Planning

Brain Dump Template

A brain dump only helps if the list goes somewhere afterwards. This template is two parts: fifteen minutes of writing everything down without order, then a sort that sends each item to a task, a decision, a project, someday, or the bin. Copy it, or start from the example closest to your week.

Updated 2026-10-27

Copy and adapt

The template

Brain dumpTemplate

Brain dump, {{date}}

Timer: [10 / 15 / 20] minutes. Write first, sort after. Trigger: [what made you sit down: a heavy week, a new project, cannot sleep]

Dump (no order, no editing)

[Tasks, worries, ideas, half-promises, things you keep remembering in the shower]
[One line each. Fragments are fine]

Prompts if you stall: work, home, people you owe a reply, money and admin, health, worries, someday.

Sort (after the timer)

Do: has a next step and a date

[Next physical action] @due(YYYY-MM-DD)

Decide: needs a choice before it can become a task

[Question] (decide by [date])

Project: more than one step

[[Project name]]: first step is [action]

Someday: not now, not never

[Idea]

Let go: nothing to do, or not worth doing

[Item] ([why it can go])

Top three for [today / this week]

[Item]
[Item]
[Item]

Next dump: [date]. Unsorted items left: [number]

5 examples

Examples for different situations

The same structure, filled in for the situations people actually bring to it. Copy the one closest to yours.

1.Sunday evening weekly reset

When it fits: Use this when the week ahead already feels full, the loose ends are scattered across your inbox and your head, and you want Monday morning to start with a short list instead of dread.

Sunday evening weekly resetExample 1

Brain dump, 2026-11-01 (Sunday reset)

Timer: 15 minutes. Write first, sort after. Trigger: Three client deadlines next week and a letter from the state tax office I have not opened.

Dump

Halvorsen Bakery logo, round two of revisions, due Wednesday
Northpoint October invoice, $2,400, twelve days late because I forgot to send it
The tax letter
Mira's birthday Saturday, no gift yet
Reply to Tom about sharing the coworking desk, he asked last Monday
Portfolio site still shows 2024 work
Back hurts, the chair again
Raise my day rate from $600 to $700 in January?
Idea: short course on brand basics for small bakeries
Car registration runs out at the end of November
Worried Clearwater will not renew in December

Sort

Send the Northpoint invoice @due(2026-11-02)
Open the tax letter, photograph it, file it @due(2026-11-02)
Reply to Tom: yes to Tuesday and Thursday @due(2026-11-02)
Halvorsen logo round two @due(2026-11-04)
Order Mira's ceramics class voucher @due(2026-11-04)
Raise the monitor and chair; book physio if still sore Friday @due(2026-11-06)
Ask Clearwater about renewal on the call @due(2026-11-12)
Renew car registration online @due(2026-11-20)

Decide

January day rate (decide by Nov 30, after the Clearwater answer)

Project

[[Portfolio refresh]]: first step is picking four 2026 projects to show

Someday

Bakery brand course. Parked until the portfolio is done.

Let go

Guessing what Clearwater will say. The question is now a task with a date.

Top three for this week

Invoice and tax letter, Monday before 10:00
Halvorsen round two
The Clearwater question on the 12th

Next dump: 2026-11-08. Unsorted items left: 0

2.Before two weeks of vacation

When it fits: Use this the week before you leave, when you know things will fall through the cracks and you need to split everything into what you finish, what you hand over, and what waits for you.

Before two weeks of vacationExample 2

Brain dump, 2026-12-14 (four days before leave)

Timer: 20 minutes. Write first, sort after. Trigger: Out Dec 18 to Jan 4, visiting family in Accra. Ines covers the warehouse.

