How One App Changed My Life: The Cure To Mental Overload

Summary

The video discusses how the speaker struggled with overwhelm, stress, and lack of focus while pursuing both a corporate career and entrepreneurial goals. She shares how discovering 'brain dumping' - the simple act of writing down all your thoughts to clear your mind - transformed her ability to organize her life. She explains the science behind why brain dumping is so powerful for managing information overload and details different brain dump methods from casual to committed relationships. She provides practical steps for readers to implement their own brain dump system to reduce stress, maximize productivity, and gain mental clarity.

Takeaways

• 😱 Our brains get overwhelmed trying to juggle endless influxes of information and tasks
• 🧠 Writing thoughts down in a 'brain dump' helps declutter our minds and reduce stress
• 📝 Casual brain dumping provides short-term clarity. A system brings long-term benefits
• 🗒️ Capture spaces should have low barriers to recording thoughts. Use whatever's convenient
• 📋 Create a master to-do list to store all actionable tasks in one place
• 📚 Reference lists hold non-actionable ideas to revisit later (books, places, gift ideas etc)
• 🗃️ Databases in Notion let you organize reference lists by tags and other properties
• ⏰ Make brain dumping a daily habit through cues and rewards to reap the mental clarity benefits
• 😌 Offloading thoughts relieves mental overload so you can focus on the present moment
• 🙌 Implementing a system leads to feeling organized, stressed less and in control

Q & A

What was the main issue the speaker faced while pursuing a corporate career and building her own business?

The main issue was that her brain would not turn off - she lived in constant chaos, overwhelmed by the constant influx of information and tasks. She was so stressed that she would forget tasks or assignments, and felt like she had too many things to juggle that she couldn't keep up with.

How did the book 'Getting Things Done' by David Allen help the speaker?

The book showed the speaker that the overwhelm, mental fatigue, stress and anxiety she felt was normal, but it didn't have to be that way. It taught her that all she needed was a way to organize her thoughts and prioritize what mattered most.

What are the two main benefits of brain dumping?

The two main benefits are: 1) It's the simplest productivity booster, helping to maximize focus, increase brain power, eliminate distractions, prevent forgetting important things, and save time searching for information. 2) It reduces subconscious stress by allowing you to plan tasks so you know they'll get done rather than constantly worrying about them.

What are some key things to keep in mind when doing a casual brain dump?

Key things to remember are: 1) Writing things down does not mean you have to take action on them right away 2) Allow yourself to write down anything without judgement 3) You do not have to look at the list again or take action on it if you don't want to - the key purpose is to unload your thoughts and regain focus.

What are the four steps outlined to create a brain dumping system?

The four steps are: 1) Decide on your capture space (where you'll put your brain dumps) 2) Create a place to store your tasks/to-do list 3) Create pages to store non-actionable references 4) Make brain dumping and organizing a habit by doing it frequently.

What reference list ideas were provided in the transcript?

Some ideas given for reference lists were: to buy list, to cook list, to read list, to watch list, waiting on list, present ideas list, places to visit list, someday maybe list for future ideas, and more.

What strategies were suggested to turn brain dumping into a habit?

Strategies included: Setting hourly alarms as reminders initially, doing it during a weekly reset day, tying it to an existing habit like commuting, making it enjoyable by putting on music, doing it with friends, setting up a weekly 'date' with yourself for organizing.

What results did the speaker achieve from implementing a brain dump system?

The speaker no longer felt constant overwhelmed or that she was barely keeping her head above water. She eliminated the background noise and subconscious stress. Her life finally felt organized and she gained mental clarity.

What tools can be used for capturing brain dumps?

The transcript mentioned using a notebook and pen, phone notes app, Notion, text message threads to yourself as options for capturing dumps. The key is choosing something with almost no barrier to recording your thoughts.

What is the purpose of capturing non-actionable references in brain dumps?

Capturing non-actionable ideas, recommendations, etc. saves mental energy because you have somewhere to store inspiration. It also saves time searching for information or ideas again in the future since you have a reference list to check.

