Free your mind and the rest will follow

So I lied last week.

I wanted to check into the blog and write a post on Friday, but I decided that it would be nice to not do work at all (since I already told myself to take the weekend off!). It was hard at first – my hands were twitching to go on my laptop and I was going against every bone in my body, but let me tell you – for just those few days, I let my mind wander.

And it was so worth it.

Taking a break, no matter if it’s small or even unexpected, can bring about great things. I’d like to think that I’m good at switching off; and it’s mostly due to necessity because if I don’t do so, I’d probably die of exhaustion. So how do I flip that off switch?

Well, it’s pretty simple – I dump out whatever’s in my head:

• I use a week-by-week calendar, with everything written down – deadlines, projects, timelines, to-dos, etc. And I tick them off when I’m done, otherwise next week I’ll be writing the same thing down until it gets done.
• I use Google Calendar, and I set reminders to let me know when I have events lined up.
• I dump my links and discoveries into Delicious.
• I make notes in my Springpad.

• I have a continuous list of groceries that I add to (on my phone, so that it stays with me wherever I go) so that I won’t forget what to grab at the supermarket the next time I am there.

Freeing up the space in my brain allows it to work better and more efficiently. I liken it to a computer, where if too many applications are open, it crashes. So I make sure not to have to constantly remind myself about things (Google will so that for me), or keep a running list in my mind of things to do (my journal has them). Having more space in my mind allows me to be creative at the drop of a hat.

You should try it – do a brain dump today!

Happy Monday folks!

{Image via Headspace}