Dump

Year-end stock count is Dec 29, while I am away
Forklift 3 service overdue since November
Two temp contracts end Dec 23, agency wants to know about January
Carrier rate increase from Jan 1, nobody has checked the new quote
Ines has never run the Monday carrier call
Kofi's performance review, promised before the holidays
Holiday shift rota still has a gap on Dec 26
My out-of-office message
Plants in the office (seriously)
The idea of moving returns to bay 4

Sort

Do before Friday

Kofi's review, booked Wednesday 14:00 @due(2026-12-16)
Book forklift 3 service for Dec 22 @due(2026-12-15)
Fill the Dec 26 gap: ask Paulo first, then the agency @due(2026-12-15)
Run Monday's carrier call with Ines listening in @due(2026-12-15)
Out-of-office naming Ines and the site phone @due(2026-12-17)

Hand off to Ines

Year-end count on Dec 29: count sheets are in [[Stock count 2026]]
Carrier call on Dec 21 and Dec 28

Decide

Keep both temps in January? Decide with Ines on Tuesday; tell the agency by Dec 17.

After I am back

Carrier quote review on Jan 5, before the first invoice at the new rate
[[Returns bay move]]: measure bay 4 in January

Let go

Plants. Ines said she will water them.

Top three before leaving

Kofi's review
Ines runs one carrier call with me
Rota gap on the 26th

Next dump: 2027-01-05. Unsorted items left: 0

3.Project kickoff brainstorm

When it fits: Use this at the start of something new, when two or three people have a pile of ideas, questions and fears, and you want quantity first and a plan second.

Project kickoff brainstormExample 3

Brainstorm: catering line for Rosa's Bakery, 2026-11-09

Timer: 20 minutes, Rosa and Luis writing in the same note. Trigger: Three offices asked for breakfast trays in October. We said no to all three.

Dump

Breakfast trays: pastries, fruit, coffee urns
Minimum order? 10 people?
Delivery radius, the van only fits 6 trays
Do we need a separate catering license? Ask the county
Online order form vs email
Box lunches later, not now
Price per head: $14? $18?
The 06:00 bake already maxes out the oven
Luis worries about losing the counter during the morning rush
Disposable vs returnable trays
Start with the three offices that asked
Logo stickers on the boxes
Holiday party season is the moment, or the worst time to start

Sort

Call the county about catering rules (@Rosa) @due(2026-11-11)
Price a 10-person tray at cost (@Luis) @due(2026-11-13)
Email the three offices: would they order in January? (@Rosa) @due(2026-11-12)

Decide

Launch before the holidays or in January (decide Nov 16, after the county answer)
Minimum order size (decide with the cost sheet)

Project

[[Catering line]]: first step is the cost sheet

Someday

Box lunches. Stickers.

Let go

Online order form. Email works for three customers.

Top three this week

County call
Tray cost
Ask the three offices

Next dump: 2026-11-16, with the answers in hand. Unsorted items left: 0

4.Can't sleep at 3 a.m.

When it fits: Use this when the list is mostly worry, not work, and the goal is to separate the two things you can act on from the five you cannot, so the rest can wait for morning.

Can't sleep at 3 a.m.Example 4

Brain dump, 2026-11-14, 03:10

Timer: 10 minutes, on the phone, lights off. Trigger: Awake since 02:30. Same loop as last night.

Dump

Mom's knee surgery on Nov 20. Who drives her home?
Rent going up 8 percent from February, about $150 a month
Quarterly numbers presentation on Tuesday, slide 6 still wrong
Did I upset Jen at dinner? She has not replied since Wednesday
The noise the car makes when braking
Whether I am in the right job at all
Forgot to cancel the streaming trial, charges tomorrow

Sort

Do (tomorrow, not now)

Cancel the trial before noon @due(2026-11-14)
Text my brother: can he drive Mom home on the 20th, or do I take the day? @due(2026-11-14)
Fix slide 6, Monday first thing @due(2026-11-16)
Book the car in for the brakes @due(2026-11-16)

Decide

Rent: stay and absorb $150, or look for a place before the lease ends Jan 31? Decide by Dec 15. Need the real numbers, not 3 a.m. numbers.

Someday

Am I in the right job? Real question, wrong hour. Put it in the Sunday dump.

Let go

Jen. Silence after two days is normal. If no reply by Sunday, call her.

Top three for today

Cancel the trial
Message my brother
Sleep. Everything else has a date.

