brain dump template

Clear everything out of your head, then organise the useful parts visually.

Use this template free Free, no account, opens in your browser.

A completed HeadTidy brain dump with separate branches for immediate attention, waiting, later ideas, and thoughts that can be released. — A completed brain dump separates action, waiting, possibility and release instead of turning every thought into a task.

What’s included

A pressure-free inbox for loose thoughts
Clear branches for now, soon and someday
A deliberate place for obligations that are not yours

What belongs in the first pass

Capture unfinished tasks, worries, ideas, people to contact and things you are trying not to forget. Use fragments rather than polished sentences. Do not research, schedule or solve anything while the timer is running; those are different jobs.

Do not turn every thought into a task

“Maybe learn Italian” can stay under Someday. “Waiting for Maya’s reply” needs visibility, not another action from you. “Renew passport” becomes useful only when you add the next physical step. The template gives those different thoughts different destinations.

Worked example

“Sort the spare room” may contain three unlike things: donate old clothes this week, measure the empty wall soon, and consider a reading chair someday. Split them, move each once, then choose just one next action.

How to use this template

Start
Set a ten-minute timer and add fragments without sorting.
Sort
Move only the thoughts that have an obvious home.
Move
Choose one next action; leave the rest safely captured.