I am a great believer in letting as much of my brain noise escape into the real world. I’m talking about those random thoughts you have just before you close your eyes for sleep, or those thoughts that pop up and we all have a habit of dismissing and not investigating. I use many methods to trap these thoughts and one of those is to use moleskins. I love my moleskins and ‘brain dump’ at least once a day into mine. Many designers sing the praises of moleskins, they really are a good option as come in a range of sizes.
Brain dumping?
When I studied writing one of the forms I loved was stream of conscious writing. This is literally where you just type what is on your mind and let the words flow. Out of the noise often comes some gems and many successful writers have used this as a technique to trigger more solid foundations. The process of brain dumping isn’t limited to the world of writers though and I think I benefit not just from it creativity wise but from my business side also. My brain dumping is slanted more to design (considering my work) but it also extends to include business ideas, blog posts and many other facets of my life.
So, how do you brain dump? Well it’s literally a case of ‘better out than in’. I have said I use a moleskin (I have one square one for designs and sketches and one lined one for writing and ideas). I always have these near me during the day so I can pop things down as they come to my mind. I also spend a few minutes at the end of each day where I can let out thoughts.
The crucial non-digital step
I have tried for many years to have a paperless office but for me brain dumping just doesn’t seem to work unless I have the moleskin (or any notebook) stage. I’m not sure if this is habit or the way that my ideas seem to flow better when I write them down. For me, the filtering from the moleskin into digital format takes that seed and grows it into a fully fledge concept. Not all make the grade and that is why having this one safe dumping place is crucial to my process.
Filtering out the noise
Brain dumping isn’t about a solid fully formed idea on the first writing or sketching. It’s about just getting it external and from there the decision to progress, leave to simmer or throw can be made. I often leave ideas about and then come to them later. I have a process where at the end of each moleskin’s use I then go back through it and see what I have used and if anything is left over that is worth developing. I tend to as these ideas become solid mark this in my moleskin, this way I have a handy indication of what has been done and what is left simmering.
Your notebook, your safe place
One of the crucial features for brain dumping to work successfully is to have the notebook as your safe place. It’s your own private world where just like the diary you maybe wrote in as a teenager, you are able to just write without fear of judgement. It’s up to you how far this goes, but having that ability to fall and not be embarrassed is a big part of dumping everything that is in your mind.
Less noise, more space for noise
By using this brain dumping I find that my mind comes up with more ideas. It’s an odd paradox as you clear down more room you seem able to fill it up just as quickly. It often makes me glad I have this process as without it the ideas I would never get to develop and the seeds I’d loose or not even think of as the brain fluff was clogging up my mind. This is just my method of brain dumping but if you don’t do something similar I’d suggest trying it for a month and see what results you get.
heheheheh. :)