Jacquelyn Van Tuyl

TIPS FOR THE

Best Brain Dump

Having a clear mind and a clear
space allows you to think and act with purpose. - Erika Oppenheimer

WHAT IS A
BRAIN DUMP?

glasses-sitting-on-a-book-to-show-someone-has-been-thinking

A brain dump is a way to get out of overwhelm. Entrepreneurs often have so many ideas,
projects, and thoughts that these can easily become distracting. If we can release these
thoughts in an organized fashion, we can prioritize, plan, and get out of overwhelm!

TIPS FOR THE BEST BRAIN DUMP

1. SCHEDULE TIME FOR THE
BRAIN DUMP

(weekly is ideal).

Make sure that this is not a task that you are
doing while multi-tasking or in the middle of
a busy day. You need time to collect all of the
ideas, tasks, projects and chores from your
head and write them on paper so that you
free yourself from remembering everything.

JVSOLUTIONS, LLC

2. NO JUDGMENT ZONE.

This brain dump is yours and yours alone so
write down everything even if it’s something
that you wouldn’t even admit to others.

3. COVER ALL AREAS OF
YOUR LIFE.

This is great for all of your business and
career ideas, but it is also good for other areas
of your life such as family, kids, pets, house,
friends, etc. As you will see on the template,
you can even take your brain dump and then
categorize it by area of life. . . or you can sort
by areas of your business such as systems,
finances, hiring, learning, PR, etc.

4. KEEP ALL COMPLETED
BRAIN DUMPS IN A DRAWER.

It is great to put these ideas “away” so you
are relieved of remembering or even day
dreaming about them. Revisit the completed
brain dump paperwork only when you have
time set aside.

JVSOLUTIONS, LLC

TIPS FOR THE BEST BRAIN DUMP

1. You spent all day jumping from project to project.
2. You feel overwhelmed or stuck.
3. Your desk is covered with stickies of things you need to “remember.”
4. You are getting short tempered with staff or your family.
5. You just learned a new skill or attended a training (write down everything you
remember).
6. You are in a cash crunch but can’t focus on generating revenue.
7. You are playing on the internet rather than doing your work.
8. You don’t know what you should be doing because you have a million great ideas.

JVSOLUTIONS, LLC

PRE-BRAIN DUMP CHEAT SHEET

So that you can remember all the things you have in your head, here are a few
ideas of the types of things you may want to dump (this list is meant to provoke
thought and is not exhaustive):

JVSOLUTIONS, LLC