Brain Dump
Back to the GAME PAGE
Don’t think, Just do!
Pick one or do both!
- Send an email to yourself listing all of the tasks you are responsible for the week.
- Review your current task list and make sure the right things are on it.
GUIDE VIDEO: Join me as we work on this Game Challenge together.
Simple Setup for this Game Challenge
Choose a task list app
- Apple Reminders
- Google Tasks
- Outlook Tasks
Add your Tasks and set the due date for today
- Look at your calendar for preparation tasks
- Check your email for task requests
- Look at your sticky notes and inbox for task reminders
- Add your random thoughts about things you need to do
Do a NOW – NOT NOW Evaluation of your list
- Make notes about what you need to complete each task.
- Choose your NOW tasks and for your NOT NOW tasks change the due date sometime in the future. (If the tasks require preparation chose a date that you want to be reminded about the task and not the date it is actually due.)
Join the Lux Lab and we can work on this together with friends.
When you join the Lux Lab you get to work on your current digital office backend issues while having tech support and group energy available for troubleshooting, brainstorming, and general productivity solutions.
Join the Lux Lab (Group Session)
- Get feedback on that crazy thing your computer is doing.
- Conquer your email inbox
- Organize your digital files
- Untangle your passwords.
- And more Rescue your Digital Office challenges.
View the LUX LAB Schedule
With your registration, you will also receive the regular Tech E-Rescue email dispatch which offers challenges and guidance toward rescuing your digital office.
You can unsubscribe anytime.
Deeper work and Strategy for a quality brain dump
Let’s make sure you are doing the things that actually need to be done.
It is best to have a master task list where you can review and brain dump all the things you think you need to accomplish. You also need to schedule a consistent and dedicated time to maintain this list and determine when you will DO the things.
When you do this consistently (Weekly) you will be able to trust that if it’s not on your list you do not need to do it.
STEP 1: GATHER your tasks
Go look in all your various information buckets for everything that triggers a task.
- Start with what is already on your list for the next 2 weeks.
- Your email inbox (You may also have important things in your spam/junk folder)
- The inbox box on your desk. (or paper pile on the kitchen table)
- Your calendar (digital and/or paper)
- Sticky notes on your surfaces
- Rambly thoughts in your head (enter them into your task list even if they sound stupid – you can delete them later)
Get everything together in one place, your task list. If you need a good digital task list check out this BLOG POST: How to Choose Your Digital Task App
As you look at your calendar for the week it is a good time to acknowledge your calendar appointments with color. Check out BLOG POST: The Color Coded Calendar
STEP 2: PLAN your days – think binary
Evaluate the things you need to do. Urgent, Important, Good ideas. Sort everything into NOW (Something needs to happen this week) or NOT NOW (Something needs to happen next week or later).
- NOW (This week) – Take a look at your NOW list and think through the actual things you need to do and schedule times to actually do them. You can be as rigid as you like “Tuesday from 10:30 – 11:15” or “Sometime on Thursday”. In your calendar, you can schedule a big block of time to knock out a range or category of tasks. Errands, office work, calls, and such. (Can you delete, delay, or delegate things?).
- NOT NOW (Next week and beyond) – Take a look at your NOT NOW list, you will promote some things to your NOW list, delete some things that you realize you will never do or don’t need to do, and push the rest to a future weekly planning day, then set the list aside to review again at your next weekly planning. These tasks need to have due dates that reflect when you want to think about them, not when you will actually do them. Your weekly planning time is when you will do that thinking.
STEP 3: MAINTAIN and repeat
Now go through your list. Start at the top and if you can take action on the item to move it forward, then do it or decide when to do it, then move to the next item. When you look at your list, you will find admin-type things that you need to do each week to keep your life running smoothly. Do them first and your planning time will feel super productive. At the end of your planning time make sure your Weekly Planning Task is scheduled in your task list for your next planning session time. (either set the task to recurring or change the date for next week.)
Useful things to do to maintain your digital system:
- Check your Downloads folder for things you should save – delete the rest
- Check your spam/junk folders for emails that shouldn’t be in there – delete the rest
- Confirm that your cloud drives are still synced to your computer (sometimes they forget what they are doing)
- Unsubscribe from 5 – See GAME CHALLENGE: Unsubscribe from 5
- Clear the Clutter – See GAME CHALLENGE: Clear the Clutter
- Delete the Dregs – See GAME CHALLENGE: Delete the Dregs
Resources Associated with This Game Challenge:
BLOG POST: The Rhythm of a Good Task List
BLOG POST: Reviewing the Calendar
BOOK RECOMMEND: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
BOOK RECOMMEND: Getting Things Done – David Allen
