Copy this brain dump template into any notes app or Markdown editor. Fill it in for 10 to 15 minutes without stopping to judge anything. Then work through the "Sort it" checklist at the bottom. The categories help you catch different kinds of mental clutter, and the checklist turns the pile into a short list of tasks you can act on today.

If you want the background on why brain dumps work and when to do one, read what a brain dump is and how to do one. This page is the template itself.

How to use this template

  1. Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes. A time limit keeps you writing instead of polishing.
  2. Write everything down, in any category. Use short fragments like "call dentist" or "Q3 report?". If you can't decide where something goes, put it anywhere. Sorting comes later.
  3. Use the prompts when you stall. The "Prompts if you get stuck" line lists common sources of loose ends. Read it slowly and write down whatever it brings up.
  4. Stop when the timer ends, even if you could keep going. You can add more later.
  5. Work through "Sort it" from top to bottom. This is where the dump becomes a plan.

If the categories slow you down, write everything under Tasks first and move items to the right heading during sorting.

The brain dump template

# Brain dump: [date]

## Tasks: things I need to do
- [ ] 
- [ ] 
- [ ] 

## Errands and home
- [ ] 
- [ ] 

## Waiting on others
- 

## Ideas
- 

## Worries
- 

## Remember
- 

## Prompts if you get stuck
Work deadlines, emails to answer, people to call back, bills, appointments, things that are broken, things to buy, birthdays, half-finished projects, promises you made, things you keep putting off

## Sort it
- [ ] Cross out anything that no longer matters
- [ ] Do anything that takes under 2 minutes, right now
- [ ] Hand off anything someone else should do
- [ ] Give every item with a deadline a date
- [ ] Turn each worry into one next step, or let it go
- [ ] Pick the 3 tasks that matter most today
- [ ] Move ideas to a separate ideas note

Each section has a job:

  • Tasks and Errands and home use checkboxes because you will tick them off. Errands get their own heading so they don't bury work tasks.
  • Waiting on others holds things you can't move forward yourself, like a reply, a delivery or an approval. Once they're written down, you can stop checking on them in your head.
  • Ideas are not tasks. Keep them apart and your task list stays short.
  • Worries get written down because they take up attention whether or not you can act on them.
  • Remember is for facts with no action attached, like a locker code or a colleague's new start date.

The checkboxes use the GitHub-style - [ ] task list syntax, which many Markdown apps understand. If yours needs a different form, see our Markdown checklist syntax guide.

An example, filled in

Here is how a typical weekday dump might look after 10 minutes, before sorting:

# Brain dump: Nov 14

## Tasks: things I need to do
- [ ] Finish slides for Thursday review
- [ ] Reply to Sam about the contract
- [ ] Renew domain before it expires
- [ ] Update CV
- [ ] Book flights for December

## Errands and home
- [ ] Return the parcel
- [ ] Buy printer ink
- [ ] Fix the bathroom light

## Waiting on others
- Invoice approval from finance
- Landlord's reply about the boiler

## Ideas
- Newsletter about tools we actually use
- Try a no-meeting Friday

## Worries
- Slides aren't ready and the review is in 2 days
- Haven't called Mum in weeks

## Remember
- Gym locker code 4471

And after working through Sort it:

## Today (top 3)
- [ ] Finish slides for Thursday review
- [ ] Reply to Sam about the contract
- [ ] Renew domain before it expires

## Scheduled
- [ ] Book flights for December (Fri)
- [ ] Return the parcel (Sat morning)
- [ ] Fix the bathroom light (Sat afternoon)
- [ ] Call Mum (Sun evening)

## Done during sorting
- [x] Buy printer ink (ordered online, 1 minute)

## Dropped
- Update CV (not job hunting, delete)

The slides worry was already covered by a task, so it went to the top of today's list. The worry about Mum became a scheduled call. "Update CV" was crossed out because it was a vague "should" rather than a real task. The ideas moved to their own note, and the two "waiting on" items stayed on a list to check once a day.

Sort the dump into tasks

The checklist at the bottom of the template is short on purpose. Here is what each step means.

