August 29, 2024 • 51 mins
As Christian homemakers, wives, and mothers, our days are often filled with countless responsibilities, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. In today’s episode, we’re diving into the practice of a brain dump—a simple tool that can help clear the clutter in our minds and refocus our hearts on what truly matters: serving the Lord and our families. We’ll also discuss how to pair this with a reliable task management system, enabling us to steward our time and responsibilities more effectively.
As we walk through these practices together, let’s remember that our worth isn’t measured by our productivity or how perfectly we manage our homes. Our true worth is found in Christ alone. These tools are here to help us be faithful stewards of the time God has given us—not to strive for an impossible standard of perfection.
Don’t forget to check out the free PDF handout that goes along with this episode to help you get started!
Head over to ThankfulHomemaker.com for full show notes on all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode.
Grab a copy of the free PDF Guide for this episode in our Free Library of Resources.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:06):
Welcome to the Thankful Homemaker podcast, a podcast to be an encouragement
and blessing to each other in the role God has called us to as women.
I'm so thankful you've stopped by, so grab yourself a coffee or tea and sit
with me a bit as we talk about how God's Word impacts every area of our lives as Christian women.
Hello, friend. I'm Marci Farrell from Thankful Homemaker, and I'm so glad to be with you today.
(00:32):
We're getting practical today because as much as I love the start of a new year
and setting up a new planner.
For me, I find that the transition between summer and fall is when I naturally
gravitate towards reorganizing and reviewing my systems and projects,
probably even more than I do at the beginning of the new year.
(00:53):
So to start the fall season with you, I'm sharing today, this is episode 165,
and I've titled it bringing order to your day, the benefits of a brain dump, and a daily plan.
So as Christian homemakers and wives and mothers and grandmothers,
our lives are brimming with responsibilities from managing our homes and nurturing
(01:14):
our families to staying involved in our communities and our churches.
And with so much on our plates, it can get easy to feel overwhelmed at times.
And that's where the practice of a brain dump comes in.
This simple exercise can bring
clarity, reduce stress, and help us to stay focused on what truly matters.
(01:35):
But I don't want to just leave you with the concept of a brain dump.
It's important to pair it with a reliable task management system that can capture
and organize all those swirling thoughts and calendar appointments and to-do
lists that you got out of your head and on paper.
And by doing this, we can better steward our time and responsibilities. possibilities.
(01:56):
I've also put together, as we're just starting this episode,
a detailed handout for this episode, and I don't want to forget to mention it.
I'll link to how to access the PDF in the show notes. There'll be a link there for it.
But I believe it'll be a helpful resource if you're looking to implement these
strategies that we're going to talk about, but you're not sure where to start.
So before we dig into this topic...
(02:19):
I want to share a thought that's been a huge encouragement to remember as I
put this episode together, and it's one I want you to remember too.
And this is from Kelly Kaepig's book called Your Only Human.
Kaepig reminds us that we are created as finite beings with limits,
and that these limits, they're not flaws. They're part of God's design.
(02:40):
And as homemakers, we often feel the pressure to do it all sometimes,
but it's important to remember that our limitations, they're not a sign of failure.
They're actually a reminder that we are dependent creatures designed to rely on God and others.
And as believers, our true citizenship is in heaven.
(03:01):
And from there, we eagerly await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's Philippians 3.20 there. This heavenly perspective, it should shape how
we approach our daily lives.
It should would remind us that while we strive to be productive and organized,
our ultimate reliance, it isn't on our systems, but on the grace of Jesus Christ.
(03:23):
I want us to hold to that as we work through this today.
I always struggle when I do practical episodes because our goal,
it's not to reach perfection in our productivity, but to be faithful stewards
of the time and talents and tasks that the Lord has entrusted to us.
And this is especially true for us as Christian homemakers.
Our work is often unseen, it's repetitive, it can feel never-ending,
(03:47):
yet it's in these very tasks, whether it's folding laundry...
Preparing meals, or nurturing little hearts, mama, right?
That's where we serve the Lord and our families. So as we work hard and we strive
to stay organized, it's really crucial to remember that our ultimate reliance,
it's not on our systems, but it's on the grace of Jesus Christ.
(04:09):
He's our strength and our help in every aspect of our lives,
including how we manage our time and tasks each day.
So in his book, Capek also pointed out that our dependence on God and others
It's not a weakness, but it's how we were created to live.
We live in a world that values self-sufficiency, and it's a relief to know that
(04:31):
we don't have to carry every burden alone.
We were meant to live in community, to lean on our families and friends,
and most importantly, to lean on our good God.
So for us homemakers, this might look like asking for help when we need it or
taking time to rest without guilt, trusting that God is in control.
(04:51):
So as we move forward here and you implement your brain dump and you organize
your tasks, do so with the understanding that while these tools are helpful,
they are not the source of our peace or worth.
Our true rest comes from Christ and our aim in all things should be to glorify
God even in the ordinary tasks of our daily lives.
(05:12):
So whether we're folding laundry or planning meals or planning our days,
let's do it all for the glory of God, knowing that our efforts,
though they are imperfect, are made perfect in him.
So I want to talk about when I use a brain dump as a Christian homemaker or
when to use it, because most of the time for me, my task management system keeps me organized.
(05:35):
And before I go further, let me explain what that term means.
A task management system is just a tool or a method that helps you to organize
and prioritize and track your to-do list.
That's all it is. It just keeps you on top of your tasks by allowing you to
break them down into smaller steps.
You can set deadlines. You can schedule tasks for specific days.
(05:56):
You can monitor your progress.
You're ensuring there that you're not missing anything important.
It's like having a personal, this is how I look at it.
It's like having a personal assistant that reminds me what to do and when to do it.
And it just helps to make my life more organized and manageable.
Manageable my task management system it does its
job in keeping my tasks captured and
(06:19):
organized and I'm able to work through them each day and
week I can move them around easy if certain days
are too busy or the day went nothing as I planned it I
could also put them in what I call a someday folder if they're not necessary
at this season of my life but maybe it's something I'd like to get to sometime
and not forget about it and then I can also delegate tasks I can delete them
(06:41):
right If I determine that it really doesn't need to be done,
which happens quite often,
my task management system helps me to avoid chaos on most days,
and it keeps me focused on the most important tasks that I hope to accomplish that day.
I'm going to go into more detail in that in a moment, but I want to first share
how I've benefited from something that David Allen, he calls it a brain dump, and I'm not sure.
(07:05):
I'm thinking he's the person who came up with it. That's where I first heard
it. But now the term itself is really not all that appealing,
and I couldn't figure out what else to call it besides what they called it,
so I'm going to stick with that.
But this brain dump has been incredibly helpful when there's a lot on my mind.
There are times when I just need to clear my head and get everything out on
(07:25):
paper, and that's where this brain dump comes in really handy.
I want to share a quote from David Allen, who many of you may be familiar.
You know he's the creator of the getting things done methodology.
It's important to note he's not a believer, okay? So, but this particular tip
of his has been really helpful to me.
His quote is a great reminder that our brains weren't designed to hold onto
(07:48):
every task and commitment we have.
He says, your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.
So today, we're going to talk about how to manage our fallible memories and
minds, ensuring that we don't forget those important tasks that we want to accomplish.
Projects we want to get finished or the promises we made to others.
We're going to work through this together and we're going to rely on some practical
(08:12):
tools and the grace of God to keep us on track.
So let me share you times in my life when a brain dump has benefited me.
So one of the first ones is when I'm feeling overwhelmed.
There's seasons in life when the demands on our time and energy,
they just seem to exceed our capacity to manage them.
Maybe it's the beginning of a new school year or the holidays are coming up
(08:36):
or you're caring for an aging parent or it's just a really busy week with a
lot of extra responsibilities.
And it's during these times that a brain dump sometimes is just a real lifesaver for me.
When I can get everything out of my head and onto paper, I can see it all there
and I can see it more clearly then.
And from there, then I can begin to organize and prioritize what needs to be done.
(09:00):
This is also a huge amount off my mind when I feel like I'm trying to remember everything.
Another time is when you're transitioning between seasons.
And just as I mentioned earlier about the transition between summer and fall
being a natural time for me to review and reorganize, or it could be the start
of a new year, but transitions in general are a great time to do a brain dump.
(09:23):
So whether it's moving from it's moving, or maybe it's from one season of the
year to another, or there's big big life changes like starting a new job or
you're moving or you're, I already said moving, I meant moving from one season.
You know what, nevermind that, we're just going to keep moving forward here.
Or you're having a baby or even just shifting into a different routine.
(09:44):
A brain dump helps you to adjust by allowing you to reassess your priorities
and reorganize your tasks accordingly.
So that just is a really helpful time.
When you're starting a new project. So if you're embarking on a new project,
whether it's planning a family vacation,
starting a home renovation, or preparing for a big event, a brain dump can help
(10:05):
you capture all the ideas and tasks and details that you're going to need to consider.
And I always think this initial, and I call it my unfiltered flow of information,
I'm just letting it all flow because in those moments, I just let it go onto the paper.
From there, then they can be sorted and organized into actionable steps.
And it can make the project feel much more manageable.
(10:28):
Like for us, we're doing some updating on our basement and it's been a long
project and we're basically bringing it out of the 90s.
So wallpaper needed to be removed. It needed to be painted. We have a storage
room that needs to be organized.
We have an exercise area. We wanna do a little revamping now.
And we just have lots of things we need to get rid of or give away.
(10:48):
It felt really overwhelming. until my husband and I sat down together and we
worked through it and we laid out all the tasks involved.
And it instantly made the project feel more manageable.
I even got a little studio out of it, which is where I'm sitting right now,
talking to you in the corner of the basement to record podcasts and videos.
We haven't completed the whole project yet. It's been a bit.
(11:09):
It's been on hold for a little bit, really for the summer. But we're confident
that when we return to to it a little later this fall, we're going to know exactly what steps to take.
So another time is when you're stuck or unmotivated. And for me,
there's times when I just might hit a wall. Maybe my motivation is low.
Maybe I'm not sure what to do next. This can also fit in with being overwhelmed.
(11:31):
But sometimes for me, I'm dealing with something and I don't know where to begin.
And it's in those moments a brain dump can help me clear the fog.
I know a lot of times I'm talking Sometimes this means journaling for me,
that I'm journaling thoughts out.
By writing everything down on your mind, you may uncover underlying concerns
or unaddressed tasks that are weighing you down.
(11:53):
Sometimes it reveals things on my list that don't need to be,
and it's a help to either eliminate them or being able to delegate them.
Because when I do that, that for me, it helps me to almost reignite my focus
and it helps me to move forward.
So kind of an example here was one big project for me that I just felt I didn't
(12:14):
even know where to begin and I wasn't motivated to even get started, but I did want to do it.
I just didn't know how to even begin and then I just would just avoid it.
But it was organizing our family's digital photos.