Outlines

00:00

🤯 How taking notes in my phone cured my overwhelmed brain

The author struggled with overwhelming thoughts and stress trying to balance personal goals and her work life. She came across the productivity book 'Getting Things Done' which introduces 'mind sweeping' to capture thoughts and externalize mental noise. This brain dumping brings clarity, focus, and control by organizing thoughts before they overwhelm you.

05:01

😅 The science and benefits of brain dumping

Brain dumping offloads thoughts onto a device, freeing up mental capacity. With today's information overload, dumping thoughts reduces distraction and stress. It eliminates constant background anxiety, boosts focus, prevents forgetting important things, and maximizes productivity.

10:02

📝 How to start brain dumping for beginners

Casual brain dumping writes thoughts down without pressure to act on them. It clears the mind short-term. For a long-term solution, committed brain dumping uses systems to capture, organize and reference thoughts and tasks. The key is easy access, single task list, and habit.

15:04

😊 Try brain dumping yourself this week!

Decide whether to start casual or committed brain dumping. Casually dump thoughts for 5-10 minutes. If committed, choose a capture space, task list, and reference lists. Implement 2-3 strategies to turn dumping and organizing into a habit. Appreciate your support!

Keywords

💡brain dumping

Brain dumping refers to the process of writing down all your thoughts, ideas, tasks, etc. to externalize the noise in your head. As described in the video, it helps calm your mind, reduce stress, and regain a sense of control. The script provides examples of casual vs committed brain dumping relationships.

💡information overload

Information overload is when the amount of information consumed exceeds what our brains can effectively process, leading to distraction, stress, and mental overload. The script explains how we consume immense amounts of information daily, contributing to this overload.

💡productivity

Productivity refers to how efficiently and effectively a person works. The video positions brain dumping as an essential productivity booster that can maximize focus, memory, and mental clarity while saving time.

💡overwhelm

Overwhelm refers to feeling unable to cope with too many things, being extremely busy, stressed, anxious, etc. The creator describes being in a constant state of overwhelm, chaos, and mental overload before implementing brain dumping.

💡focus

Focus refers to one's ability to concentrate on the task at hand without distraction. Brain dumping is said to help regain focus in work sessions by clearing the noise and extra pieces in your mind.

💡stress

Stress refers to the state of mental tension resulting from demanding circumstances. Brain dumping alleviates subconscious stress from the mental buildup of unfinished tasks, thoughts, ideas that clutter your psyche.

💡mental clarity

Mental clarity refers to the ability to think clearly and logically without confusion or distraction. The video positions brain dumping as critical for boosting mental clarity and organizing thoughts/life.

💡habit

Forming a habit out of brain dumping/organizing is key so it becomes an ever-present partner integrated into your life, done frequently without resistance.

💡knowledge workers

Knowledge workers refers to professionals who think for a living - processing and applying information. The script notes brain dumping is especially powerful for knowledge workers facing extreme distraction.

💡attention economy

This broadly refers to the battle around getting & retaining consumer attention with massive info. It's relevant context for why our brains overloaded.

Highlights

I had no idea what I wanted so I decided to pursue both business and corporate career options

I lived in constant chaos, overwhelmed by information and tasks, constantly forgetting things

The book Getting Things Done showed me my overwhelm was normal but didn't have to be

Brain dumping takes thoughts out of your head to reduce stress and help focus

Planning reduces subconscious stress by regaining control and knowing things will get done

