Here’s the scenario: On the drive home from work, I figure out exactly what I’m doing when I get home. Cook dinner, get the kid to do his homework, get me to do mine, work on that project I keep putting off due to time/energy/etc…
Then I get home.
I start getting a little overwhelmed after one hour and dinner isn’t on the table. By 10:30, maybe I’m done with my homework. And that project? Well, it’s going to wait another day.
I felt like I was doing all I could just to survive.
Then, I discovered the brain dump.
I was suddenly getting way more accomplished, even though the system is nothing more than a glorified to-do list.
For those of you that can’t seem to get anything done simply because you have too much to do, this is for you.
The Process
At the same time every day (I like early morning), sit down and write every “to do” that comes to your mind. Write down the things you absolutely need to do, things you’d like to do, things you should do but there’s no rush… you get the picture. The point here is to write until you can’t write any more.
Once you’ve exhausted your list, go though and estimate, in minutes, how long it will take to do each task. Be realistic. If anything, overestimate how long it will take, just to compensate for any unforeseen interruptions you may have.
On the right side of the page, make a rough outline of your “hours of operation-” your hours you plan to work on your list. Mine are 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Start filling in your schedule from there. Find the tasks you absolutely need to get done, and put them under the hour you plan on doing it.
Sometimes, you’ll be able to fit everything in. Other times, you won’t. Just write those things on tomorrow’s brain dump.
I dare you to try it. I’ve increased my productivity way more than I’d like to admit. It’s scary when you realize how much you can get done in a day.
Example + Gift
Here’s an example of what a Sunday brain dump looks like for me. You can download a free PDF of this exercise here.
alysha creates. 