It seemed impossible to me. At the time, I imagined the time really that I was
thinking it would take to get them in order.
(12:36):
It overwhelmed me. And we have a lot of obviously printed photos.
My husband and I have been married since 1986.
So I'm trying to think, I think our digital world came into play like 2010.
So most of our pictures were printed. And I did a lot with putting those into
albums, and I would make special albums for vacations and things.
But then the digital world came and I just, if I wasn't making a printed album,
(13:00):
I just had all these photos that we really weren't utilizing.
So, but just thinking it through, it helped me as I did a little research and
I looked into it, it helped me to develop a system to slowly start organizing them in a simple way.
So I was able to put some tasks down on where I could start.
So in my mind, it was a lot more complicated and I avoided it.
(13:22):
But once I worked through it and got it all out on paper, are,
it became much more manageable.
And now I am tackling it little bits at a time, but I'm tackling it. I'm getting through it.
So this is a big one for me, and I do this pretty much every week.
When you're planning your week, incorporating a weekly brain dump,
because this one will probably be a little smaller, right, into your routine,
(13:43):
it can be incredibly helpful.
So before you start planning your week, just take a few moments to jot down
everything that's on your mind, what you need to do, what you want to do,
maybe what's weighing on you, things you didn't get to the past week that you
need to carry over into this week.
This simple practice can bring clarity, and it can help you approach your weekly
planning with a clear perspective, ensuring that nothing slips through the cracks.
(14:07):
I do this every week, and then I fit those tasks into the days where they make
the most sense. I'm going to walk through that in more detail as we move forward here, too.
And it's also going to help you with that PDF handout that I have.
In this particular podcast episode, I've been trying to work these into a blog post.
So there's a pretty long blog post on this in the show notes.
(14:27):
So you can kind of refer back to it if you need to do that too.
But as I fit those tasks into the days where they make the most sense,
in that way, I'm not overwhelming myself by cramming 15 things into one day.
But instead, I'm spreading them out over the week in a way that really helps
my week to feel more manageable.
Here's a big one. When you're feeling disconnected from your goals,
(14:49):
or as I like to refer to my goals, I call them my spiritual priorities.
Because sometimes in the busyness of everyday life, we can lose sight of our
larger goals and priorities that we've set.
And a brain dump allows us to reconnect with these by giving space to reflect
on what's truly important.
Because as you write down your thoughts and tasks, you can realign your daily
activities by working in parts and pieces of those long-term goals that you'd like to accomplish.
(15:13):
And then that way you ensure that your efforts are focused on what matters most.
And for me, this area really helped me to get scheduled and organized and planned
and And on the church calendar, a study for Our Ladies at Church.
It was something on my mind. It was a goal I set, but I needed to bring it before
the pastors, and then I needed to implement it when I got the okay to move forward.
(15:35):
I kept putting it off until I took the time to sit down and work through it.
This might be your morning time with the Lord needs some help,
and you can spend some time writing down all the things that you'd like it to
look like or areas you'd like to incorporate into it, and then you can work
through it and get that put together.
So let's just talk about a few, and I feel like they're worldly things that
(15:56):
I'm stating here, but some benefits of a brain dump, because these are some
benefits for me that help.
It just can help us to basically have better, I think, your mental clarity.
I don't know another term for that, so I'm just going to go with mental clarity.
But when you write everything down on your mind, it helps you to see all your
tasks and thoughts in one place.
(16:17):
And it just makes it easier to organize and prioritize. It brings a sense of order to your day.
And then stress reduction. I know we talk a lot about stress,
but just offloading all that's on our minds onto paper, it really can help to
reduce stress and anxiety.
I know for me, even at night before bed, to make sure if there's things on my
mind, I get them off and onto a piece of paper and just, it helps immensely
(16:41):
to help me sleep. I don't have to keep track of everything in my head.
They're not swirling around in my mind at night or whatever time of the day
I'm doing that. And it just frees me from the pressure of remembering every detail.
I think a brain dump, it really improves my focus because with a clear mind,
I can better focus on my tasks at hand. And it really helps to improve my productivity
and I'm a lot more efficient.
(17:02):
It just allows you to be fully present in each moment too, whether you're working
or you're serving your family or you're spending time with the Lord,
you're focused on the task at hand because all the other tasks are taken care
of and written down and you don't have to be focusing on them.
You're just focusing on the current, whatever is in front of you at that moment,
whether it's a person or a project or whatever that might be.
(17:23):
I think sometimes it helps our creativity because when your mind isn't cluttered
with with all these unfinished tasks and worries and concerns and things that
you want to do, there's just more room for creative ideas and solutions to come forward.
So you may find yourself inspired in ways you didn't even anticipate.
So let's talk about how to do a brain dump, all right? Here's some really,
(17:44):
you know, it's not, you don't really need direction, but I'm going to give you
some direction on it just in case it's something you want to do.
So one of the things I do when I do do this, I set aside time.
So I'll choose a quiet time when I can sit down without distractions.
For me, I'll grab myself a cup of coffee and a notebook. And what I use instead
of paper is I use something called a Remarkable tablet.
(18:06):
I know I've mentioned it before, I believe, but just Google Remarkable tablet
if you don't know what it is when you're done listening to this and you're going to see why I love it.
I'm not an affiliate or anything, but it just holds hundreds and hundreds of
my notebooks for me in one place.
And it feels like I'm writing on real paper.
I love this tablet. It has been a huge blessing to me. I don't,
I rarely use paper anymore.
(18:26):
I mean, my journal, my morning time with the Lord, my sermon notes,
everything is on this tablet.
My brain dump has its own area on my tablet so I can see past brain dump lists.
So just choose that quiet time. It could be early morning, during a quiet afternoon,
before bed, whatever that is.
The goal is to find a time when you can focus and let your thoughts flow.
(18:47):
And then write everything down. So whatever you're using, that notebook,
or maybe you're typing it on a computer, just start writing or typing.
Don't worry about, at this step, don't worry about organizing or categorizing
or overthinking it at all.
You're just getting everything out, whether it's tasks or project ideas or worries
or ideas or prayer requests. Write it all down.
(19:09):
Keep it in a place where it's easy to access as ideas come into your mind.
And then you're going to review and reflect.
So once you've written everything down, take a moment to review your list.
This can be a time of prayer and reflection, asking the Lord for guidance and
wisdom and managing your tasks and priorities. priorities it's an opportunity
to align your plans with his will and seek his peace in the midst of your responsibilities.
(19:32):
So you've completed your brain dump and you have all your tasks and ideas and
commitments laid out in front of you.
And now it's time to bring some order to the chaos. So whether you prefer the
tactile satisfaction of pen and paper or the convenience of a digital system
like Google Calendar and a task management app,
or maybe you do a mix of both, I'm going to walk you through how to take those
(19:53):
scattered thoughts that you've got on paper and turn them into a manageable plan.
So first, we're going to cover how to organize your brain dump just using a
calendar and a notebook or a paper planner.
And then for those of you who lean towards digital tools, I'll share how to
do the same thing after this. It's pretty similar.
So our first option, our calendar and our notebook.
(20:14):
I find it really helpful to sort my tasks into categories.
And I got this from Tim Challey's book called Do More Better.
So I have categories like home and personal and family and church and ministry,
work, our company. And then I have my blog.
I have social. And then I keep a list for current projects.
(20:35):
And then my other folder, someday, which I think that's from David Allen,
actually. But I really like my someday folder.
So we're going to start here to prioritize, and then we'll schedule them.
But you need to use categories that work for you and your family.
You could have more or less. There's not a limit what you can do here.
Fewer is probably better, but I, what do I have? One, two, three.
(20:56):
Five, six, seven, eight, eight, nine with someday.
So the first thing you're going to do is you're going to prioritize your tasks.
You're going to look at your list and look what's urgent and important.
So start by just figuring out what tasks need your attention,
what tasks maybe have deadlines, which ones will make the biggest impact if
(21:16):
you get them done this week, and then highlight or mark those as top priorities.
So you can kind of look at your weekly focus, decide which tasks,
which ones probably need to happen this week.
So those are probably your must-dos, those that can't wait.
And then you could also defer or delegate. So for tasks that aren't pressing,
think about whether they can be scheduled for later in the month or maybe they
(21:39):
could be delegated to someone else.
And then if there's ones that you wanna defer, you can put those in your someday
section or note them on a future date in your calendar, maybe down the road.
Maybe you're like, you know what? I don't need to do that in September,
but I wanna come back to that. So I'm going to put that into October,
and I'll look at it again.
And then if you delete, are there tasks on the list that don't need to be done?
(22:02):
Just cross them off or delete them.
And now you're going to schedule your tasks. So you're going to open that paper
planner you have or your notebook or whatever that is to your weekly spread.
You're going to take a look at your top priority tasks, and you're going to
begin to assign them to specific days.
You need to be realistic about what you can accomplish each day.
Spread out your workload so you don't end up overwhelmed. overwhelmed
(22:24):
and make sure before you do this that you
already have any calendar appointments or events already noted
in your planner so you can see when you have doctor appointments or meetings at
church or having somebody over for dinner then on
each day's page you're going to list your daily tests for the day that you've
assigned to that day you want to always leave a little room for flexibility
my reminder to myself and you is that the lord appoints our portion and we don't
(22:47):
know what each day will bring so keep it with an open hand to the lord and then
you have your calendar events.
So this is your calendar events are for any appointments or meetings or events
that are locked into a specific time.
Write these down in your calendar. Your calendar is not for your task list.
It's for your events. All right.
These should be for your fixed time commitments, not for general tasks.
(23:09):
This way you can see at a glance how much time you have available and then review and adjust.
You're going to keep your planner handy throughout the week.
So So when new tasks or ideas pop up, jot them down where they belong,
either into a specific category or on the day where they fit best.
Or maybe you just have an area in your planner for notes. That's how I usually catch things.
(23:30):
It just goes into my inbox or a notes thing if I'm writing it down in my tablet.
Just make sure you capture it so you don't forget it.
And make sure you know where to check those places that you captured if you're
capturing in more than one place as you're planning each week.
And if something doesn't get done as planned, move it to another day,
right? Tomorrow's a new day.
(23:52):
And then just a project note, because I know sometimes we have projects, right?
So let's consider a larger project, like planning a women's conference.
So I maintain a dedicated section in my task management app and in my notebook,
my tablet, for ongoing projects.
And it helps me to keep all my related tasks easily accessible.
(24:14):
So whatever current projects I have going on, they're in one specific place.
And then that way I know where they're at. So like for the Women's Conference,
I created a specific area in my notebook to list all the necessary tasks that kept coming to mind.
And then rather than writing out and scheduling every one of those tasks at
one time, I just prioritized them and I integrated them gradually as needed
(24:39):
into my daily and weekly plans.
And this approach, it helped me to keep things flexible and manageable,
and it helped me to not feel overwhelmed.