Brain dumping boosts productivity, focus, memory and reduces distractions

Casual brain dumping provides a quick, convenient way to calm your mind

Committed brain dumping creates an ongoing system to capture thoughts and tasks

Choose a brain dump tool with little resistance to access for easy capturing

Create a master to-do list to consolidate tasks from calendar, notes, etc

Reference lists hold non-actionable ideas, recommendations, waiting items, etc

Make brain dumping a daily habit to reap the rewards of organization and clarity

This system reduced my overwhelmed feeling and background stress

It's an essential skill for managing information overload in modern life

Implement strategies to make brain dumping an ongoing habit

Transcripts

18 months ago I created one page on one

app that every single one of you

probably have on your phone right now

the notes up and my life has never been

the same I know what you're thinking

yeah okay the notes up changed your life

I'm sure it did but it genuinely did

here's how in 2022 I decided it was time

to get serious about my future the issue

was I had no idea what I wanted I was

caught between two completely different

Visions one of building my own business

bus and one of building a successful

career in the corporate world so I

decided to pursue both to keep both

options open I went to the networking

events I made sure to keep up my grades

at Uni and I started my first corporate

job at the same time I started posting

on social media reading a bunch of

different business books and trying a

whole heap of different side hustles it

was going great I was doing both exactly

like I wanted but I had one issue my

brain would not turn off even when I was

in bed exhausted I I lived in constant

chaos so overwhelmed by the constant

influx of information and tasks that I

could never keep up with I was so

stressed that I would forget about a

work task or a uni assignment I was

constantly replaying conversations to

make sure I wouldn't forget anything it

felt like I had so many balls up in the

air that I was trying to juggle and I

just could not keep up with them all so

it became a repeated pattern my alarm

would jump me awake at 6:00 a.m. my

brain immediately bombarded me with

everything I had to do that day and

everything I hadn't done the day before

I'd try to meditate and just give up

when even that wouldn't calm my mind and

instead I'd sit down at my desk to dive

into the first task that came to mind

realizing an hour later that I'd

completely forgotten about the work

report that was due later that day as I

said complete chaos when I wasn't

working I was consumed by thoughts about

how I should be working and when I was

working I couldn't focus enough to

actually get anything done this went on

for months I felt so stuck I was working

so hard I wanted to be successful so so

badly I wanted to prove Society wrong to

show the world to show myself that I

could balance my personal goals and my

work life but my brain was constantly on

overdrive and I just knew that I could

not keep living in this state now during

this time I came across the book getting

things done by David Allen turns out

it's a productivity cult classic and

listening to this book is what finally

showed me the overwhelm the mental

fatigue the Stress and Anxiety it was

all normal but it didn't have to be all

I needed to boost my mental Clarity and

productivity and actually be able to

prioritize What mattered most was a way

to organize my thoughts and organizing

my thoughts started with what Alan

called a mind sweep what most people

know as a brain dump the best way that I

can describe a brain dump is taking

everything in your head all the thoughts

ideas tasks recommendations and

transferring it outside your head a

simple way to externalize all the noise

you're telling me that writing your

thoughts down on your phone cured your

stress brain fog and overload okay if

you're doubtful I get it I was too but

here's the science behind why brain

dumping carries so much power especially

for knowledge workers and especially

with today's distraction epidemic every

day we consume 74 GB of information this

is the same amount that an extremely

intelligent person consumed in an entire

lifetime 500 years ago combine this with

our 70,000 daily thoughts and the

buildup of all of these over the past

days weeks months even years and it's

easy to see why we feel like we're

constantly overloaded now information is

100% necessary to create good work and

live a meaningful life but not at the

rate that we are currently experiencing

it this is what happens when we are

exposed to information consuming more

information is initially related to

better decisions and better performance

this is until we reach a Tipping Point

the point of information overload which

yes is actually a thing at this point

the amount of information we consume

exceeds the amount that our brain can

handle instead we go into a state of

distraction stress and as the name

suggests mental overload our head is too

full to take anything else in and when

we try and do other tasks all we can

hear is the background hum of stress and

the little hits of anxiety it gives us

the feeling that there's something

constantly pushing down on us but we

can't quite work out what so the point

of brain dumping isn't really to action

everything in your head it's to work out

what's in your head get that out and

plan to action it to know that you will

action it because planning is what

reduces the subconscious stress you go

from knowing that you have a million

things to do but not knowing what they

are or when they will get done to

gaining back a sense of control because

you know what you have to do you've

planned to get it done and you know that

it's going to be completed the second

reason brain dumping is so powerful is

because it's the simplest productivity

booster if I told you there was one

