The Power of the Regular Brain-Dump

As someone who has struggled with anxiety and feeling overwhelmed, I have found that one of the most effective ways to calm my nerves and center myself is through a brain dump.

For those unfamiliar, a brain dump is simply the act of getting all of your unstructured, unorganized thoughts onto paper through free-writing. It’s not about creating a finished product, but rather about getting everything out of your head and onto paper.

I find that when I’m feeling anxious or tense, I have a million different thoughts racing through my mind. Some of these thoughts are fully formed, but many times they are just emotions that need to be processed, plans that are still being developed, or unconnected ideas that are clouding my judgment.

The goal of a brain dump is to free up your mental bandwidth by getting all of these thoughts out of your head and onto paper. And the best part is, you don’t even have to worry about what you wrote afterward. If there’s something you want to act on, you can save it in a journal or add it to your to-do list. But if not, you can simply let it go and move on.

But you don’t have to wait for a crisis to do a brain dump. Regular brain dumps can serve as a form of mindfulness, similar to journaling or meditation.

So next time you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out, try doing a brain dump. You might be surprised at how much better you feel.

—MXZ+