It helped me to tackle each task when the time was right for it,
but I wasn't bombarded with a zillion tasks in a day.
So it was a great way to spread it out because this way of prioritizing and
(25:00):
scheduling, it's going to help you keep your tasks organized and they're spread
out and it's manageable.
It's It's going to make your week feel a lot less overwhelming when you're tackling
something large, like a bigger project than what you, you know,
just beyond your normal day-to-day tasks.
So that's kind of paper aspect. So let's look at a digital approach.
(25:23):
I feel like I mixed a little digital in there and I'm really sorry because I
don't know how, my brain doesn't know how to function without my digital.
But let's talk about the digital approach. So this is how I organize my tasks.
I use Google Calendar and my preferred task management app is called Things 3.
It's an Apple product.
It's not an Apple product. It's created for Apple devices, I should say.
(25:45):
And then Todoist, that's another helpful app too.
So I did take kind of a picture of my app.
I had to split it in two, but I put a picture of it, how it's kind of categorized
on the corresponding blog post for this episode.
So when you click that link in the show notes, well, when you click that link
below the podcast, wherever you're listening in, and it takes you to the main
(26:05):
show notes page over at my blog, that's the blog post for this, the photo will be there.
Also, that's where the link will be to the PDF, and I'll have all the resources
there that I talk about the different books and things too.
So what I do is I set up categories in Things 3, and I talked about my categories
a little before when we talked about Tim Challey's In Do More Better and where I got that from.
(26:25):
So I start by dividing my tasks into broad areas of responsibility in the Things 3 app.
So I have home and personal and family and church slash ministry.
And then I have work and I have my blog. I have social and then I have current projects.
And then under each of these main areas, I'll create, there'll be more specific
subcategories to capture the different aspects of my responsibilities.
(26:48):
So let me give you some examples. So under home, it could have subcategories
like cleaning, maintenance, projects, finances.
Under work, I break it down into writing, podcast episodes, accounting tasks.
Really, that's blog, so I apologize. That's more blog, and then accounting tasks
would be more work for my husband's company.
And then church slash ministry, that would include categories like Bible study
(27:12):
prep, event planning, Titus II relationships.
But these categories help me keep everything organized and allow me to see at
a glance where my tasks fall in relation to different areas of my life.
What I love with this app too is I could have little notes and other things under each of those too.
If I need to explain something or I need a link to something,
I can put all that there in that one place. So that has been really handy.
(27:35):
So I need to figure out how do I capture and organize these tasks, right?
So whenever a new task comes to my mind, and this is just on a daily basis,
this isn't a brain dump per se, it's just a normal, normal day when there's stuff on your mind,
I immediately capture it in the Things 3 apps inbox.
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I feel like that was a tongue twister. I'm not sure I said that all right,
but it goes right in that inbox in the app.
That's like my digital catch-all for every idea, reminder, or to-do that pops up during the day.
And from there, I take time either daily or weekly to sort these tasks into
their appropriate categories. Weekly for sure.
Sometimes it may happen daily, but usually it happens more weekly.
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So sorting. So when I'm reviewing that inbox, I decide where each task belongs.
And this would be the same if I was working with a brain dump list too, right?
So for example, if I remember that I need to get the bank reconciliation to
the accountant, By the end of the month, I'll move that task to the accounting
subcategory under work, and I'll schedule a time to complete it.
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If I realize it's time to schedule an oil change for my van,
I'll move that task to the maintenance subcategory under home and plan when
I'll make the call. And those will come up in my task list.
But once that appointment for that van gets scheduled, I'll add it to my calendar,
and then the task is checked off.
Scheduling. So once a task is categorized, then I decide when I need to get it done.
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I can assign it to a specific day. I can defer it to a much later date.
I love how Things 3 allows me to just schedule tasks into my week with just a few taps.
I can do this from all my devices. I can move them around and switch them.
I can even add tasks to the inbox by speaking into my Apple Watch. Who would have thought?
So Google Calendar then comes into play here because it's for our time-sensitive events.
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So that's, again, what I said before. It's reserved for events,
appointments, and meetings.
Anything that has a specific time or place, like the scheduled oil change.
This helps me keep my schedule clear and focused on where I need to be and when. So here's how I use it.
So for event scheduling, I add any meetings, doctor appointments,
church events, social gatherings, all those things that have a specific time
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directly into my Google Calendar.
And then I also use different colors for different types of events like green
for family, purple for church, red for work.
So I can see at a glance how my time is divided there and allocated on the day.
I love the reminders feature. I set reminders for important events,
especially those I can't afford to miss, or maybe they're different.
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You know, it's not like your normal weekly, I go to church every Sunday at,
you know, I have to be there by whatever, 845. I already know that.
But I do like to set reminders for events that are not my normal,
like dentist appointments or things like that.
I'll usually set one reminder for the day before, and then I'll set another
an hour or two before the event as a reminder to pop up.
And then one of our favorite features is
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the shared calendar our family uses a shared
calendar so all of us can stay on the same
page we can see where everybody is and what's going on this is so
useful for coordinating schedules avoiding double booking you know my husband
my daughter my son my my father-in-law they can all see where I am and what
I'm doing and I can the same with them and I really appreciate that feature
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daily and weekly planning then so here we go so each Each morning,
what I do is I take a few minutes to review my day.
I look at the tasks now that I've scheduled Things 3 alongside the events in
my Google Calendar, and this is my chance to see the big picture and adjust it as needed.
So in my daily view, Things 3 shows me my calendar events right alongside my tasks for the day.
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And this way, I can see everything in one place, and it makes it so easy to
plan my time effectively.
Effectively for tasks that i call routine tasks
things that are repeated daily or weekly like my
morning routine or exercise or weekly cleaning i
use the repeat task feature in things three and this keeps these tasks in my
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rotation without having to re-enter them constantly same thing with google calendar
you know church is just a standing event that just repeats every week or wednesday
night service or whatever other events that just naturally repeat on your calendar
We use the repeat feature.
And then adjustments. This is a big one. If my day looks too full.
Or something unexpected comes up, I can easily drag and drop tasks to another
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day and adjust my priorities as needed.
I can get up that morning and open my to-do, you know, my list for the day and
go, this is just too much. So what do I not need to deal with today?
But I can push to another day of the week. I do that every day.
And for this, for the task management app, it is accessible on all my devices.
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And that's a big advantage for me. So when I use these digital tools like Google
Calendar and Things 3, I'm grateful that whether I'm on my phone or tablet or
computer, I can check my tasks and calendar, make updates, add new items on the go.
Everything syncs and it ensures I never miss a beat no matter where I am.
So if digital appeals to you, I encourage you to just try a free app like the Todoist.
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Try it for a month or two, set it up, play with it a little bit, see how it works for you.
Things 3 was a purchased app, and I know, I feel like the cost has gone up quite
a bit since I purchased it. It's been quite a few years now.
So let's talk about this weekly review. I want to dive into the process of what
a weekly review is, and I'm not going as in depth as I'd like to,
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but I'm going to give you a link down below to, as I go a little further to
talk about that, we'll help you a little bit more here.
But a weekly review process is so helpful, whether you're using digital tools
or you're preferring pen and paper.
I'm going to focus on using digital tools here, but if you're more comfortable
with a traditional planner, you can absolutely adapt these steps to fit your system.
I used only pen and paper for years before transitioning to digital,
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so the principles remain the same.
And I still use a paper planner, as I say that. I update it during this weekly review time.
So I'm a mix there. I appreciate digital tools to capture and organize my days
and weeks, especially when I'm on the go, but I love being able to just open
and look at my paper planner.
I really appreciate that. it's always out of my desk. So first off, set aside a time.
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So set a specific time each week for your review and planning session.
Just a few minutes is all it takes. I typically do my weekly planning,
my review, I should say on Sunday afternoon or early evening.
But I've been trying out Friday afternoons lately to kind of start the weekend with a clear mind.
And you start here by checking your calendar. So number two here is review your Google Calendar.
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Look at all the events, appointments, meetings, all the things you have scheduled for the upcoming week.
As you look it over, note any tasks that need to be handled before these events,
like baking a dessert for a church meeting or remembering to reschedule a doctor's
appointment, and add these tasks to your task list in Things 3 or your planner.
And then you're going to review and organize your tasks in Things 3.
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So go through your tasks in your Things 3 app or your planner or your notebook,
right? Start with that inbox.
And if you capture things somewhere else, you know, maybe you wrote them on
a tablet by on your desk in the kitchen or something.
Make sure you have all those things that you captured through the week.
And then you're going to move those tasks to their appropriate categories,
whether that's home or personal or family or however you labeled your areas.
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And then you'll start to begin to schedule them for the week.
Check off any tasks that you completed last week or cross them off.
Reschedule anything that didn't get finished.
For routine tasks like your morning routine or exercise or weekly cleaning,
whatever you might do, use that repeat feature in that task management app. Keep them on your radar.
And then prioritize your week. So using things, for me, things three today and
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upcoming views, that really helps me to map out my week because I can look and
see my week at a glance and what's coming up.
And I can drag and drop tasks into the days that I plan to tackle them.
I can make sure I'm prioritizing my most important tasks and projects so they
don't get lost in the shuffle.
And after I'm all done with them, I like to put them in the order that I hope
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to complete them that day.
So I kind of move them up and down a little bit to get them in an order that I like.
And then take the time to reflect and pray. Take a few moments to reflect on the past week.
Think about what went well. What could have gone better?
Then bring your plans before the Lord in prayer, asking for his guidance and
strength as you head into the new week.
A weekly plan is so helpful. There's such good benefits.
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Because when you're doing this, you're not just managing your time.
You're clearing mental space to focus on what truly matters.
And this process helps you enter each week with clarity and tension.
And it allows you to serve the Lord and your family with a heart that's calm and ready.
You have a focus. when everything is laid out in an order
it's so much easier to focus on what's most important ensuring that
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you're not just staying busy but you're being purposeful
with the time that god has given you and i do want to share
that reagan rose from redeeming productivity as as i was i was working on this
podcast this week he had a video that just came out of all things which i was
thankful for and i watched it this morning had a helpful video on how to do
a christ honoring weekly review and i'm going to link to that in the show notes
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it is so well worth your time to watch.
It'll be a bigger help than what I'm giving you here. So, so let's.
Walk through a practical, if you're still with me here, hang with me,
I have some good stuff here at the end too to share.
So I want to give you a practical example of a brain dump for just a normal busy week, all right?
This is not like one of the overwhelm modes or something else.
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I'm just going to take it as a week because it is something I do every week.
So I'm going to walk through how I'd handle a brain dump and how I would go
about organizing those tasks using my task management app and Google Calendar on a normal week of mine.
So each week I sit down to review and plan my tasks.
I start by checking off any unfinished items from the previous week that still need attention.
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Then I look through my inbox and any notes that I've made to see what tasks
might need to be added to my list.