Next dump: Sunday 2026-11-15. Unsorted items left: 0

5.Five-minute morning dump by voice

When it fits: Use this as a daily habit when your attention jumps around, keeping lists is the hard part, and talking is easier than typing on the walk to work.

Five-minute morning dump by voiceExample 5

Brain dump, 2026-11-18 (morning, dictated on the walk to the lab)

Timer: 5 minutes, voice note, tidied at the desk. Trigger: Daily habit. Yesterday left 4 items carried over.

Dump

Committee meeting Thursday, need the draft of chapter 3 intro
Reorder pipette tips, the lab is down to one box
Reply to Dr. Okafor about co-authorship order (carried over, third day)
Gym, I keep skipping
Grant report figures, due Friday
Pick up the prescription
Idea: plot residuals by batch, might explain the outliers

Sort

Order pipette tips, two boxes @due(2026-11-18)
Pick up the prescription on the way home @due(2026-11-18)
Chapter 3 intro, 500 words, 09:00 to 11:00 block @due(2026-11-19)
Grant report figures 2 and 3 @due(2026-11-20)

Decide

Co-authorship order. Carried three days, so it is not a task, it is a decision I am avoiding. Write down what I want (second author) and send it at 14:00 today.

Project

[[Outlier analysis]]: plot residuals by batch, first step after the grant report

Let go

Gym this week. Committee and grant first. Back on the list Monday 11-23.

Top three for today

Okafor reply at 14:00
Pipette tips
Start the chapter 3 intro

Next dump: tomorrow morning. Unsorted items left: 0. Carried over: 0

What a brain dump is for

A brain dump template solves one problem: you are trying to hold too many things in your head, and the holding is the tiring part. Writing everything down moves the job of remembering onto a page. That part every guide covers.

What most guides leave out is the second step. A list of 30 mixed items (an invoice, a birthday, a worry about a client, a course idea) is not a plan. Read it the next morning and it is the same weight, just on paper. The template on this page treats the dump as raw material and the sort as the actual work.

How to run one in 15 minutes

Set a timer. Ten minutes for a daily dump, fifteen to twenty for a weekly reset or before a big change.
Write the trigger. One line about why you sat down. It tells you later what kind of week produced this list.
Dump without sorting. One item per line, in whatever order it comes. Do not fix spelling, merge duplicates or decide anything yet.
Use the prompts only if you stall. Work, home, people you owe, money, health, worries, someday.
Stop when the timer rings. Then sort.

The sort: five places every item can go

Every line in the dump goes to exactly one bucket:

Do. It has a next physical action. Write the verb and a date. "Northpoint invoice" becomes "Send the Northpoint invoice, Monday."
Decide. It needs a choice before anything can happen. Write the question and the date you will decide by.
Project. It takes more than one step. Give it its own note, link to it, and write only the first step here.
Someday. A real idea, not for now. Parking it somewhere you will see again stops it nagging.
Let go. Nothing to do, or not worth doing. Write why. Worries you cannot act on belong here, and so do tasks you were never going to do.

Then pick three items for today or this week. The rest have dates, so they can leave your head.

Items that keep coming back

Watch for lines that appear in dump after dump. They are rarely forgotten tasks. Usually they are decisions with an uncomfortable answer (the email you do not want to send, the job question at 3 a.m.) or worries with no action attached. Two rules keep them from piling up:

Carried three times, move it to Decide. Write the choice in one sentence and set a date.
Worry with no action, give it a time. "Am I in the right job?" is a real question for the Sunday dump, not for 3 a.m.

Brain dump vs brainstorm

A brainstorm is the same shape pointed at one topic. Quantity first, sort second. Swap the buckets for Questions, Risks, First moves and Later, and the brain dump template works as a brainstorming template for a project kickoff, as the bakery example shows. If the session is a formal team kickoff with roles and dates, the project kickoff meeting template is a better fit.

