The mind sweep (or mind dump) is a key part of GTD. In fact I would say it’s a key part of getting productive in general and living a healthy, stress-free lifestyle. In basic terms it is a way of getting thoughts out of your head onto something external so that you can organize and process them appropriately.
The governing rule of the mind sweep is that if it’s on your head it deserves attention. The brain isn’t good at remembering, processing and organizing these things so capture it onto something external like a notepad and free your mind from the burden. With a clear head you can focus your energies on being creative and actually getting things done.
The best time for doing it is typically during a weekly review when you can really sit down and focus on capturing any loose ends floating around in your head onto paper or your favorite app. However it can be done whenever your brain is feeling overwhelmed, full of ideas and thoughts, or you need to get focused, etc. I personally have a a mind sweep section on my weekly planner exclusively for capturing these thoughts as and when they occur to me.
The concept of the mind sweep is fairly simple but achieving a successful one without any aids can be difficult. That’s why in this mini series of posts I want to take a look at several techniques I’ve used to help facilitate a good mind sweep; tools that have really helped me to dig out those loose ends, thoughts and feelings that would otherwise swirl around in my head sapping my energy and focus.
The first tool I want to look at, and which is probably the most well known by GTD enthusiasts is the trigger list, essentially a big collection of keywords that help to trigger any related thoughts in your ehad. For instance, you might read the word “school” on the list and that reminds you that you need to book time off work to go collect your children from school next week.
David Allen’s books – Getting Things Done and Making It All Work – have their own basic trigger lists, but I’ve created my own vastly expanded version (it’s an ongoing project so if you can think of any other trigger words to add to it let me know). Print it out and give it a try the next time you want to have a mind sweep. Tell me how you’re next weekly review goes using this technique!
August 17, 2009 at 11:37PM
I like this technique and I realize that I actually function better when I do things like this. I usually have around me one notebook that I put all these thoughts in and then at either the end of the day or the week I go through it. It gives me a great perspective on what direction I should be working towards. Thanks for this!
August 18, 2009 at 08:50PM
Thanks for the comment. I keep my weekly planner close at hand and scribble down anything I want to remember. It’s so much better than carrying all that mental baggage around, knowing I won’t forget anything.
September 13, 2009 at 12:23AM
Thanks for this post. Mind sweeps really lesson the burden on my mind and it leaves me with energy to focus on others things, and get those things done in a systematic manner.