Project template
Brain dump template: ten minutes to write it all down, then sort it into the week
Ten minutes of writing it all down, then one pass to give each thing a day or a place.
- 7 sections
- 10 tasks
- Opens as a list
- Dated from day 1
Brain dump
Days count from the day you start. In the app, pick a start or a finish date and each task lands on a real day.
- Write down everything on your mind for ten minutes, then sort it belowDay 1High
Do today
- Example: pay the phone billDay 1High
This week
- Example: renew the passportDay 4
- Example: get someone to look at the leak under the sinkDay 3
Calls and messages
- Example: text Jo about picking the kids up on ThursdayDay 2
- Example: call the bank about the new cardDay 2, 10:00
Errands and shopping
- Example: light bulbs and batteries
Ideas for later
- Example: herbs for the balcony
On my mind
- Example: the presentation next week. Next step: run through it once on SundayDay 6
Every week
- Brain dump: ten minutes, then sort itEvery Sunday 19:00
What's in it
A brain dump is ten minutes of writing down everything you are carrying: tasks, errands, worries, ideas. Once it is on a list you can sort it, and your head stops reminding you.
- The ten-minute dump
- One task to write down everything, however small, before you sort any of it.
- Do today and This week
- Whatever needs a day gets one.
- Calls and messages
- The texts and calls in one place, so you can do them in one go.
- Errands and Ideas for later
- The shopping and the someday ideas, out of your head and off today's list.
- On my mind
- Worries, each with one next step, or let go.
- Every Sunday
- The dump comes back each week, so it doesn't pile up again.
Tips from the template
- Set a timer for ten minutes and keep writing until it rings. Small things count.
- Sort it straight after, while you still know what each line meant.
- Do it again whenever your head gets loud. Once a week is a good start.
How to use it in Palby Planner
- 1Open Tasks and choose Templates.
- 2Find Brain dump and open it. You see every section and task before anything is added.
- 3Pick the day you start, or the day it has to be done by. Every date moves with it.
- 4Press Use template. Rename the project, then work down the list.
What to do with it next
One list sorted by when: today, this week, later, and what you are waiting on, with the three that matter today flagged.
5 sections, 10 tasksSort every task by urgent and important into four sections: do it now, schedule it, hand it off, or drop it.
5 sections, 8 tasksThe lists the GTD method runs on: inbox, next actions by context, waiting for, projects, someday, and the weekly review.
6 sections, 15 tasksClear an overgrown task list in one sitting: move it all aside, keep what still matters, and start again clean.
4 sections, 11 tasksThe Getting Things Done weekly review as one repeating task: get clear, get current, look ahead.
15 tasksThe question first, then every idea unfiltered, then the few worth pursuing as tasks.
3 headings
Questions
Ten minutes of writing down everything you're carrying, then sorting it. It's the first step of Getting Things Done, and it works on its own too.
Sort each line by what it needs: a day, a call, a trip to the shops, or just somewhere to wait until later. Worries get one next step, or you let them go.
Whenever your head feels full. Once a week keeps it from piling up, which is why there's a Sunday task.
A brain dump is everything, unsorted. A to-do list is what's left once you've sorted it and given each task a day.
Yes. Print prints only the template, and Copy puts it on your clipboard as a checklist. Neither needs an account.
Out of your head, into the week.
Book a walkthrough to see a brain dump sorted in the planner.