How to Brain Dump: What Brain Dumps are and How They Work

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Learning how to brain dump is a helpful way of collecting your thoughts & can be an easy way to journal! Let’s dive into what a brain dump is.

What is a Brain Dump

A brain dump is essentially exactly what it says. Dumping out everything that is crowding your mind onto paper or a notes app.

Let’s say you’re in an anxious spiral. You have tons of thoughts circulating your mind and you don’t know how to piece them together or make much sense of them at all. A brain dump would allow you to get everything out and then offer an easy way to help organize all of the thoughts in a way that will help you make sense of them all.

How are Brain Dumps Helpful?

I’ve been brain dumping for a while now and I can whole heartedly say it is helpful when it comes to breaking down the many thoughts crowding your mind and that it is extremely helpful for organizing them.

I find that they are most helpful when my mind is an anxious mess. We’ll dive into how to brain dump in a moment but they truly work t help organize your thoughts in a realistic way while also helping you remember the many things crowding your mind that you would otherwise forget.

Mental Health Benefits of Brain Dumping

I’d like to say that there are many mental health benefits of brain dumping. First of all, it can help lower your stress and anxiety levels. It also can help you focus and increase your productivity levels. Brain dumping can also be great for depression as you’re getting out the negative thoughts circling your mind and able to make sense of them in a productive way.

Now that we have gone over what brain dumping is and it’s benefits, let’s dive into how to brain dump.

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How to Brain Dump

Okay, so brain dumping is INCREDIBLY simple my friend. All you need to do is pick up a pen and paper or open up your notes app and bullet point everything on your mind. I mean EVERYTHING.

It doesn’t have to make any sense at all at first. Simply write out everything clouding your mind. I find that bullet pointing everything helps you with the next step, organizing your thoughts.

After you’ve dumped out all of the things circling your mind, read through the list and try to make sense of them. On another piece of paper or another note, try to categorize the things. Stick work anxieties together, for example.

After organizing them, I want you to take your time coming up with logical solutions to each of the topics. Seriously, take your time here. It doesn’t have to be done all at once but coming up with those solutions will truly help you work through the things you’re struggling with.

But ultimately what helps the most is the brain dumping itself!

What You Need to Brain Dump

You truly don’t need much. Like I mentioned above, you can use a pen and paper/journal or a notes/journal app in your phone. You can go above and beyond and get some fun pens and a cute journal, but you really don’t need those things. The most important thing here is getting your thoughts out in a productive way.

Helpful Brain Dumping Tips

don’t be afraid to write everything down. I mean everything. This is for you and only you.
do it once a week, or even a few times a week, to keep on top of your worries.
give yourself a peaceful place to brain dump. Or at least try to.
less is more. Don’t put too much thought into it. Just blurt out everything on your mind

I hope this post on how to brain dump gave you some good ideas to get started on your own version of brain dumping!

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