Brain Dump

Last week I mentioned I’d be sharing ideas each Thursday as to ways we can take ten minutes to be intentional about the way we live. It can be so easy to get caught on the Merry Go Round of life, never thinking we can hop off at any point and live with intention.

Today I want to start with a brain dump.  Have you ever done this? When life feels overwhelming or stressful, when I feel myself frazzled or anxiety creeping in I do a brain dump.

All you have to do is get out a pen and paper. You can use your phone or notes app, but I believe writing is more cathartic. Write down everything on your mind. No rhyme or reason. No sentence structuring is needed here. Just write words. I try to start with what needs to get done. Most often it’s not a much as I think. Then I write out all of the extras, usually the heavy stuff.

Mine often looks like:What’s for dinner tonight? Pay bills. Switch laundry. Empty dishwasher. Email Sarah back. House is a mess. Kids are whinier than normal. I haven’t eaten well. The news. Who do I trust? Why is God silent right now?

Then I pray over it. Give it over to God and then I do the first thing on my list.

Life can feel overwhelming because, well, it is. But also because we can’t make what’s going on in our head tangible, attainable. By writing it out and giving it over clears room for the actual doing and facing.