Create easy, weekly office workflow systems and a routine that turns worry into action. Stress is a sign that a plan is missing for all you need to do, and the solution is simple to implement: the weekly brain dump!

As a business owner, freelancer, or busy professional, you likely have multiple categories of to-dos on your plate that can feel like a never-ending stream of work. Of course, you don’t have to be a business owner to be overwhelmed. This advice can apply to students, or busy parents too.

In terms of task management for entrepreneurs, it is much more likely to be an assumed source of challenge, because of the incredible weight business owners carry by being responsible for a client, or customer base, as well as anyone on their internal team. Many decisions not only affect you as an owner, they have a ripple effect for those you work with.

Here comes the stress and anxiety! When projects, open to-do items, and everything you need to produce starts to converge and require your attention at the same time, you start to feel a sense of unease and constant worry. You may be cycling through everything you need to do mentally a million times so you do not forget anything. Or you may max out and let it all ride when it becomes too much.

The image of Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory…trying to catch up with an ever-increasing conveyor belt speed…comes to mind.

How do you manage it all as a business owner without burning out?

Enter “the weekly brain dump” as a workflow solution

I implemented this routine several years ago as a personal task-tracking system for my home life, like tracking grocery lists, handyman repairs, and maintenance that was long overdue. This routine worked so well that I started making it an office routine for my equally demanding career. And now, even to this day, I stick to this system as a means of achieving my goals.

The idea of a weekly brain dump is that you are systematically writing out and purging your mind of everything occupying it and hiding in the recesses as “things you need to do”. You put everything pending that you need to produce, or complete, in one giant list, whether it is a big item, or small, and you have it recorded to refer back to later.

The goal is that you put – in writing – everything that is spinning around in your mind in one place as a ‘download’ from your brain. It is a method of organizing your thoughts and planning. This capturing of your ideas frees your brain up to literally move on to other things, so you are not stuck in rumination.

This system works, because many times we do not have a clear, documented plan to get everything done, so we keep cycling though our (often incomplete) to-do list again and again until it is all we can think of. Now the nervous energy and sleep disruption starts…you get the idea, and may have been there before as an entrepreneur.

As a surface benefit, recording everything on your mind ensures you have all the sources of your stress tracked, so you can release the anxiety, knowing that the things you need to take care of are ‘held’ somewhere.

The deeper effect of a consistent brain dump is much greater than just reducing your worry, though. For businesses, this concept is a powerful office workflow system that can generate highly productive and meaningful action that not only resolves the source of stress – it creates growth.

The weekly brain dump as task management for entrepreneurs

In applying the weekly brain dump as a task management system for entrepreneurs, we first need to define an easy, baseline way of completing a brain dump for your work tasks, or any combo of categories:

Start with a pen, paper, and a reflective space where you will not be interrupted. In an office setting, I like to do the weekly brain dump before I even open my computer, or get into tasks. However, the timing is flexible. What is more important is the level of space you have to think and get all your open items out in one go.

Then, create a laundry list (no categorization) of everything you can think of that needs to be completed. Write it as a stream of consciousness and in no order. It can be things as large as sending time-sensitive feedback notes to your marketing team for the launch of a new campaign to as inconsequential as asking your office manager to order more paper towels. GET IT ALL OUT and on paper, or in a digital list form.

Once you have sufficiently recorded every single thing you can think of that is pending in your brain dump list, you can categorize the items of importance and areas they apply to. There are a number of ways to approach categorization, so go by the groupings that make most sense to you. I like to look at the list and see what themes pop out, but sorting by timing can be a very effective system too (i.e. items that need to be completed immediately versus items that are further out in time).

The final step – plan it! Fit every item into your plan time-wise and what gets done in group 1, group 2, etc. You can also select what needs to be delegated, or totally removed! The idea is to have a charted projection of when the items on your brain-dump list will be completed.

You can see the power this process has for teams and businesses just through the review and organization alone. The brain dump is a way to make sure everything open is achieved, and imagine if that happens. Your business will be completing tasks, rather than getting caught in workflow loops where initiatives are forgotten, or deliverables are very far behind their deadline as a pattern.

On a deeper level for owners, the brain dump process gives you an eye on what areas of your business are running smoothly and easily and which need fostering. For larger companies with internal teams, this brain dump process may indicate a certain department needs attention. Or for solo-operators, it could tell you where your personal areas of improvement, or lag, are occurring.

How to create office workflow systems that achieve goals

Outside of analysis, a primary concern with any operation is simply getting things done. Too often as owners, we get caught up in the small, singular tasks that are in progress, and we get lost in them. Our office workflow systems are complicated, too hard to track, or non-existent, and we forget how much is outstanding, stalled, or even in motion. Focused effort on key tasks and achieving goals along the way is how to make an operation progress, but it is all too easy to lose that perspective when being pulled in different directions consistently.

Even worse, how about all the items we get caught up in as owners that are not on the list at all? How much time are you losing to emergencies? A weekly brain dump is an inventory of all the things we need to do, so a natural prioritization and focus can be given to the areas that matter most. Likewise, it is a spotlight on our “time-thieves” – the distractions that creep in and take us away from the work that will lead to progress.

The clarity of focus you can attain through a weekly purging of your mind is deep and has the opportunity to trigger introspection as an owner. Ultimately, the benefit we gain is all in how we apply the tools available and use the insights that are in front of us. Leaders will take this information and find the way it works for them.

The good news — there is a hidden benefit with the routine of a weekly brain dump. Chances are, if you are willing to take the first step and record a full list, you will experience a positive result just through recording everything on your mind as a single step and keeping the physical list. You do not have to make it into the “deep analysis” phase and planning out each item to benefit from the system. That organization creates a second tier of benefit.

Every step is progress, and for stress-relief, the list itself generates all the peace of mind needed for many, because their worries are now contained together.

Relieve your workflow stress and gain peace of mind

As a workflow solution, creating a weekly brain dump routine is a fantastic way entrepreneurs can relieve sources of immediate worry, as well as create movement and progress for their business. When everything on your to-do list actually gets completed, just think of the strides your operation will make!

The beauty of consistently clearing your to-do list and having a system like a ‘brain dump’ is that you get to move on to the next thing and create a NEW to-do list. That means good progress is happening for your business, and real, meaningful work is being completed that you can see.

As a primary suggestion, every business should maintain a living business plan that can help with filtering a list like a weekly brain dump and make important items actionable. If you are running a small business and need insights into workflow, planning, and achieving goals for your business, call on us to develop a plan for success.

Our virtual one-on-one coaching sessions allow entrepreneurs and leaders to receive targeted advice and strategies for refining their processes and unlocking new areas of potential. Contact us to discuss options and scheduling.

Are you ready to take off? AstroCat will help your business reach for the stars!