  • Cross out what no longer matters. Most dumps include things that were urgent last month or were never really yours to do. Delete them without guilt.
  • Do anything under 2 minutes now. Replying "yes, Tuesday works" or ordering ink takes less time than tracking it. This is the two-minute rule from David Allen's Getting Things Done method.
  • Hand off what someone else should do. Send the message, then move the item to Waiting on others.
  • Date anything with a deadline. Put dated tasks in a calendar or a to-do list that shows dates. Undated "someday" items can stay on a list you review weekly.
  • Give each worry one next step. "Slides aren't ready" becomes "block 2 hours tomorrow for slides". If a worry has no next step you can take, write "nothing to do" next to it and move on.
  • Pick 3 tasks for today. Three is a small enough number to finish. If choosing is hard, sort the candidates by urgency and importance with the Eisenhower matrix.
  • Park ideas elsewhere. Ideas aren't a backlog. Keep them in a separate note so they don't make your task list look longer than it is.

Once sorted, the dump has done its job. Start a fresh one next time rather than adding to an old one. For a list to carry through the day, our daily to-do list template picks up where this one ends.

Use the template in Gubb

The template works on paper, in a plain text file or in any app that reads Markdown. We built Gubb as a quick-capture window for this kind of writing, so here is how the template maps onto it.

Set up the note

Gubb turns Markdown markers into formatting when you type a marker at the start of a line and press Space. Because the conversion runs on that Space, type the structure in line by line rather than pasting the whole template at once.

  1. Hover over the title bar and click + (Create New Note).
  2. Type #, press Space, and write the title. Use ## and Space for each section heading.
  3. For checkbox lines, type [ ] (or []) and press Space. Gubb doesn't need the leading - .
  4. For plain bullet lines, type - and press Space.
  5. Press Return to add the next item. Press Return on an empty item to leave the list.

Click a checkbox to tick it. Ticked items are struck through, so the "Done during sorting" step shows at a glance. To keep the note above other windows while you work, move the pointer to the right edge of the note and click Pin window on top.

Time the dump

Move the pointer to the right edge of the note, click Timer, choose Countdown, and set the minutes (the default is 25:00). Gubb's timer finishes without a sound, so use Minimize to shrink it to a small floating pill at the bottom of the window and glance at it as you write.

Dictate instead of typing

If talking is faster than typing, you can speak the dump into the note:

  1. In Settings, open Voice to Text, download a Whisper model under Available Models, then select it under Active Model.
  2. Click Speech to Text in the right-edge column, then click the mic to start recording.
  3. Click Stop. The transcript goes into the open note at the cursor.

With a local Whisper model, transcription is English-only and covers only the first 30 seconds of each recording. Speak in short bursts and stop between them. Our guide to dictating notes covers the setup in more detail.

Turn the sorted tasks into a list or a board

After sorting, you can move tasks somewhere better suited to tracking them. Use a new note for each, because a note that contains a to-do list or board is renamed "Todo List" or "Kanban Board".

  • To-do list with dates: in a new note, type gubb@todo alone on a line. You get a to-do block that groups tasks into Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, Upcoming and No Date. Type a task in Add a task... and press Return, or use the + button (Add new task) to set a due date and a priority from None to Urgent. Gubb doesn't send reminders for due dates, so check the list yourself.
  • Kanban board: in a new note, type gubb@board alone on a line. The board starts with To Do, In Progress and Done columns. Add each task with Add a card and drag cards between columns as you work. If boards are new to you, see what a Kanban board is.

Keep gubb@todo and gubb@board on a line of their own. If either sits inside other text, the note can open in an older view where the list or board doesn't work properly.

Copy or delete the dump

Press ⌘⇧C (Command-Shift-C; Ctrl-Shift-C on Windows) to copy the whole note as plain text, with list items as bullet lines, ready to paste into an email or chat. Notes are stored on your computer with no account or sync, so a dump written on one machine stays there. When you delete an old dump from Notes History, it goes immediately: there's no confirmation and no trash.

For other apps that suit this kind of writing, see our roundup of brain dump apps for Mac and Windows. The direct Mac download of Gubb is $59 one-time (as of November 2026), and you can try it free for 7 days.