I always include my everyday responsibilities, like whatever rooms I'm determining
to clean on which days of the week and my morning routine and exercise.
And I plan that all out for the weekend meal planning and laundry,
though I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting there right now as I'm waddling,
(38:04):
just kind of muddling through that. But the idea here is simple.
You're going to grab a notebook or open your app or whatever that is and jot
everything down that's on your mind for the week ahead. That's where I begin.
So my brain down, I'm going to throw some example things. It might include things
like reschedule a dentist appointment for my husband, prepare materials for
the woman's Bible study, and make a sign-up sheet for the church.
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Finish writing, recording, and editing the podcast and blog posts for Thursday.
I'm barely making that deadline. This is the podcast I'm talking about here,
and it keeps getting moved.
So I need to write some thank you notes. I need to update our company's website for my husband.
I need to plan the menu for Saturday's family dinner. I need to reconcile the
company's bank statements. I need to prepare a meal for a friend recovering from surgery.
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I need to make a meal for my husband's upcoming book study with his group of
guys that meet here. I need to buy groceries for the week and for all these extra meals.
So at this stage, I'm not concerned with order or priority.
I'm simply getting everything out of my head and onto paper.
And that's where For me, I would use what I call my remarkable tablet,
which is just like a notebook.
I do use tactile paper when I'm writing all this down.
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Now I'm going to organize it. All right. Now that I've done this brain dump,
it's time to sort and organize these tasks in my Things 3 app.
So I'm going to categorize them. I start by categorizing. So under home would
be things like schedule a dentist appointment.
Could go under family. I'm going to stick it under home here. I need to buy groceries.
I need to plan the menu for the family dinner. Under blog, I need to finish
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editing this podcast, record it, and write the blog post for it.
Under church ministry, I need to prepare the materials for Bible study.
I need to make the a sign-up sheet. I need to plan those meals for my friend's
family and also for the men's study.
For family, I need to write thank you notes and figure out what we're going
to do for dinner on Saturday.
For my work stuff, I need to reconcile the company bank statements and update
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the company website, okay?
So from there, I've got these categorized, but now I need to prioritize and schedule them.
So I'm going to kind of look at urgency first. What's important here?
I need to rescheduled that dentist appointment.
I need to finish the podcast and blog post, and I need to get those Bible study
materials together in that signup sheet.
My lower priorities would be writing thank you notes, updating the company website.
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That poor thing has got moved forward like many weeks. I'm going to get to it.
Reconcile the bank statements and grocery shopping.
And then I assign these tasks from this point to specific days in Things 3 in my app.
So on Monday, I put reschedule the dentist appointment as a task.
I put finish the podcast, and I put gather the Bible study materials.
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And then for Tuesday, went prepare the Bible study materials.
So start thinking that through.
Wednesday, my grocery shopping for the week and for all those meals I need to
deal with. I want to record the podcast.
I want to write the blog post and edit it on Wednesday. And this is actually
Wednesday as I'm recording this.
Thursday, I need to cook and deliver the meal to my friend. And Friday,
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I need to write those thank you notes. I need to update the company website.
So from there, are there events out of that list that I need to add to my Google Calendar?
So I'm gonna open Google Calendar and add any appointments or time-sensitive tasks.
So Tuesday morning, let's say that's when the dentist appointment got scheduled,
that's gonna go on Tuesday morning.
Thursday afternoon, I'm gonna take the meal to my friend and I can put in there
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in the calendar at four o'clock, I'm gonna deliver their meal.
Saturday, I need to put the time like we're having family dinner at five o'clock
and block it off. I also set reminders for these events so nothing slips through
the cracks for me on that.
And then at the end of the week, usually for me lately, again,
it's been Sunday afternoon.
I haven't got to too many Fridays. I'm trying to. But I'll do a quick weekly
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review to make sure everything is on track.
So I'll open my things and my Google Calendar.
I'll review what got done, what didn't. If there's any tasks I didn't complete,
I either reschedule them for the next week or or some of them might get moved
to my someday list or further on down the road if they're no longer urgent.
I can plan for the coming week. I just take a few minutes to look ahead at the
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upcoming week's events and tasks.
This helps me to see if there's anything I need to prepare for in advance,
any other meals to plan or an upcoming Bible study or meeting with a friend.
I have a couple friends that I meet with and we talk about books that we're
reading. So just any plans I have to do like that. And then reflect and pray.
Finally, I'll take a moment to reflect on the past week. Sometimes I take the
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time to turn on my thoughts, too. I do that a lot.
What went well, especially for my weekly time, what went well,
where I struggled, where I need to improve.
I bring my plans before the Lord in prayer. I ask for his guidance and wisdom
in the week ahead. And this process, it really keeps me focused.
And most importantly for me, well, it does. It gives me time,
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I should say, to approach each day with a clear plan.
I really appreciate that. But it still leaves me room for flexibility and the unexpected.
Respected and then really as i was saying most importantly it helps
me stay focused on what really matters and what really
matters is serving my family and the lord with a heart of peace and
purpose just really loving them well and honoring the lord
so i want to share some resources that i have found helpful in in this part
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of my life and managing my time and responsibilities as a christian homemaker
and i'm linking to all these in the show notes too so whether you're looking
to dive deeper into some of these concepts we've discussed whether you're totally
confused with with what I'm talking about.
Tim Shelley's Do More Better and Reagan's Redeeming Productivity are super helpful.
These may be practical tools you want to implement, and some of these resources,
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I think they'll be a help to you.
So a few of the books that I've enjoyed are You're Only Human by Kelly Kaepick.
This book just offered a refreshing perspective on embracing our God-given limits
and really understanding our dependence on Him.
It's really been a great encouragement to me in realizing that our limitations
are not failures, but they're part of God's design.
And then Reagan's book, Redeeming Productivity, which I've mentioned multiple
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times here, but Reagan's book, it provides a biblical approach to productivity.
It is an excellent book. It helps Christians navigate the balance between getting
things done and honoring God in the process.
His insights have shaped much of what we discussed today.
And then Do More Better by Tim Challies, it's just a fantastic resource for
anyone looking to improve their productivity from a Christian perspective.
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He gives such practical advice on how to organize your life,
how to get more done while keeping your focus on what truly matters.
He helped me to put together my task management system, and I'm so thankful
for this book just for that purpose alone. It was a help to me.
I think of a podcast that I always recommend is Reagan's Redeeming Productivity.
He just gives great insight on how to approach productivity from a Christian perspective.
(44:41):
I really recommend checking out his content if you're looking for more on this topic.
And then a few of my favorite apps and tools are, obviously I said Things 3 is my personal Yeah.
(45:09):
We have, that's like probably our, what would I call that?
That's our biggest divide in this house is our phone uses. We always crack up.
He calls me that I'm on the dark side.
I think he's on the dark side with his phone. But anyways, he uses Things 3
and it's a great app. It's free. It works on all devices, I believe too.
So Things 3 is for Apple users only. So on Google Calendar, I think most of
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you are probably already using that, but that's where we do everything,
our shared family, it's my calendar.
And then I do use a Remarkable tablet to keep all my brained up notes and lists in it.
So I want to talk about Kelly Caput gave us some thoughts on time as a gift.
He said, as we consider how to manage our time and tasks, I'm reminded of something
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he emphasized here in his book that I talked about earlier, You're Only Human.
He said, he pointed out that time is a gift from God.
He said, instead of trying to control or stretch time, we should use it wisely and with gratitude.
And he said, that means setting realistic expectations for what can be accomplished
in a day. And we need to be content.
This is big with what we are able to do, trusting that God will take care of
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the rest. We're not going to do it all, right? We're not.
So as we wrap up today's episode, I want to take a moment to reflect on what
we've covered and offer some encouragement as you continue on this journey of
organizing your life, right, as a homemaker and wife and mother and grandmother.
We've talked about the importance of a brain dump as a tool to clear your mind
(46:39):
and help you get all those responsibilities on your mind that you carry out.
We explore different methods for how to organize that once you do get it out
of your mind, so how you can organize your tasks and events.
And whether you're a paper girl or you're a digital tool user or you're a combination person.
And then we touched on the importance
of a weekly review, and that's one I really encourage you to do.
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My weekly review time is when I do review and plan for my next week.
And it's also when I menu plan.
I just, it's such a help to me. It takes so much off my mind.
And my week goes so much smoother when I do that.
I have this magnetic board on my refrigerator.
And after I do that and I plan my menus, all our events and things go on that
board along with my menu plan for the week. And I love that any one of us,
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my family, that's, you know, my husband or if my kids are visiting or grandkids,
they can see what we're eating.
They can see what's on the schedule for the week.
It's just such a help for me. And it helps me to not miss anything important.
That I really appreciate.
I know that our lives as homemakers, it can feel overwhelming at times.
I understand that because the tasks never seem to end and it's easy to feel
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like you're always behind. But I want to remind us that our work,
it is of great value in the eyes of the Lord.
So, Mama, whether you're dealing with tasks and planning or you're folding laundry
or you're preparing meals or you're nurturing and loving on your family,
you're serving the Lord through these acts of love and care.
And as Christians, we hold fast to the truth that our worth is not found in
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our productivity or in how we
perfectly manage our homes, but our worth is found in Christ alone. loan.
He's the one who gives us the strength to carry out our daily tasks,
and he's the one who ultimately brings fruit from our labor.
When you take the time to plan your day as a homemaker, it brings so many blessings.
It helps you manage your time more effectively. It reduces the stress of not
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knowing where to start, and it gives you a clear focus on what needs to be done.
Planning allows you to be more productive and flexible, and it ensures that
you're making the most of each day while keeping your priorities in line with what truly matters.
As you go through your day, you'll know that you've set your intentions before
the Lord and you're desiring to steward your time well that he's gifted you with.
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Remember, always, it's not about achieving perfection. None of us can.
Not everything on our list are going to get done and we're going to forget things.
It's part of life on this fallen earth, right?
It's about being faithful stewards words, of the time and talents and responsibilities
that the Lord has entrusted to us.
So as you plan your days and you organize your tasks, do so with the understanding
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that you're not alone in Christ, right? Jesus is your strength. He's your guide.
He's your source of peace. Lean on him. Let his grace carry you through the busyness of life.
So as you move forward, I do encourage you, take the time to do a brain dump
if you're having a moment when you're feeling overwhelmed or even doing it weekly
to help plan out your days and weeks.
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Organize your tasks in a way that works for you and make use of the tools that help you stay on track.
But above all, keep your focus on Christ. Let your work be an offering to him
and trust that he's with you in every moment. He's guiding and sustaining you.
Thank you so, so much for joining me. I pray that these practical tips and encouragement
will bless you as you serve your family and the Lord, because Jesus truly is enough always.
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I'm so thankful for you, my friend. Thank you for your time.
As I said, the full show notes are in a pretty decent-sized blog form,
and they're linked below wherever you're listening to the episode.
