How to do a brain dump on Windows in ten minutes

A brain dump is what it sounds like: you empty everything you are carrying in your head onto a page, without sorting, judging or planning. It is the first step in most task systems because it addresses the actual problem. You do not have too much to do. You have too much to remember, and remembering is expensive.

Ten minutes is enough. Here is a method that works on a PC with nothing special installed, and a faster version if you do have a capture tool.

Set a timer and write one line per thing

Open something you can type into quickly and set a timer for ten minutes. Then write every open loop you can think of, one per line:

• Things you have promised someone.
• Things you have promised yourself.
• Things waiting on someone else.
• Worries that are not tasks yet.
• Ideas you keep coming back to.

One line each is the rule that matters. A line is easy to write, easy to read later, and easy to move. A paragraph is a note, and notes do not get done. If you want more on why the distinction matters, see notes and todos are different animals.

Use prompts when you run dry

After three or four minutes most people stall. Run through a short list of prompts to shake more loose:

• Work: each project, each person you manage or report to, each recurring meeting.
• Home: bills, appointments, repairs, renewals, paperwork.
• People: birthdays, messages you owe, favours.
• Money: subscriptions, refunds, expenses to claim.
• Health: prescriptions, check-ups, the thing you keep postponing.

Do not stop to solve anything. If you notice yourself planning, write the line and move on.

Then sort, in a second pass

When the timer ends, go through the list once and give each line one of four fates:

1. Do it now if it takes under two minutes. See the two-minute rule and quick capture.
2. Give it a date if it has one.
3. Keep it as a note if it is an idea or a reference, not an action.
4. Delete it if, written down, it turns out not to matter.

The deletion step is underrated. Plenty of what keeps you awake shrinks the moment it is on a screen.

The faster version

If you use a capture tool with a global hotkey, the dump can happen without a separate session. In Jot, press Ctrl + Shift + J, type a line, and press Enter. The line is saved and the box stays open for the next one. Add a date in plain words (“dentist friday 9am”) and it becomes a reminder; add #home or #work and the sort step is half done before you start it.

When you are finished, Ctrl + Enter saves the last line and closes the box. The Today screen shows what you just captured, which makes the second pass a matter of scrolling.

Do it again next week

A brain dump is a reset, not a system. Most people need one every week or two, usually on a Friday afternoon or Sunday evening. Pair it with a ten-minute weekly review and the list stays small enough that you trust it.

Jot is on the Microsoft Store.

Jot is a quick-capture app for Windows: one hotkey, one line, back to what you were doing. What it is, or what is still unproven.