How to Do a Brain Dump with ADHD: First Week

How do you do a brain dump with ADHD?

Write down everything on your mind in one place, without sorting as you go. Then choose at most three things for today: one main task, one smaller one and an optional bonus. Everything else goes into a parking lot, so it is kept, not forgotten. Finally, start the main task for just two minutes.

The dump is for getting it out. The three slots are for getting going.

The research behind this is encouraging but specific. In a 2011 set of studies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Masicampo and Baumeister found that making a specific plan for an unfinished goal stopped it from intruding on other work. And a small 2018 sleep-lab study at Baylor University (57 young adults) found people who spent 5 minutes writing a specific to-do list at bedtime fell asleep faster than people who wrote about what they had already done. Neither study was about ADHD, so treat them as a reason to try, not a promise.

This is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your clinician. Now is a productivity-support tool; it does not diagnose, treat or manage ADHD.

Your brain dump first week, day by day

01Empty it

Dump everything, sort nothing

Set a timer for 5 minutes in the evening. Write every task, worry and errand, in any order. Type yours below and we'll split it into tasks and load the sorter at the top of this page.

Your brain dump (commas or new lines between things)

02Choose

Three slots, not a list

Pick one main task, one smaller task and an optional bonus. If a day only has one, that's a real day.

03Start

Two minutes on the main one

Shrink it to a first step you could do now ("put five dishes in the sink", not "clean the kitchen"). Start a two-minute timer. Stopping at two still counts.

04Unstick

Name what's in the way

Too big? Split it into 2 to 5 steps. Low energy? Pick the tiniest version. Waiting on someone? Park it under Waiting and choose another.

05Park it

Give the leftovers a home

Sort the rest into Later, Someday or Waiting. Don't carry unfinished tasks onto tomorrow's three by default.

06Check

Compare guesses with reality

How long did the main task take compared with what you expected? Note it once. Over a week, the gap tells you how big to make your three.

07Keep

Keep the time, drop the rest

Keep the dump at the time of day that worked. Drop any step that felt like homework. A habit you keep beats a system you abandon.

Seven short evenings. By the end, the dump is a reflex, not a project.

Paper, notes app or Now?

Paper

Notes app

Now (ours)

Fast and screen-free

Always on you

Type or dictate, split into tasks

You copy the three out by hand

One long list, no limit

Daily plan holds three, by design

Easy to lose the page

Old items pile up

Parking lot keeps the rest, nothing auto-deleted

No timer

Two-minute start ring

Paper is a fine answer. The point is the three slots, wherever they live.

What the first week looks like in Now

Now's Brain Dump screen splitting thoughts into five tasks, with a button to save them to Later — Day 1: Brain Dump splits it into tasks

Now's Tasks screen with today's plan of main, smaller and bonus tasks above a parking lot — Day 2: main, smaller, bonus

A two-minute countdown ring for the first step, put five dishes in the sink — Day 3: two minutes on the first step

Now's I'm stuck sheet asking what's getting in the way, with options like it feels too big — Day 4: tap I'm stuck, pick what's in the way

A Tuesday night, 11:40 PM

Here's a hypothetical evening. The lights are off, and a list starts running: the landlord email, the dentist, the parcel, a birthday card, the bike light, a work slide.

Instead of rehearsing it until 1 AM, the phone comes out for three minutes. Brain Dump takes the lot (typed, or dictated with the keyboard microphone) and splits it into six tasks. The landlord email becomes tomorrow's main task, the parcel the smaller one, the card the bonus. The other three go to Later. Phone down.

Wednesday at 9: the Now screen shows one task, one first step ("open the email draft") and a start button. Two minutes. Then, usually, a few more.

The list didn't get shorter. It just stopped living in your head.

Brain dump questions

How often should I do a brain dump?

Once a day is plenty for the first week, at the same time each day. Evening works well for many people, because it clears tomorrow's list before bed. After that, dump whenever your head feels full.

What do I do after a brain dump?

Pick three things at most for today: one main task, one smaller task and one optional bonus. Everything else goes into a parking lot, such as Later, Someday or Waiting. Then start the main task with a two-minute timer.

Should a brain dump be on paper or on my phone?

Either works. Paper is quick and screen-free. A phone is with you when the thought arrives and can sort the list for you. The habit matters more than the tool.

Is Now free?

Yes. Brain Dump, the one-task screen, the two-minute starter, the daily plan and the parking lot are free forever, with no account. Now Pro is optional.

How Now handles a brain dump, in 3 steps

Empty your head. One big box. Type it, or use the keyboard's microphone to dictate. Now splits it into tasks, and nothing is lost.
Pick up to three. The daily plan holds one main, one smaller and one optional bonus. Unfinished tasks never pile onto tomorrow.
Start for two minutes. A calm ring counts down. Ending early still counts, and the timer keeps time when your phone is locked.

One honest limit: we chose to cap the daily plan at three, on purpose, and some people will find that too tight on a big day. The rest is still one tap away in the parking lot. Who should pick something else: anyone who needs a full project manager with shared lists or deadlines, and anyone on Android. Now is iPhone only. If you're still working out whether ADHD fits, the NIMH's ADHD overview is a careful place to start.

Empty your head.Then start one thing.

Download free on the App Store. No account, and your tasks stay on your iPhone.

Free on iPhone

One Brain Dump.Three Tasks Today.