You can find them at the blog, thankfulhomemaker.com. And this was episode 165,
titled Bringing Order to Your Day, The Benefits of a Brain dump in a daily plan.
If you get to my blog, if you get to thankfulhomemaker.com and you don't see
(50:25):
it, it's, you know, you're listening to this later and you're looking for it,
put brain dump in the search and it will pop up for you.
And don't forget to get your copy of the free PDF that goes with this episode.
It's linked in the show notes, but you can also find it over at,
you can access it through my
free library and that's thankfulhomemaker.com backslash free dash library.
I'm so grateful for you, my friend, and I do pray that you have a very blessed week.
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Music.
Music.
(00:06):
Welcome to the Thankful Homemaker podcast, a podcast to be an encouragement
and blessing to each other in the role God has called us to as women.
I'm so thankful you've stopped by, so grab yourself a coffee or tea and sit
with me a bit as we talk about how God's Word impacts every area of our lives as Christian women.
Hello, friend. I'm Marci Farrell from Thankful Homemaker, and I'm so glad to be with you today.
(00:32):
We're getting practical today because as much as I love the start of a new year
and setting up a new planner.
For me, I find that the transition between summer and fall is when I naturally
gravitate towards reorganizing and reviewing my systems and projects,
probably even more than I do at the beginning of the new year.
(00:53):
So to start the fall season with you, I'm sharing today, this is episode 165,
and I've titled it bringing order to your day, the benefits of a brain dump, and a daily plan.
So as Christian homemakers and wives and mothers and grandmothers,
our lives are brimming with responsibilities from managing our homes and nurturing
(01:14):
our families to staying involved in our communities and our churches.
And with so much on our plates, it can get easy to feel overwhelmed at times.
And that's where the practice of a brain dump comes in.
This simple exercise can bring
clarity, reduce stress, and help us to stay focused on what truly matters.
(01:35):
But I don't want to just leave you with the concept of a brain dump.
It's important to pair it with a reliable task management system that can capture
and organize all those swirling thoughts and calendar appointments and to-do
lists that you got out of your head and on paper.
And by doing this, we can better steward our time and responsibilities. possibilities.
(01:56):
I've also put together, as we're just starting this episode,
a detailed handout for this episode, and I don't want to forget to mention it.
I'll link to how to access the PDF in the show notes. There'll be a link there for it.
But I believe it'll be a helpful resource if you're looking to implement these
strategies that we're going to talk about, but you're not sure where to start.
So before we dig into this topic...
(02:19):
I want to share a thought that's been a huge encouragement to remember as I
put this episode together, and it's one I want you to remember too.
And this is from Kelly Kaepig's book called Your Only Human.
Kaepig reminds us that we are created as finite beings with limits,
and that these limits, they're not flaws. They're part of God's design.
(02:40):
And as homemakers, we often feel the pressure to do it all sometimes,
but it's important to remember that our limitations, they're not a sign of failure.
They're actually a reminder that we are dependent creatures designed to rely on God and others.
And as believers, our true citizenship is in heaven.
(03:01):
And from there, we eagerly await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's Philippians 3.20 there. This heavenly perspective, it should shape how
we approach our daily lives.
It should would remind us that while we strive to be productive and organized,
our ultimate reliance, it isn't on our systems, but on the grace of Jesus Christ.
(03:23):
I want us to hold to that as we work through this today.
I always struggle when I do practical episodes because our goal,
it's not to reach perfection in our productivity, but to be faithful stewards
of the time and talents and tasks that the Lord has entrusted to us.
And this is especially true for us as Christian homemakers.
Our work is often unseen, it's repetitive, it can feel never-ending,
(03:47):
yet it's in these very tasks, whether it's folding laundry...
Preparing meals, or nurturing little hearts, mama, right?
That's where we serve the Lord and our families. So as we work hard and we strive
to stay organized, it's really crucial to remember that our ultimate reliance,
it's not on our systems, but it's on the grace of Jesus Christ.
(04:09):
He's our strength and our help in every aspect of our lives,
including how we manage our time and tasks each day.
So in his book, Capek also pointed out that our dependence on God and others
It's not a weakness, but it's how we were created to live.
We live in a world that values self-sufficiency, and it's a relief to know that
(04:31):
we don't have to carry every burden alone.
We were meant to live in community, to lean on our families and friends,
and most importantly, to lean on our good God.
So for us homemakers, this might look like asking for help when we need it or
taking time to rest without guilt, trusting that God is in control.
(04:51):
So as we move forward here and you implement your brain dump and you organize
your tasks, do so with the understanding that while these tools are helpful,
they are not the source of our peace or worth.
Our true rest comes from Christ and our aim in all things should be to glorify
God even in the ordinary tasks of our daily lives.
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So whether we're folding laundry or planning meals or planning our days,
let's do it all for the glory of God, knowing that our efforts,
though they are imperfect, are made perfect in him.
So I want to talk about when I use a brain dump as a Christian homemaker or
when to use it, because most of the time for me, my task management system keeps me organized.
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And before I go further, let me explain what that term means.
A task management system is just a tool or a method that helps you to organize
and prioritize and track your to-do list.
That's all it is. It just keeps you on top of your tasks by allowing you to
break them down into smaller steps.
You can set deadlines. You can schedule tasks for specific days.
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You can monitor your progress.
You're ensuring there that you're not missing anything important.
It's like having a personal, this is how I look at it.
It's like having a personal assistant that reminds me what to do and when to do it.
And it just helps to make my life more organized and manageable.
Manageable my task management system it does its
job in keeping my tasks captured and
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organized and I'm able to work through them each day and
week I can move them around easy if certain days
are too busy or the day went nothing as I planned it I
could also put them in what I call a someday folder if they're not necessary
at this season of my life but maybe it's something I'd like to get to sometime
and not forget about it and then I can also delegate tasks I can delete them
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right If I determine that it really doesn't need to be done,
which happens quite often,
my task management system helps me to avoid chaos on most days,
and it keeps me focused on the most important tasks that I hope to accomplish that day.
I'm going to go into more detail in that in a moment, but I want to first share
how I've benefited from something that David Allen, he calls it a brain dump, and I'm not sure.
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I'm thinking he's the person who came up with it. That's where I first heard
it. But now the term itself is really not all that appealing,
and I couldn't figure out what else to call it besides what they called it,
so I'm going to stick with that.
But this brain dump has been incredibly helpful when there's a lot on my mind.
There are times when I just need to clear my head and get everything out on
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paper, and that's where this brain dump comes in really handy.
I want to share a quote from David Allen, who many of you may be familiar.
You know he's the creator of the getting things done methodology.
It's important to note he's not a believer, okay? So, but this particular tip
of his has been really helpful to me.
His quote is a great reminder that our brains weren't designed to hold onto
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every task and commitment we have.
He says, your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.
So today, we're going to talk about how to manage our fallible memories and
minds, ensuring that we don't forget those important tasks that we want to accomplish.
Projects we want to get finished or the promises we made to others.
We're going to work through this together and we're going to rely on some practical
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tools and the grace of God to keep us on track.
So let me share you times in my life when a brain dump has benefited me.
So one of the first ones is when I'm feeling overwhelmed.
There's seasons in life when the demands on our time and energy,
they just seem to exceed our capacity to manage them.
Maybe it's the beginning of a new school year or the holidays are coming up
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or you're caring for an aging parent or it's just a really busy week with a
lot of extra responsibilities.
And it's during these times that a brain dump sometimes is just a real lifesaver for me.
When I can get everything out of my head and onto paper, I can see it all there
and I can see it more clearly then.
And from there, then I can begin to organize and prioritize what needs to be done.
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This is also a huge amount off my mind when I feel like I'm trying to remember everything.
Another time is when you're transitioning between seasons.
And just as I mentioned earlier about the transition between summer and fall
being a natural time for me to review and reorganize, or it could be the start
of a new year, but transitions in general are a great time to do a brain dump.
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So whether it's moving from it's moving, or maybe it's from one season of the
year to another, or there's big big life changes like starting a new job or
you're moving or you're, I already said moving, I meant moving from one season.
You know what, nevermind that, we're just going to keep moving forward here.
Or you're having a baby or even just shifting into a different routine.
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A brain dump helps you to adjust by allowing you to reassess your priorities
and reorganize your tasks accordingly.
So that just is a really helpful time.
When you're starting a new project. So if you're embarking on a new project,
whether it's planning a family vacation,
starting a home renovation, or preparing for a big event, a brain dump can help
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you capture all the ideas and tasks and details that you're going to need to consider.
And I always think this initial, and I call it my unfiltered flow of information,
I'm just letting it all flow because in those moments, I just let it go onto the paper.
From there, then they can be sorted and organized into actionable steps.
And it can make the project feel much more manageable.
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Like for us, we're doing some updating on our basement and it's been a long
project and we're basically bringing it out of the 90s.
So wallpaper needed to be removed. It needed to be painted. We have a storage
room that needs to be organized.
We have an exercise area. We wanna do a little revamping now.
And we just have lots of things we need to get rid of or give away.
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It felt really overwhelming. until my husband and I sat down together and we
worked through it and we laid out all the tasks involved.
And it instantly made the project feel more manageable.
I even got a little studio out of it, which is where I'm sitting right now,
talking to you in the corner of the basement to record podcasts and videos.
We haven't completed the whole project yet. It's been a bit.
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It's been on hold for a little bit, really for the summer. But we're confident
that when we return to to it a little later this fall, we're going to know exactly what steps to take.
So another time is when you're stuck or unmotivated. And for me,
there's times when I just might hit a wall. Maybe my motivation is low.
Maybe I'm not sure what to do next. This can also fit in with being overwhelmed.
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But sometimes for me, I'm dealing with something and I don't know where to begin.
And it's in those moments a brain dump can help me clear the fog.
I know a lot of times I'm talking Sometimes this means journaling for me,
that I'm journaling thoughts out.
By writing everything down on your mind, you may uncover underlying concerns
or unaddressed tasks that are weighing you down.
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Sometimes it reveals things on my list that don't need to be,
and it's a help to either eliminate them or being able to delegate them.
Because when I do that, that for me, it helps me to almost reignite my focus
and it helps me to move forward.
So kind of an example here was one big project for me that I just felt I didn't
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even know where to begin and I wasn't motivated to even get started, but I did want to do it.
I just didn't know how to even begin and then I just would just avoid it.
But it was organizing our family's digital photos.
It seemed impossible to me. At the time, I imagined the time really that I was
thinking it would take to get them in order.
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It overwhelmed me. And we have a lot of obviously printed photos.
My husband and I have been married since 1986.
So I'm trying to think, I think our digital world came into play like 2010.
So most of our pictures were printed. And I did a lot with putting those into
albums, and I would make special albums for vacations and things.
But then the digital world came and I just, if I wasn't making a printed album,
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I just had all these photos that we really weren't utilizing.
