•  Brain Dump This is the best way to release all those ‘to do’ thoughts from your mind. Grab a spiral-bound notebook (we like spiral-bound because the pages won’t fall out) and start writing. Write everything that comes to your mind in any order it comes. Don’t edit yourself; simply write. At the end, you’re going to be left with a page or pages of action items. Now you can very easily list like tasks with like: things you need to buy, calls you need to make, things you need to do. Once you have these smaller lists, you can start to take action with the comfort of knowing all these items are on pages in your own notebook for easy reference. Your mind will be clear, allowing you to focus on just a few things at a time, a less stressful way of living.
•  Give Your Notebook a Home In order for you to continue writing in your notebook, you need to feel confident that your notebook will always be on hand. Choose one spot now as the home of your notebook; purse, backpack, briefcase, wherever. Carry it with you when you go out and always be sure to return it there when you are finished using it.
• No More Post-it Notes Every overwhelmed home or office we visit is inundated with Post-it notes! To keep the mental clutter at bay, you’ll need to adopt a new habit of writing everything in the notebook and only in the notebook. This means no more Post-it notes, jotting things down on the back of envelopes, or scraps of paper.
• Partner your Notebook with your Calendar or Smart Phone You may find it helpful to write some of this information directly into your daytimer, calendar, or enter it into your smart phone. For example, the date of an upcoming surprise birthday party will do you little good in the notebook. This event needs to be noted elsewhere. However, the gift you need to purchase and the directions are good things to write in your notebook. Make sense? That way while at the store, you will have the list of gifts to buy, and you will have the address or directions to pop into your GPS…..and you’re good to go!

Imagine your mind as a drinking glass. Imagine pouring water into that glass. Each drop of water is something you need to remember. Soon the glass will fill to the top and eventually begin to overflow. The same thing is true for our mind, when we try to remember everything in our heads, it is inevitable that something will ‘leak’ out!