brain dump

noun

: the act or an instance of comprehensively and uncritically expressing and recording one's thoughts and ideas (as on a particular topic)

Instead, Shafer recommends doing a brain dump—getting workflow, ideas, commitments, and to-do lists out of your head and onto a physical list and calendar.

—Stephanie Vozza

First, you do a giant brain dump to force yourself to clear out the mental clutter and face head-on all the contradictory goals and obligations that are crowding your days.

—Jessica Stillman

Examples of brain dump in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Pick one micro-practice from the current list (a two-minute brain dump, a sixty-second slow-sip, a ten-item declutter) and commit to it for a week before adding another. — Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2026

Pair the brain dump with picking up 10 items and slowly returning them to their proper places. — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026

This process of generating initial brain dumps and then editing, drafting and reediting is precisely where the creativity takes place. — Bryce Jenkins, Forbes.com, 3 June 2026

The brain dump requires nothing more than a pen and paper. — Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 4 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for brain dump

• bump
• chump
• clump
• crump
• gump
• hump
• jump
• lump
• plump
• pump
• rump
• slump