So, but just thinking it through, it helped me as I did a little research and
I looked into it, it helped me to develop a system to slowly start organizing them in a simple way.
So I was able to put some tasks down on where I could start.
So in my mind, it was a lot more complicated and I avoided it.
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But once I worked through it and got it all out on paper, are,
it became much more manageable.
And now I am tackling it little bits at a time, but I'm tackling it. I'm getting through it.
So this is a big one for me, and I do this pretty much every week.
When you're planning your week, incorporating a weekly brain dump,
because this one will probably be a little smaller, right, into your routine,
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it can be incredibly helpful.
So before you start planning your week, just take a few moments to jot down
everything that's on your mind, what you need to do, what you want to do,
maybe what's weighing on you, things you didn't get to the past week that you
need to carry over into this week.
This simple practice can bring clarity, and it can help you approach your weekly
planning with a clear perspective, ensuring that nothing slips through the cracks.
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I do this every week, and then I fit those tasks into the days where they make
the most sense. I'm going to walk through that in more detail as we move forward here, too.
And it's also going to help you with that PDF handout that I have.
In this particular podcast episode, I've been trying to work these into a blog post.
So there's a pretty long blog post on this in the show notes.
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So you can kind of refer back to it if you need to do that too.
But as I fit those tasks into the days where they make the most sense,
in that way, I'm not overwhelming myself by cramming 15 things into one day.
But instead, I'm spreading them out over the week in a way that really helps
my week to feel more manageable.
Here's a big one. When you're feeling disconnected from your goals,
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or as I like to refer to my goals, I call them my spiritual priorities.
Because sometimes in the busyness of everyday life, we can lose sight of our
larger goals and priorities that we've set.
And a brain dump allows us to reconnect with these by giving space to reflect
on what's truly important.
Because as you write down your thoughts and tasks, you can realign your daily
activities by working in parts and pieces of those long-term goals that you'd like to accomplish.
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And then that way you ensure that your efforts are focused on what matters most.
And for me, this area really helped me to get scheduled and organized and planned
and And on the church calendar, a study for Our Ladies at Church.
It was something on my mind. It was a goal I set, but I needed to bring it before
the pastors, and then I needed to implement it when I got the okay to move forward.
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I kept putting it off until I took the time to sit down and work through it.
This might be your morning time with the Lord needs some help,
and you can spend some time writing down all the things that you'd like it to
look like or areas you'd like to incorporate into it, and then you can work
through it and get that put together.
So let's just talk about a few, and I feel like they're worldly things that
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I'm stating here, but some benefits of a brain dump, because these are some
benefits for me that help.
It just can help us to basically have better, I think, your mental clarity.
I don't know another term for that, so I'm just going to go with mental clarity.
But when you write everything down on your mind, it helps you to see all your
tasks and thoughts in one place.
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And it just makes it easier to organize and prioritize. It brings a sense of order to your day.
And then stress reduction. I know we talk a lot about stress,
but just offloading all that's on our minds onto paper, it really can help to
reduce stress and anxiety.
I know for me, even at night before bed, to make sure if there's things on my
mind, I get them off and onto a piece of paper and just, it helps immensely
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to help me sleep. I don't have to keep track of everything in my head.
They're not swirling around in my mind at night or whatever time of the day
I'm doing that. And it just frees me from the pressure of remembering every detail.
I think a brain dump, it really improves my focus because with a clear mind,
I can better focus on my tasks at hand. And it really helps to improve my productivity
and I'm a lot more efficient.
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It just allows you to be fully present in each moment too, whether you're working
or you're serving your family or you're spending time with the Lord,
you're focused on the task at hand because all the other tasks are taken care
of and written down and you don't have to be focusing on them.
You're just focusing on the current, whatever is in front of you at that moment,
whether it's a person or a project or whatever that might be.
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I think sometimes it helps our creativity because when your mind isn't cluttered
with with all these unfinished tasks and worries and concerns and things that
you want to do, there's just more room for creative ideas and solutions to come forward.
So you may find yourself inspired in ways you didn't even anticipate.
So let's talk about how to do a brain dump, all right? Here's some really,
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you know, it's not, you don't really need direction, but I'm going to give you
some direction on it just in case it's something you want to do.
So one of the things I do when I do do this, I set aside time.
So I'll choose a quiet time when I can sit down without distractions.
For me, I'll grab myself a cup of coffee and a notebook. And what I use instead
of paper is I use something called a Remarkable tablet.
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I know I've mentioned it before, I believe, but just Google Remarkable tablet
if you don't know what it is when you're done listening to this and you're going to see why I love it.
I'm not an affiliate or anything, but it just holds hundreds and hundreds of
my notebooks for me in one place.
And it feels like I'm writing on real paper.
I love this tablet. It has been a huge blessing to me. I don't,
I rarely use paper anymore.
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I mean, my journal, my morning time with the Lord, my sermon notes,
everything is on this tablet.
My brain dump has its own area on my tablet so I can see past brain dump lists.
So just choose that quiet time. It could be early morning, during a quiet afternoon,
before bed, whatever that is.
The goal is to find a time when you can focus and let your thoughts flow.
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And then write everything down. So whatever you're using, that notebook,
or maybe you're typing it on a computer, just start writing or typing.
Don't worry about, at this step, don't worry about organizing or categorizing
or overthinking it at all.
You're just getting everything out, whether it's tasks or project ideas or worries
or ideas or prayer requests. Write it all down.
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Keep it in a place where it's easy to access as ideas come into your mind.
And then you're going to review and reflect.
So once you've written everything down, take a moment to review your list.
This can be a time of prayer and reflection, asking the Lord for guidance and
wisdom and managing your tasks and priorities. priorities it's an opportunity
to align your plans with his will and seek his peace in the midst of your responsibilities.
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So you've completed your brain dump and you have all your tasks and ideas and
commitments laid out in front of you.
And now it's time to bring some order to the chaos. So whether you prefer the
tactile satisfaction of pen and paper or the convenience of a digital system
like Google Calendar and a task management app,
or maybe you do a mix of both, I'm going to walk you through how to take those
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scattered thoughts that you've got on paper and turn them into a manageable plan.
So first, we're going to cover how to organize your brain dump just using a
calendar and a notebook or a paper planner.
And then for those of you who lean towards digital tools, I'll share how to
do the same thing after this. It's pretty similar.
So our first option, our calendar and our notebook.
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I find it really helpful to sort my tasks into categories.
And I got this from Tim Challey's book called Do More Better.
So I have categories like home and personal and family and church and ministry,
work, our company. And then I have my blog.
I have social. And then I keep a list for current projects.
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And then my other folder, someday, which I think that's from David Allen,
actually. But I really like my someday folder.
So we're going to start here to prioritize, and then we'll schedule them.
But you need to use categories that work for you and your family.
You could have more or less. There's not a limit what you can do here.
Fewer is probably better, but I, what do I have? One, two, three.
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Five, six, seven, eight, eight, nine with someday.
So the first thing you're going to do is you're going to prioritize your tasks.
You're going to look at your list and look what's urgent and important.
So start by just figuring out what tasks need your attention,
what tasks maybe have deadlines, which ones will make the biggest impact if
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you get them done this week, and then highlight or mark those as top priorities.
So you can kind of look at your weekly focus, decide which tasks,
which ones probably need to happen this week.
So those are probably your must-dos, those that can't wait.
And then you could also defer or delegate. So for tasks that aren't pressing,
think about whether they can be scheduled for later in the month or maybe they
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could be delegated to someone else.
And then if there's ones that you wanna defer, you can put those in your someday
section or note them on a future date in your calendar, maybe down the road.
Maybe you're like, you know what? I don't need to do that in September,
but I wanna come back to that. So I'm going to put that into October,
and I'll look at it again.
And then if you delete, are there tasks on the list that don't need to be done?
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Just cross them off or delete them.
And now you're going to schedule your tasks. So you're going to open that paper
planner you have or your notebook or whatever that is to your weekly spread.
You're going to take a look at your top priority tasks, and you're going to
begin to assign them to specific days.
You need to be realistic about what you can accomplish each day.
Spread out your workload so you don't end up overwhelmed. overwhelmed
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and make sure before you do this that you
already have any calendar appointments or events already noted
in your planner so you can see when you have doctor appointments or meetings at
church or having somebody over for dinner then on
each day's page you're going to list your daily tests for the day that you've
assigned to that day you want to always leave a little room for flexibility
my reminder to myself and you is that the lord appoints our portion and we don't
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know what each day will bring so keep it with an open hand to the lord and then
you have your calendar events.
So this is your calendar events are for any appointments or meetings or events
that are locked into a specific time.
Write these down in your calendar. Your calendar is not for your task list.
It's for your events. All right.
These should be for your fixed time commitments, not for general tasks.
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This way you can see at a glance how much time you have available and then review and adjust.
You're going to keep your planner handy throughout the week.
So So when new tasks or ideas pop up, jot them down where they belong,
either into a specific category or on the day where they fit best.
Or maybe you just have an area in your planner for notes. That's how I usually catch things.
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It just goes into my inbox or a notes thing if I'm writing it down in my tablet.
Just make sure you capture it so you don't forget it.
And make sure you know where to check those places that you captured if you're
capturing in more than one place as you're planning each week.
And if something doesn't get done as planned, move it to another day,
right? Tomorrow's a new day.
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And then just a project note, because I know sometimes we have projects, right?
So let's consider a larger project, like planning a women's conference.
So I maintain a dedicated section in my task management app and in my notebook,
my tablet, for ongoing projects.
And it helps me to keep all my related tasks easily accessible.
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So whatever current projects I have going on, they're in one specific place.
And then that way I know where they're at. So like for the Women's Conference,
I created a specific area in my notebook to list all the necessary tasks that kept coming to mind.
And then rather than writing out and scheduling every one of those tasks at
one time, I just prioritized them and I integrated them gradually as needed
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into my daily and weekly plans.
And this approach, it helped me to keep things flexible and manageable,
and it helped me to not feel overwhelmed.
It helped me to tackle each task when the time was right for it,
but I wasn't bombarded with a zillion tasks in a day.
So it was a great way to spread it out because this way of prioritizing and
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scheduling, it's going to help you keep your tasks organized and they're spread
out and it's manageable.
It's It's going to make your week feel a lot less overwhelming when you're tackling
something large, like a bigger project than what you, you know,
just beyond your normal day-to-day tasks.
So that's kind of paper aspect. So let's look at a digital approach.
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I feel like I mixed a little digital in there and I'm really sorry because I
don't know how, my brain doesn't know how to function without my digital.
But let's talk about the digital approach. So this is how I organize my tasks.
I use Google Calendar and my preferred task management app is called Things 3.
It's an Apple product.
It's not an Apple product. It's created for Apple devices, I should say.
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And then Todoist, that's another helpful app too.
So I did take kind of a picture of my app.
