How to Declutter Your
Brain and Get Organized
With access to different information platforms like Google,
Facebook, News channels, families and even your own perspectives walking down
the street, your mind becomes cluttered. Your brain is busier than ever before
as an information-processing system.
As you sit down to work in front of your computer, you may find
yourself too overwhelmed to focus. Your head is stuck and you are mentally
paralyzed.
An office worker could be trying to finish his project but gets
distracted by customer emails. A mom of two kids could be wondering how she
would ever be able to meet her deadline. An entrepreneur could be battling his
fears of not doing good enough and thinking about getting a new job.
The
Sequel of a Cluttered Brain
What
happens all the time is that you don’t give your brain one thing to focus on.
Your brain is trying to focus on too many things at once and you end up getting
stuck.
According to Psychology Today,
“Clutter
bombards our minds with excessive stimuli, causing our senses to work overtime
on stimuli that aren’t necessary or important.”
When you are not giving yourself a place to focus, your mind
chooses to focus on the fears and negative emotions. This makes you end up
losing time and money.
How to
Declutter Your Brain — Utilizing a Braindump
Decluttering
your brain starts with a braindump. It can last as quick as ten minutes.
According to Tech Target,
“A
brain dump is a complete transfer of accessible knowledge about a particular
subject from your brain to some other storage medium, such as paper or your
computer’s hard drive.”
Braindumps are the best way to take everything going on in your
head out onto paper. This can get yourself out of a state of overwhelm and
confusion, and turn your mental paralysis into action.
By doing an effective braindump, you release all of the information your brain
tries to store and allows you to decide what is important.
10
Minutes of Braindump Every Day
Each night when you are done for the day, do a braindump
exercise. Use this information to build out your to do list for the next day.
This also frees up your mind to focus on family and even sleep.
You may find that when you get started with a braindump, you
have a hard time writing down what is in your mind. At other times you may mass
distribute the words in your head onto paper at rapid speed. Whichever the
case, grab a pen and paper and set the timer for ten minutes.
Whatever comes to your mind, write it down. Do
not edit as you write or worry about grammar. By simply writing, you transfer
all of that information and later you will read this information and store it
as needed.
Write for ten minutes straight, if you cannot think of
anything to write, write “I have nothing to write”. Doing this keeps your pen
to paper and opens up the creative flow.
Categorize
Your Braindump
Jotting everything down on paper and putting items into your
calendar is the goal. It starts with looking at your braindump and identifying
the themes.
- Are
there projects / tasks on the paper?
- Which
items are new ideas?
- Which
items are work related, family related, or hobby related?
Create different categories and begin organizing each of the
items on your braindump. Include a miscellaneous section for the random
thoughts that you have.
When you start to organize your braindump, you can see where
your mind is focused and possibly where you need to spend more time. An
effective braindump will allow you to focus on what matters. What you write
down may not be relevant right now but you may need it at a future date.
Turn
Ideas into a To-Do List
hen you do your braindumps at night, you are able to create your
to do list for the next day and set yourself up for success. Instead of showing
up to work the next morning to get organized, you are ready to go and can jump
right in.
While building your to-do list, you can either defer tasks to a
later date or delegate them out.
Take a look at your calendar and start carving in the time.
Identify the tasks that need to be done the next day or a few days later,
focusing in on two to three major tasks a day. You can prioritize the tasks
based on their importance and urgency.
When braindumping becomes a part of your life, you will notice
that you’re less overwhelmed and have more time to focus on tasks at hand. You
will see a boost in your productivity and the quality of work.
The
Less Clutter, the Sharper Your Brain
Braindumps
are a great way to declutter your brain, from negative emotions to the tasks
you work on each day. At the end of your day, conduct a braindump for ten
minutes. Give yourself enough time after the braindump to take a look at the
tasks on your list.
Identify the tasks that have a high priority and cannot be
delegated or deferred, and begin to place the high priority tasks into your
calendar.
By focusing on the tasks each day, you know what you are working
on and what your next step is. You will save a lot of time and energy by
spending it on what matters.
RebeccaLynn Bologna
http://www.lifehack.org/620550/how-to-declutter-your-brain-and-get-organized?ck_subscriber_id=168781672
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