thing you could do to get better sleep

maximize your focus increase your brain

power eliminate half your distractions

never forget anything important and save

you hours of time searching for those

recommendations or that present that

your dad said that he wanted 2 months

ago that you just can't remember how

much would you give for that well brain

dumping gives you all of it for free it

takes back the small mental pieces

allocated to remembering an idea or task

and offloads them to a device that can

remember it without a second thought

it's like taking a computer up with 100

apps and 100 tabs open and shutting

everything down except the ones that you

need right now the more mental pieces we

take back or the more tabs that we shut

down the faster our mind runs the more

organized our mind feels and the better

our productivity Our Lives become I

spent hours of my life searching for the

best productivity tools hacks and tips

turns out there was a solution right in

front of my eyes that worked 10 times

better than any of these so let's get

into how you can actually start brain

dumping

there's two ways that you can use brain

dumping the first is what I call a

casual relationship I can't speak from

experience but casual relationships

typically have very little commitment

you use them when you need they relieve

some stress and anxiety and there's no

real system or structure to them the

same thing applies with casual brain

dumping they are perfect for when you

need a quick convenient way to calm your

mind to get everything out of your head

so you can focus on what's right in

front of you this is how my relationship

sh with brain dumping started it's

extremely simple grab a notebook and pen

or your notes app then set a timer for 5

to 10 minutes third remind yourself that

writing things down does not mean you

have to action them right now fourth

allow yourself to write down anything

and everything on your mind without

judgment once you've got it all down put

your list aside take a quick 2-minute

reset and then start your work you can

then come back to your list later to

action it if you want to now the third

step to this reminds in yourself that

you don't have to action it right now is

extremely important missing this is what

gets in the way of brain dumping for so

many people when I first started brain

dumping I had so much resistance to it

it almost made me feel more stressed

because in my mind writing something

down meant acknowledging it and

acknowledging it meant that I had to

action it it was easier to operate on a

basis of ignore it until I can't ignore

it anymore than to face the reality of

everything I had to do if you have the

same train of thought this is your

permission slip you do not have to

action anything that you write down you

do not have to look at that list again

you can throw it out if you really want

to your casual relationship can just be

a one night stand is this the ideal

option not really but it's a really good

starting point it's one step up from not

brain dumping at all or Worse letting

your brain dump stress you out this

casual brain dumping will leave you with

better focus and Clarity less stress and

mental noise and an easy way to get a

bigger perspective of all your thoughts

and feelings so if you want a convenient

low commitment stress outlet that

temporarily clears your mind then a

casual relationship is for you

personally I continued in my casual

relationship for a couple of months but

I soon found an issue this relationship

was a short-term fix not a long-term

solution to my overwhelmed mind yes my

work sessions became more focused but I

was still waking up in the morning with

that massive weight immediately pressing

on my chest of everything that was in my

mind I still felt like I was tossing and

turning thinking all night instead of

actually sleeping so I decided that it

was time to turn my brain dumping into a

committed relationship it takes

traditional brain dumps and turns them

into a system that leaves you with a

place to capture all of your thoughts

ideas recommendations and tasks it gives

you a list of tasks that you have to

action either now or in the future and a

place to reference everything that you

can't action so things like book

recommendations present ideas creative

IDE ideas or articles we're no longer

making a list that keeps getting longer

and longer and more overwhelming instead

we're creating a bigger system that's

given inputs our brain dumps and leaves

them organized and actioned this is how

I have permanently reduced my

information overloads The Continuous

presence of background Stress and

Anxiety and the feeling like everything

in my life is in a million different

places and I can never be present in the

moment I honestly cannot live without

this system now and so I want to share

with you how you can create your own

from scratch step one is to decide on

your capture space whatever tool you use

to house your brain dumps it must have

almost no resistance to access it has to

be easy the first brain dump page I

created was in notion it made sense I

organized my life there so I may as well

put my brain dumps straight into that

system but as much as I loved notion my

brain dumps just did not work in there

so I switched to the notes app notion

required internet the notes app didn't

notion took 5 to 10 seconds seconds to

load and the notes app took two notion

had no easy search function but the

notes app did this is how the notes app

changed my life and with Apple's device

syc I can move this across to my laptop

automatically as well so think about the

easiest place to capture your ideas it

could be the notes app it could be

notion it could be sending a text

message thread to yourself or if you're

really old school it could just be a

pocket notebook choose one and stick

with it the place isn't important as

long as you use it step two is to create

a place to keep your tasks you likely

