Writing down the things you need to do tomorrow settles your brain

Writing down the things you need to do tomorrow settles your brainWriting down the things you need to do tomorrow settles your brainWriting things down sounds trivial.Youve heard it before. Its nothing new.But it worksFollow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThe Zeigarnik Effect says we tend to hang on to things in our mind, especially if we dont finish what we start.This makes it difficult to single task on purpose without mental distractions.Calm your stressful brain to concentrate better.If you write things down, you free up your mind from worrying about what you forgot or what you need to remember.If you can commit this simple technique into a habit, it will change the way you think and get things done.Writing things down changes everything, especially if your work depends on finding new ideas and approaches to solving problems.Ideas come and go at the most random of times.But if you pay close attention to behauptung random ideas and embrace the writing habit, you wont miss a single breakthrough.Writing things down is a powerful way to record anything and everything that has your attention.David Allen, the author of the best-selling bookGetting Things Donesaysour minds are for having ideas, not storing them.Writing things down can help our brains prioritize which we should focus on.Writing your goals, priorities, and intentions has powerful psychological benefits as well. When theyre in writing, theyre out in the physical world - not just cropped up in your head. You can now evaluate them, decide which ones resonate, and accomplish them,saysAlex Phillips.The brain benefits ofwritingResearchshows that writing down the things you need to take care of tomorrow can settle your brain and help you relax.When your brain isnt busy remembering everything, your brain canprocess anything better.When you write, your brain is fully engaged and you think much more clearly. You force yourself to organize your thoughts which leads to deeper processing.This process can help refine and organize your ideas in a meaningful way.And most importantly writing stops your brain from stressing about what needs to be sorted in a few hours or tomorrow.Daniel J. Levitin, a neuroscientist and author ofThe Organized Mindexplains, when youre concerned about something and your grey matter is afraid you may forget, it engages a cluster of brain regions referred to as the rehearsal loop. And you keep worrying and worrying. Writing your thoughts down and making a plan for tomorrow switches this off.Writing things down prepares your mind for more important thinking.When you have too many things on your mind, your thinking cannot be efficient. Writing things down clears out all clutter in your brain, so you can concentrate much better.Jesse Dayof Evernote writes, collecting, developing, and revisiting information expands your creative potential because you can draw from the s um total of your life, not just the fleeting thoughts of the moment.It pays to think on paper. When you write something down, you free up the task of having to remember it.Many studieshave shown that note-taking helps us distill information better and remember it better than we would if wed just heard or read it.Do periodic braindumpsA brain dump is an act of getting all of your thoughts out of your head so you are able to focus on one idea at a time.Its basically a time to organise everything on your mind your worries, questions, needs, wants, important and urgent tasks, and everything on your mind.Those things get stuck in your mind over time, distracting you regularly from the things you need to do.The point of a brain dump is to capture the full picture of everything you need and want to do.Barnet Bain, producer of the Oscar-winning filmWhat Dreams May Comeand author ofThe Book of Doing and Being Rediscovering Creativity in Life, Love, and Work, says a brain dump is a fertile st arting point for any creative project.A brain dump is one of many ways to declutter your mind, and it can be done in a matter of minutes.Its a powerful tool that can make you feel in control of your life.If you tend to keep all your thoughts and ideas in your head, your brain will keep bringing them up over and over, making you feel overwhelmed.You dont want that, especially if you want mental clarity to focus on your most important things every day.Remove scattered notions from your mind and get them all down, then organize and follow up with ease.Take a mental load off-its relaxing.Get ready for tomorrowtodayWhats your shut down ritual?Spend your last 20 minutes of your workday to reflect, process, write down and prioritize for the next day.End your day on purpose, and begin the next one ready to get started without wasting time.Write down how you want to spend your morning.If you do this, you will wake up and know exactly what you need to do to make your day a success.You will be come more effective and more productive because youre ready and everything is within your reach.Conversely, if youre not ready for the next day, imagine what can go wrong.Dont waste your morning thinking about what to do.Cal Newport recommends a shutdown ritual in which you take the time to close out the days business and prepare for tomorrow.Closing thoughtsTake a moment and list downeverythingyou have in your mind.Go ahead and embrace the writing habit.Dont waste your brains ability on trying to remember everything.Writing doesnt have to be difficult. It can be a quick note, a thought, a list of things to do at particular times of the day, week, or month.This article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will ersatzdarsteller your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an inter view, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people