one day at a time” quote to planner
Work
Make new Pinterest graphics
Schedule graphics/posts on Tailwind
Schedule a newsletter
Finish Daily Planner printable
Plan July blog posts
Pay for email provider
Create July bujo page spreads
Map out schedule for new client
Friends & Family
Email Linda re: job search
Call my sister
Check Dad’s electric bill
Wow…I had so many thoughts and tasks in my head.
But when I organize them, they fall into five easy-to-digest categories.
What was in my head and felt overwhelming now feels achievable! Let’s move on to step 4.
Step 3 Plan & Take Action
Now it’s time to open your bullet journal or planner and take action on each of them.
That doesn’t mean you need to tackle everything today.
What it does mean is that you can do one of the following:
Add it to today’s to do list
Put it on a to do list for a later date
Schedule appointments and add them to your planner
Assign task due dates
Block out time in your schedule to accomplish task
Batch items that can be done in the same time block (emails, phone calls, etc)
Make grocery/shopping list
Schedule worry time
Schedule self care time
As I mentioned before, you can keep a brain dump journal or create a page in your bullet journal. It can be a blank page or a decorative page.
I’ve rounded up 9 brain dump page ideas and examples to get you inspired.
The first bujo brain dump is Step 2. You’ll notice the brain dump ideas are organized into categories but action items have not yet been assigned.
This page is ready for Step 1 the brain dump. I love how this bujo page is decorated with a map, dotted line, and paper airplane for inspiration.
Reach for the stars! This bullet journal brain dump features clouds decorated with dangling stars as the header…this page is ready for all you can throw at it.
This bullet journal page features a brain dump and much more! It has June and July monthly calendars at the top and then a currently loving section that includes: loving, feeling, dreaming, planning, reading, writing, watching, going, and exploring slots.
A brain dump page doesn’t need to be filled in one day. As you can see from this bullet journalist below, she used several dates throughout the month to focus on brain dumping - it’s and easy and effective way to get your thoughts on paper.
This bullet journal page is ready for you to unload! There’s even inspiring prompts such as ideas, goals, and tasks to help you fill out the page with ease.
A task dump page is waiting for your tasks and assignments. I decorative paint can reminds you it’s time to get stuff done.
A next level brain dump is called mind mapping. As you can see from the image below, this brain dumper colorized the categories and then linked the tasks together based on their relationship to one another.
Brain Dump Free Printable Worksheets
Do you want to reduce stress, create mindfulness, organize your thoughts, focus better, and have clarity and perspective? You can in just a few minutes!
It all starts with a brain dump. These worksheets take you through the 3 step brain dump process: Brain Dump: Brain Dump, Organize, Plan & Take Action.
Get mental clarity and focus for the most productive and creative day possible!
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