Common mistakes

Skipping the sort. The relief from writing is real but short. Without the sort, tomorrow's list is today's list.
Do items without dates. They float, and the next dump copies them again.
Never using Let go. A list where everything must be done is why the dump felt necessary in the first place.
Dumping into the same note forever. One dated note per dump keeps the history readable and lets your weekly review look back over the month.

Customization tips

Set a timer and stop when it rings
Ten to twenty minutes is enough. Without a limit, the dump turns into a journal entry and the sort never happens. If more keeps coming after the timer, add it to the next dump instead of extending this one.
Rename the sort buckets to fit your life
Before a vacation, Do becomes Before I leave and Hand off. For a project, it becomes Questions, Risks and First moves. Keep Let go in every version. It is the bucket people skip and the one that makes the list feel lighter.
Every Do item needs a verb and a date
"Tax letter" is a worry. "Open the tax letter and photograph it, Monday" is a task. If you cannot write the verb, the item belongs in Decide or Project.
Count what is left unsorted
The last line of the template asks for a number. Zero is the goal. A dump that leaves fifteen items unsorted has only moved the clutter from your head onto a page.
Use the prompts only when you stall
The category prompts (work, home, people, money, health, worries, someday) are for when the page goes quiet. Reading them first makes you fill boxes instead of writing what is actually on your mind.
Keep one note per dump, dated
A title like Brain dump, 2026-11-01 makes the dumps a timeline. Months later you can see which worries kept coming back and which projects started as a single line.

In the app

How to do this in Scribelet

Create a new note and pick Brainstorm from the template strip for project and idea sessions. It is one of the five built-in templates.
For the dump-and-sort structure on this page, open Desk Settings, then Templates, tap Add Template, paste the template above and set the category to Planning. Keep {{date}} in the title so every dump is dated.
Write Do items as - [ ] Send the invoice @due(2026-11-02). They appear in the Tasks view and on that day's daily note until you tick them, so the dump note can be closed once it is sorted.
Turn Project items into links like [[Portfolio refresh]]. The project note's backlinks panel then shows every dump where it came up.
On a walk or in the car, record a voice note (a Pro feature). Scribelet transcribes it and structures it into a note with headings and action items, which you then sort with this template.
Ask the AI chat "what have I written about the rent increase in my brain dumps?" and it answers from your notes with citations.

Templates, template variables and AI generation are documented in Note templates.

Frequently asked questions

What is a brain dump?

A brain dump is writing down everything on your mind, without order or judgment, so your head stops trying to hold it. The writing is only half of it. The other half is sorting the list into next actions, decisions and things you can drop, which is what the second part of this template is for.

How often should you do a brain dump?

Most people settle on a short daily dump (five minutes, morning or evening) or a longer weekly one, often on Sunday. Add an extra one before a vacation, at the start of a project, or any time you notice the same thoughts looping. If daily feels like a chore, weekly plus on demand is enough.

What is the difference between a brain dump and a brainstorm?

A brain dump empties your head of everything, mixed together: tasks, worries, ideas. A brainstorm generates ideas about one topic, often with other people. The same two-step shape works for both (quantity first, sort second), which is why the third example above is a brainstorm written in this template.

Does a brain dump help with ADHD or anxiety?

Many people with ADHD or a busy mind use it because it moves the job of remembering from your head to a page. It is a planning tool, not treatment. For ADHD-specific note setups, see Scribelet for ADHD.

What do I do with items that show up in every dump?

An item carried over three times is usually a decision you are avoiding, not a task you forgot. Move it to Decide, write the choice down in one sentence, and give it a date. The fifth example above shows this with a co-authorship email.

Can I use this brain dump template on paper, in Notion or in Google Docs?

Yes. It is plain Markdown, so the headings and checkboxes paste into most apps, and it prints cleanly. The [[wikilinks]] and @due() annotations are Scribelet features and show as plain text elsewhere.

Empty your head, then let the list do the remembering

Save this brain dump template in Scribelet, sort each item into a dated task or a project link, and find them all in the Tasks view tomorrow. On the move, dictate the dump as a voice note. Free to start.

Start your first brain dump

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