I don’t know about you but I’m reaching that age when I forget why I walked into a room, what I’m looking for and yesterday, I even took the scenic route home – by scenic, I mean long and totally unnecessary!
Summer Holiday Brain Mode:
My brain is still in summer holiday mode. Â Summer holiday mode is where I just answer continual questions from the kids. Having kids with a variety of labels means a variety of questions including:
K: Who directed Matrix?Me: *quick google* Wachowski BrothersK:  Why did Lana W used to be Larry WMe: ErmK:  Did he have surgery and now wears a dress?Me: ErmR:  Did he play with his bits?  Did they fall off?K:  How do you pronounce Oshori?K:  What does syndication mean? woke me at 2.45am to ask meAll:  What’s for lunch? Five minutes after breakfastJ:  Why do we fart?J  Why does dad fart when you pull his finger?R:  Can I have a pony?
So as you can see, my brain is, to put it bluntly, mashed!
I have spent the last week rushing around like an idiot trying to get everything ready for the back to school rush. Â My excuse was I hadn’t put a list together because every time I get a notebook out, it disappears. Â I have a stationery addict daughter! Â Or if I am being totally honest, I hadn’t put a list together because that would mean looking at the list of things I have procrastinated on over the holidays! Â If there is one thing I specialise in it is procrastination.
Write it down
When the kids are in school or when I am feeling focussed, the one thing that really helps me is to write it down. Â I have talked about my passion for the Bullet Journal method on here many times. Â However, today I wanted to talk about how making the effort to write it down really helps me to focus and remember the things I need to remember.
Last Friday, I sat down and wrote a brain dump.  I love brain dumps.  I grab a notebook, draw a line down the centre of the page to create two columns and on one side write the things I need to do for my coaching and my blog.  On the other side, I write the things I need to do for my home life.
I start off with the things I have swirling around in the depths of my misty brain, Then I go through my previous ‘to do’ lists and add those not done (usually quite a few), Next I go through my emails and write down the ones I have flagged (I flag emails which I need to respond to when I check them on my phone).  I then look at any project lists and see if there is anything I have missed.  Finally, I add the phone calls I need to make, prescriptions I need to put in or collect and other similar items usually not on a list or an email.
Why should I write it down?
I find that when I am thinking about the things I need to do, before I write it down, I feel anxious and find it hard to relax as I am always thinking about the thousand things I think I need to do. Â So I don’t actually enjoy the time I spend not doing it because I am still thinking about it and worrying about the amount I think I have to do.
However, once I have written it down and I can see it, I usually find it’s not as bad as I thought. Â It may be a huge list but I have a few methods I use to work through my to do lists and I will share them with you later this week. Â They include choose three, eat the frog and time blocks amongst others. Â Hopefully at least one of these will help you. Â Having the list to work with means my brain is free of all those swirling thoughts and worries. Â I know what needs doing, I know it’s all written down and I know that I have a place to start. Â Now I am not claiming that this means I remember what I walked into a room for but it does happen less often when I have my list.
Over to you:
Go and write that brain dump and sign up so you don’t miss the next post this week on the techniques to improve your productivity.
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