12/3 Think It Thursday Tip: Braindump

Braindump? Yep, braindump. It's very different from a brainstorm. A brainstorm encourages a free flow of new ideas. A braindump promotes the organization of an abundance of thoughts (and sleep - writing your thoughts down will help you sleep at night for sure).

Here's my process in four easy steps.

1. I sit down with a beverage, a blank sheet of paper and a few colors of my favorite writing pens.

2. In the center, I write the title of my braindump.

3. Along the edges, I use action words as headers - words like, "Create, Send, Decorate, Send, Order..." and so on.

4. Then, I take all the tasks swirling in my brain and write them on my paper under the proper headings.

I find this method (which is not entirely my own) to help me clear my mind and be less distracted by the things on my to do list. All of a sudden, I have a roadmap to help me focus on the things I want to complete.

This also helps me to prioritize my tasks. Case in point: I really want to bake my favorite cookies this year, but how much time will I have to bake? Well, if I write down all the types of cookies I want to bake, and I can start by baking my top three favorites and if I get to other cookies on my list, then I'll keep baking.

My Grandma Dee used to say, "Christmas comes at the same time every year. There's no reason for you not to be ready."