I had to split it in two, but I put a picture of it, how it's kind of categorized
on the corresponding blog post for this episode.
So when you click that link in the show notes, well, when you click that link
below the podcast, wherever you're listening in, and it takes you to the main
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show notes page over at my blog, that's the blog post for this, the photo will be there.
Also, that's where the link will be to the PDF, and I'll have all the resources
there that I talk about the different books and things too.
So what I do is I set up categories in Things 3, and I talked about my categories
a little before when we talked about Tim Challey's In Do More Better and where I got that from.
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So I start by dividing my tasks into broad areas of responsibility in the Things 3 app.
So I have home and personal and family and church slash ministry.
And then I have work and I have my blog. I have social and then I have current projects.
And then under each of these main areas, I'll create, there'll be more specific
subcategories to capture the different aspects of my responsibilities.
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So let me give you some examples. So under home, it could have subcategories
like cleaning, maintenance, projects, finances.
Under work, I break it down into writing, podcast episodes, accounting tasks.
Really, that's blog, so I apologize. That's more blog, and then accounting tasks
would be more work for my husband's company.
And then church slash ministry, that would include categories like Bible study
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prep, event planning, Titus II relationships.
But these categories help me keep everything organized and allow me to see at
a glance where my tasks fall in relation to different areas of my life.
What I love with this app too is I could have little notes and other things under each of those too.
If I need to explain something or I need a link to something,
I can put all that there in that one place. So that has been really handy.
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So I need to figure out how do I capture and organize these tasks, right?
So whenever a new task comes to my mind, and this is just on a daily basis,
this isn't a brain dump per se, it's just a normal, normal day when there's stuff on your mind,
I immediately capture it in the Things 3 apps inbox.
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I feel like that was a tongue twister. I'm not sure I said that all right,
but it goes right in that inbox in the app.
That's like my digital catch-all for every idea, reminder, or to-do that pops up during the day.
And from there, I take time either daily or weekly to sort these tasks into
their appropriate categories. Weekly for sure.
Sometimes it may happen daily, but usually it happens more weekly.
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So sorting. So when I'm reviewing that inbox, I decide where each task belongs.
And this would be the same if I was working with a brain dump list too, right?
So for example, if I remember that I need to get the bank reconciliation to
the accountant, By the end of the month, I'll move that task to the accounting
subcategory under work, and I'll schedule a time to complete it.
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If I realize it's time to schedule an oil change for my van,
I'll move that task to the maintenance subcategory under home and plan when
I'll make the call. And those will come up in my task list.
But once that appointment for that van gets scheduled, I'll add it to my calendar,
and then the task is checked off.
Scheduling. So once a task is categorized, then I decide when I need to get it done.
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I can assign it to a specific day. I can defer it to a much later date.
I love how Things 3 allows me to just schedule tasks into my week with just a few taps.
I can do this from all my devices. I can move them around and switch them.
I can even add tasks to the inbox by speaking into my Apple Watch. Who would have thought?
So Google Calendar then comes into play here because it's for our time-sensitive events.
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So that's, again, what I said before. It's reserved for events,
appointments, and meetings.
Anything that has a specific time or place, like the scheduled oil change.
This helps me keep my schedule clear and focused on where I need to be and when. So here's how I use it.
So for event scheduling, I add any meetings, doctor appointments,
church events, social gatherings, all those things that have a specific time
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directly into my Google Calendar.
And then I also use different colors for different types of events like green
for family, purple for church, red for work.
So I can see at a glance how my time is divided there and allocated on the day.
I love the reminders feature. I set reminders for important events,
especially those I can't afford to miss, or maybe they're different.
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You know, it's not like your normal weekly, I go to church every Sunday at,
you know, I have to be there by whatever, 845. I already know that.
But I do like to set reminders for events that are not my normal,
like dentist appointments or things like that.
I'll usually set one reminder for the day before, and then I'll set another
an hour or two before the event as a reminder to pop up.
And then one of our favorite features is
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the shared calendar our family uses a shared
calendar so all of us can stay on the same
page we can see where everybody is and what's going on this is so
useful for coordinating schedules avoiding double booking you know my husband
my daughter my son my my father-in-law they can all see where I am and what
I'm doing and I can the same with them and I really appreciate that feature
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daily and weekly planning then so here we go so each Each morning,
what I do is I take a few minutes to review my day.
I look at the tasks now that I've scheduled Things 3 alongside the events in
my Google Calendar, and this is my chance to see the big picture and adjust it as needed.
So in my daily view, Things 3 shows me my calendar events right alongside my tasks for the day.
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And this way, I can see everything in one place, and it makes it so easy to
plan my time effectively.
Effectively for tasks that i call routine tasks
things that are repeated daily or weekly like my
morning routine or exercise or weekly cleaning i
use the repeat task feature in things three and this keeps these tasks in my
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rotation without having to re-enter them constantly same thing with google calendar
you know church is just a standing event that just repeats every week or wednesday
night service or whatever other events that just naturally repeat on your calendar
We use the repeat feature.
And then adjustments. This is a big one. If my day looks too full.
Or something unexpected comes up, I can easily drag and drop tasks to another
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day and adjust my priorities as needed.
I can get up that morning and open my to-do, you know, my list for the day and
go, this is just too much. So what do I not need to deal with today?
But I can push to another day of the week. I do that every day.
And for this, for the task management app, it is accessible on all my devices.
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And that's a big advantage for me. So when I use these digital tools like Google
Calendar and Things 3, I'm grateful that whether I'm on my phone or tablet or
computer, I can check my tasks and calendar, make updates, add new items on the go.
Everything syncs and it ensures I never miss a beat no matter where I am.
So if digital appeals to you, I encourage you to just try a free app like the Todoist.
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Try it for a month or two, set it up, play with it a little bit, see how it works for you.
Things 3 was a purchased app, and I know, I feel like the cost has gone up quite
a bit since I purchased it. It's been quite a few years now.
So let's talk about this weekly review. I want to dive into the process of what
a weekly review is, and I'm not going as in depth as I'd like to,
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but I'm going to give you a link down below to, as I go a little further to
talk about that, we'll help you a little bit more here.
But a weekly review process is so helpful, whether you're using digital tools
or you're preferring pen and paper.
I'm going to focus on using digital tools here, but if you're more comfortable
with a traditional planner, you can absolutely adapt these steps to fit your system.
I used only pen and paper for years before transitioning to digital,
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so the principles remain the same.
And I still use a paper planner, as I say that. I update it during this weekly review time.
So I'm a mix there. I appreciate digital tools to capture and organize my days
and weeks, especially when I'm on the go, but I love being able to just open
and look at my paper planner.
I really appreciate that. it's always out of my desk. So first off, set aside a time.
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So set a specific time each week for your review and planning session.
Just a few minutes is all it takes. I typically do my weekly planning,
my review, I should say on Sunday afternoon or early evening.
But I've been trying out Friday afternoons lately to kind of start the weekend with a clear mind.
And you start here by checking your calendar. So number two here is review your Google Calendar.
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Look at all the events, appointments, meetings, all the things you have scheduled for the upcoming week.
As you look it over, note any tasks that need to be handled before these events,
like baking a dessert for a church meeting or remembering to reschedule a doctor's
appointment, and add these tasks to your task list in Things 3 or your planner.
And then you're going to review and organize your tasks in Things 3.
(34:47):
So go through your tasks in your Things 3 app or your planner or your notebook,
right? Start with that inbox.
And if you capture things somewhere else, you know, maybe you wrote them on
a tablet by on your desk in the kitchen or something.
Make sure you have all those things that you captured through the week.
And then you're going to move those tasks to their appropriate categories,
whether that's home or personal or family or however you labeled your areas.
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And then you'll start to begin to schedule them for the week.
Check off any tasks that you completed last week or cross them off.
Reschedule anything that didn't get finished.
For routine tasks like your morning routine or exercise or weekly cleaning,
whatever you might do, use that repeat feature in that task management app. Keep them on your radar.
And then prioritize your week. So using things, for me, things three today and
(35:34):
upcoming views, that really helps me to map out my week because I can look and
see my week at a glance and what's coming up.
And I can drag and drop tasks into the days that I plan to tackle them.
I can make sure I'm prioritizing my most important tasks and projects so they
don't get lost in the shuffle.
And after I'm all done with them, I like to put them in the order that I hope
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to complete them that day.
So I kind of move them up and down a little bit to get them in an order that I like.
And then take the time to reflect and pray. Take a few moments to reflect on the past week.
Think about what went well. What could have gone better?
Then bring your plans before the Lord in prayer, asking for his guidance and
strength as you head into the new week.
A weekly plan is so helpful. There's such good benefits.
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Because when you're doing this, you're not just managing your time.
You're clearing mental space to focus on what truly matters.
And this process helps you enter each week with clarity and tension.
And it allows you to serve the Lord and your family with a heart that's calm and ready.
You have a focus. when everything is laid out in an order
it's so much easier to focus on what's most important ensuring that
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you're not just staying busy but you're being purposeful
with the time that god has given you and i do want to share
that reagan rose from redeeming productivity as as i was i was working on this
podcast this week he had a video that just came out of all things which i was
thankful for and i watched it this morning had a helpful video on how to do
a christ honoring weekly review and i'm going to link to that in the show notes
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it is so well worth your time to watch.
It'll be a bigger help than what I'm giving you here. So, so let's.
Walk through a practical, if you're still with me here, hang with me,
I have some good stuff here at the end too to share.
So I want to give you a practical example of a brain dump for just a normal busy week, all right?
This is not like one of the overwhelm modes or something else.
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I'm just going to take it as a week because it is something I do every week.
So I'm going to walk through how I'd handle a brain dump and how I would go
about organizing those tasks using my task management app and Google Calendar on a normal week of mine.
So each week I sit down to review and plan my tasks.
I start by checking off any unfinished items from the previous week that still need attention.
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Then I look through my inbox and any notes that I've made to see what tasks
might need to be added to my list.
I always include my everyday responsibilities, like whatever rooms I'm determining
to clean on which days of the week and my morning routine and exercise.
And I plan that all out for the weekend meal planning and laundry,
though I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting there right now as I'm waddling,
(38:04):
just kind of muddling through that. But the idea here is simple.
You're going to grab a notebook or open your app or whatever that is and jot
everything down that's on your mind for the week ahead. That's where I begin.
So my brain down, I'm going to throw some example things. It might include things
like reschedule a dentist appointment for my husband, prepare materials for
the woman's Bible study, and make a sign-up sheet for the church.
(38:25):
Finish writing, recording, and editing the podcast and blog posts for Thursday.
I'm barely making that deadline. This is the podcast I'm talking about here,
and it keeps getting moved.
So I need to write some thank you notes. I need to update our company's website for my husband.
I need to plan the menu for Saturday's family dinner. I need to reconcile the
company's bank statements. I need to prepare a meal for a friend recovering from surgery.
