Shine Now Magazine September Issue_r3 | Page 22

Brain Dumping with Pen, Paper, and Evernote 1. Grab a notebook and write down all your tasks, plans and ideas. It doesn't have to be in any particular order. Once you start writing, don't censor yourself—just write everything down without stopping. You discover that ideas start to come fast and furious into your head. Even faster than you can write. Add anything to the list such as business tasks, personal tasks, and anything that pops in your mind. The idea is to empty your brain. 2. Name it “brain dump journal” so that you know where your brilliant ideas are when you want to refer to them. 3. Once you have it all on paper, go back and read each item. Ask yourself what is urgent, important, what can you delegate or wait can wait? As you do so, label or color code each based on importance. It should reflect your current goals for the month or quarter. For example, label anything related to launching a new product as urgent. Working on the next thing is important, but it can wait until you complete the current promotion. Review the items a second time. Mark the critical items first, the important ones second, the ones you delegate third and finally the ones that can wait or you cut altogether. 4. Once you finish take a picture or scan it in using the Evernote app and have it wherever you go. Brain dumping seems so simple. Yet, it gets rid of the overwhelm that occurs in your life when you keep everything in your head. Start a brain dump today if you haven't and see how easy it is to rank your tasks and get things done. You can go to www.evernote.com to sign up and get started using it to house your brain dumps. 22