Holiday Rally Day #19: Brain Dump Journaling

Another Saturday, another style of journaling!

We’ve talked a little bit about using Morning Pages and List Journaling to brain dump, but today’s type of journaling is a more organized and specific way to brain dump.

You can use this method for to-do lists, but also studying for tests, learning a new skill or organizing tasks.

Again, getting all your thoughts down on paper can create space in your brain so that you can focus and achieve more clarity. Once you have space in your brain you will be able see that your tasks are more manageable when they are written down on one piece of paper. Then, the ugly stress melts away!

If you have trouble sleeping, this is an excellent activity to incorporate into your bedtime ritual.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Write down everything that’s crowding your brain. Get it all out on paper.

Step 2: Organize your to-dos and tasks by category. I often use Home, Work, Kids, Menu and Projects for my categories. You could include community, hobbies, self care, vacations, goals, etc. You might take a look at your brain dump first and then decide on categories.

Step 3: Take a separate piece of paper and create boxes for each category. Then move your task items into the category it belongs in. You could use different colors for each color or even categorize by weekday.

Since the Big Day is getting closer by the minute, you could even do a Holiday-Specific Brain Dump with categories like Gifts, Food, Games, Activities, Reservations to Make, etc.

I hope you try this type of journaling out this weekend or even this week.