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I need to make a meal for my husband's upcoming book study with his group of
guys that meet here. I need to buy groceries for the week and for all these extra meals.
So at this stage, I'm not concerned with order or priority.
I'm simply getting everything out of my head and onto paper.
And that's where For me, I would use what I call my remarkable tablet,
which is just like a notebook.
I do use tactile paper when I'm writing all this down.
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Now I'm going to organize it. All right. Now that I've done this brain dump,
it's time to sort and organize these tasks in my Things 3 app.
So I'm going to categorize them. I start by categorizing. So under home would
be things like schedule a dentist appointment.
Could go under family. I'm going to stick it under home here. I need to buy groceries.
I need to plan the menu for the family dinner. Under blog, I need to finish
(39:29):
editing this podcast, record it, and write the blog post for it.
Under church ministry, I need to prepare the materials for Bible study.
I need to make the a sign-up sheet. I need to plan those meals for my friend's
family and also for the men's study.
For family, I need to write thank you notes and figure out what we're going
to do for dinner on Saturday.
For my work stuff, I need to reconcile the company bank statements and update
(39:51):
the company website, okay?
So from there, I've got these categorized, but now I need to prioritize and schedule them.
So I'm going to kind of look at urgency first. What's important here?
I need to rescheduled that dentist appointment.
I need to finish the podcast and blog post, and I need to get those Bible study
materials together in that signup sheet.
My lower priorities would be writing thank you notes, updating the company website.
(40:14):
That poor thing has got moved forward like many weeks. I'm going to get to it.
Reconcile the bank statements and grocery shopping.
And then I assign these tasks from this point to specific days in Things 3 in my app.
So on Monday, I put reschedule the dentist appointment as a task.
I put finish the podcast, and I put gather the Bible study materials.
(40:34):
And then for Tuesday, went prepare the Bible study materials.
So start thinking that through.
Wednesday, my grocery shopping for the week and for all those meals I need to
deal with. I want to record the podcast.
I want to write the blog post and edit it on Wednesday. And this is actually
Wednesday as I'm recording this.
Thursday, I need to cook and deliver the meal to my friend. And Friday,
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I need to write those thank you notes. I need to update the company website.
So from there, are there events out of that list that I need to add to my Google Calendar?
So I'm gonna open Google Calendar and add any appointments or time-sensitive tasks.
So Tuesday morning, let's say that's when the dentist appointment got scheduled,
that's gonna go on Tuesday morning.
Thursday afternoon, I'm gonna take the meal to my friend and I can put in there
(41:21):
in the calendar at four o'clock, I'm gonna deliver their meal.
Saturday, I need to put the time like we're having family dinner at five o'clock
and block it off. I also set reminders for these events so nothing slips through
the cracks for me on that.
And then at the end of the week, usually for me lately, again,
it's been Sunday afternoon.
I haven't got to too many Fridays. I'm trying to. But I'll do a quick weekly
(41:43):
review to make sure everything is on track.
So I'll open my things and my Google Calendar.
I'll review what got done, what didn't. If there's any tasks I didn't complete,
I either reschedule them for the next week or or some of them might get moved
to my someday list or further on down the road if they're no longer urgent.
I can plan for the coming week. I just take a few minutes to look ahead at the
(42:05):
upcoming week's events and tasks.
This helps me to see if there's anything I need to prepare for in advance,
any other meals to plan or an upcoming Bible study or meeting with a friend.
I have a couple friends that I meet with and we talk about books that we're
reading. So just any plans I have to do like that. And then reflect and pray.
Finally, I'll take a moment to reflect on the past week. Sometimes I take the
(42:27):
time to turn on my thoughts, too. I do that a lot.
What went well, especially for my weekly time, what went well,
where I struggled, where I need to improve.
I bring my plans before the Lord in prayer. I ask for his guidance and wisdom
in the week ahead. And this process, it really keeps me focused.
And most importantly for me, well, it does. It gives me time,
(42:47):
I should say, to approach each day with a clear plan.
I really appreciate that. But it still leaves me room for flexibility and the unexpected.
Respected and then really as i was saying most importantly it helps
me stay focused on what really matters and what really
matters is serving my family and the lord with a heart of peace and
purpose just really loving them well and honoring the lord
so i want to share some resources that i have found helpful in in this part
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of my life and managing my time and responsibilities as a christian homemaker
and i'm linking to all these in the show notes too so whether you're looking
to dive deeper into some of these concepts we've discussed whether you're totally
confused with with what I'm talking about.
Tim Shelley's Do More Better and Reagan's Redeeming Productivity are super helpful.
These may be practical tools you want to implement, and some of these resources,
(43:33):
I think they'll be a help to you.
So a few of the books that I've enjoyed are You're Only Human by Kelly Kaepick.
This book just offered a refreshing perspective on embracing our God-given limits
and really understanding our dependence on Him.
It's really been a great encouragement to me in realizing that our limitations
are not failures, but they're part of God's design.
And then Reagan's book, Redeeming Productivity, which I've mentioned multiple
(43:56):
times here, but Reagan's book, it provides a biblical approach to productivity.
It is an excellent book. It helps Christians navigate the balance between getting
things done and honoring God in the process.
His insights have shaped much of what we discussed today.
And then Do More Better by Tim Challies, it's just a fantastic resource for
anyone looking to improve their productivity from a Christian perspective.
(44:18):
He gives such practical advice on how to organize your life,
how to get more done while keeping your focus on what truly matters.
He helped me to put together my task management system, and I'm so thankful
for this book just for that purpose alone. It was a help to me.
I think of a podcast that I always recommend is Reagan's Redeeming Productivity.
He just gives great insight on how to approach productivity from a Christian perspective.
(44:41):
I really recommend checking out his content if you're looking for more on this topic.
And then a few of my favorite apps and tools are, obviously I said Things 3 is my personal Yeah.
(45:09):
We have, that's like probably our, what would I call that?
That's our biggest divide in this house is our phone uses. We always crack up.
He calls me that I'm on the dark side.
I think he's on the dark side with his phone. But anyways, he uses Things 3
and it's a great app. It's free. It works on all devices, I believe too.
So Things 3 is for Apple users only. So on Google Calendar, I think most of
(45:33):
you are probably already using that, but that's where we do everything,
our shared family, it's my calendar.
And then I do use a Remarkable tablet to keep all my brained up notes and lists in it.
So I want to talk about Kelly Caput gave us some thoughts on time as a gift.
He said, as we consider how to manage our time and tasks, I'm reminded of something
(45:55):
he emphasized here in his book that I talked about earlier, You're Only Human.
He said, he pointed out that time is a gift from God.
He said, instead of trying to control or stretch time, we should use it wisely and with gratitude.
And he said, that means setting realistic expectations for what can be accomplished
in a day. And we need to be content.
This is big with what we are able to do, trusting that God will take care of
(46:18):
the rest. We're not going to do it all, right? We're not.
So as we wrap up today's episode, I want to take a moment to reflect on what
we've covered and offer some encouragement as you continue on this journey of
organizing your life, right, as a homemaker and wife and mother and grandmother.
We've talked about the importance of a brain dump as a tool to clear your mind
(46:39):
and help you get all those responsibilities on your mind that you carry out.
We explore different methods for how to organize that once you do get it out
of your mind, so how you can organize your tasks and events.
And whether you're a paper girl or you're a digital tool user or you're a combination person.
And then we touched on the importance
of a weekly review, and that's one I really encourage you to do.
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My weekly review time is when I do review and plan for my next week.
And it's also when I menu plan.
I just, it's such a help to me. It takes so much off my mind.
And my week goes so much smoother when I do that.
I have this magnetic board on my refrigerator.
And after I do that and I plan my menus, all our events and things go on that
board along with my menu plan for the week. And I love that any one of us,
(47:25):
my family, that's, you know, my husband or if my kids are visiting or grandkids,
they can see what we're eating.
They can see what's on the schedule for the week.
It's just such a help for me. And it helps me to not miss anything important.
That I really appreciate.
I know that our lives as homemakers, it can feel overwhelming at times.
I understand that because the tasks never seem to end and it's easy to feel
(47:47):
like you're always behind. But I want to remind us that our work,
it is of great value in the eyes of the Lord.
So, Mama, whether you're dealing with tasks and planning or you're folding laundry
or you're preparing meals or you're nurturing and loving on your family,
you're serving the Lord through these acts of love and care.
And as Christians, we hold fast to the truth that our worth is not found in
(48:10):
our productivity or in how we
perfectly manage our homes, but our worth is found in Christ alone. loan.
He's the one who gives us the strength to carry out our daily tasks,
and he's the one who ultimately brings fruit from our labor.
When you take the time to plan your day as a homemaker, it brings so many blessings.
It helps you manage your time more effectively. It reduces the stress of not
(48:31):
knowing where to start, and it gives you a clear focus on what needs to be done.
Planning allows you to be more productive and flexible, and it ensures that
you're making the most of each day while keeping your priorities in line with what truly matters.
As you go through your day, you'll know that you've set your intentions before
the Lord and you're desiring to steward your time well that he's gifted you with.
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Remember, always, it's not about achieving perfection. None of us can.
Not everything on our list are going to get done and we're going to forget things.
It's part of life on this fallen earth, right?
It's about being faithful stewards words, of the time and talents and responsibilities
that the Lord has entrusted to us.
So as you plan your days and you organize your tasks, do so with the understanding
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that you're not alone in Christ, right? Jesus is your strength. He's your guide.
He's your source of peace. Lean on him. Let his grace carry you through the busyness of life.
So as you move forward, I do encourage you, take the time to do a brain dump
if you're having a moment when you're feeling overwhelmed or even doing it weekly
to help plan out your days and weeks.
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Organize your tasks in a way that works for you and make use of the tools that help you stay on track.
But above all, keep your focus on Christ. Let your work be an offering to him
and trust that he's with you in every moment. He's guiding and sustaining you.
Thank you so, so much for joining me. I pray that these practical tips and encouragement
will bless you as you serve your family and the Lord, because Jesus truly is enough always.
(50:02):
I'm so thankful for you, my friend. Thank you for your time.
As I said, the full show notes are in a pretty decent-sized blog form,
and they're linked below wherever you're listening to the episode.
You can find them at the blog, thankfulhomemaker.com. And this was episode 165,
titled Bringing Order to Your Day, The Benefits of a Brain dump in a daily plan.
If you get to my blog, if you get to thankfulhomemaker.com and you don't see
(50:25):
it, it's, you know, you're listening to this later and you're looking for it,
put brain dump in the search and it will pop up for you.
And don't forget to get your copy of the free PDF that goes with this episode.
It's linked in the show notes, but you can also find it over at,
you can access it through my
free library and that's thankfulhomemaker.com backslash free dash library.
I'm so grateful for you, my friend, and I do pray that you have a very blessed week.
(50:51):
Music.
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