have a method of keeping track of your

tasks right now whether that's a

physical to-do list or your calendar or

an online system but if you're anything

like 2022 me you're probably operating

this by keeping everything in your head

and then pulling the task from your head

as you plan each day what we want to do

is to create one master to-do list that

houses all of these tasks for us a list

that again you can pull from when you

plan your day but that's no longer

sitting in your head

this could be as simple as creating a

separate page in your notes app that you

just move all of these tasks into I

personally use a Master to-do list on

notion because I love the categorization

that it gives me this to-do list means

that you can put all of your tasks in

one place and have a single source for

everything that you have to do at any

one point in your life it means that you

can categorize and sort your tasks based

on due date context priority and more

and it also lets you include files and

other notes under each test to keep it

all in one place if you want to use

notion then I've created a free course

that you can use to get started I'll put

the link in the description below step

three is to create a place to keep your

references so we have a place for all of

our actionable tasks but what about the

things that you can't action ideas

things to buy places to visit

recommendations things you're waiting on

others for this is where the reference

list comes in again if you're using

notes simply create a separate notes

page for each reference reference list

if you're using notion create a separate

notion page for each reference list you

can keep this extremely simple by just

writing everything down in dot points

under each page or you could go a step

further by putting everything into a

database under each list and I'm going

to show you just how far you can take

this but don't feel like you need to do

this especially first off so I keep book

recommendations in my to read reference

page under a database I can categorize

the book based on type genre status and

rating I've also set up a template

within each database so that I can write

notes on the books as I read them doing

this gives me one place to reference

whenever I want to know anything about

books that I've already read or books

that I want to read in the future what I

would suggest for most people is just to

start simple create a page for each

reference use dot points and when you

have spare time and if you want to then

you can play around with some more

complex options here's some inspiration

you can use to get you started these are

things that I've done for myself and for

some of my clients to buy to cook to

read to watch waiting on present ideas

places to visit to drink and someday

maybe lists for things you might like to

do in the future this saves you not only

mental energy but also an incredible

amount of time going and searching for

information and inspiration step four

and the most important step is to turn

brain dumping and organizing into a

habit this is what really brings the

system to life now if you think about a

committed relationship then you are

talking to your partner every day

probably multiple times a day you'll see

them at least once a week and most of

the time you enjoy talking to them this

is what we want to emulate with our

brain dumping we want it to be an

everpresent partner in our life so

create the habit of writing things in

your brain dump list every time you get

the opportunity you could even set an

hourly alarm for the first few days to

help you get into the Habit then create

the habit of organizing and sorting your

list most of the time I'll do this twice

a week normally once on my Sunday reset

and the other one will be during the

week maybe on the train on the way home

from work like any good habit it's not

necessarily going to be easy at first

you'll probably forget you'll feel

resistance it might feel annoying but

once you start reaping the rewards the

mental Clarity the stress reduction the

sense that your life is finally

organized you will not want to stop so

start by making it something that you

look forward to put on some music whilst

you do it connect with friends and do it

together even do a weekly coffee date

with yourself and make that your time

for organizing everything like any habit

the key to consistency is making it

something you enjoy I genuinely can not

explain how much this has changed my

life I no longer feel constant

overwhelmed I no longer feel like I'm

barely keeping my head above water I no

longer have the constant hum of

background noise and subconscious stress

this isn't something that we were taught

in school but in our society it is

honestly an essential skill so I hope

this gave you the master class that

school never did and if you are ready to

put it into action then here are your

action steps first decide whether to

enter a casual relationship to try it

out first or whether you're ready to go

straight into a committed relationship

second if you chose casual then do a few

brain dumps throughout this week using

the six steps that we went through in

the Casual brain dumping section and

third if you chose commit Ed decide on

one capture space set it up and make it

as easy as possible to use then create a

place to keep your task remember you can

take the free notion course if you want

to get started with notion otherwise

feel free to use your notes app or just

a basic version of whatever you're using

right now make sure you also have a

place to keep your reference list you

could do this as one big list or lots of

separate ones and finally Implement two

to three strategies that will help you

to turn brain dumping and organ

organizing into an ongoing habit if you

got this far thank you I appreciate your

support endlessly please like this video

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