Most mornings I open my laptop with eight half-finished thoughts and no clear first move. The shopping list. The reply I owe. The thing I said I would chase. None of them are hard on their own. Together they put a fog over the first hour.
I stopped trying to clear the fog by force. I give it to a chat for two minutes and ask for three next actions. Not a full plan. Not a productivity system. Just enough to start.
What you dump
Open a note and write everything that is sitting in your head. Spelling does not matter. Order does not matter. Include work and home if both are buzzing. Two or three minutes is enough. If you run out, you are done.
Examples of the mess that works well:
- Emails you have opened and left
- A conversation you keep replaying
- A form, renewal, or booking you keep meaning to do
- Something you promised someone last week
The prompt
Paste this and drop your dump underneath:
Here is a messy brain dump of everything on my mind right now:
[paste]
Turn this into exactly three next actions for today.
For each action give me:
1. One clear verb sentence I can do in under 25 minutes
2. Who or what it unblocks
3. What I should deliberately ignore until tomorrow
UK English. No motivational talk. If something is too big for today, break it into the smallest first step only.What good output looks like
You want three lines you could put on a sticky note. Each one starts with a verb. Each one is small enough that you would not need another planning session to begin.
If the model invents a fourth “bonus” action, tell it no. Three is the point. The rest goes on the ignore list until tomorrow, which is usually the most useful part.
Two rules that keep it honest
Do not let the chat decide your values. If something feels heavy because it matters to a person you care about, keep it in the three even if it is awkward. The tool sorts clutter. You still choose what counts.
And do the first action before you open Slack or email. The dump was there to protect the start of your day, not to become another tab you never return to.
A Wednesday habit
I do this with coffee, phone face down, before I look at anything that can shout. Two minutes of dumping. Thirty seconds of reading the three actions. Then I pick number one and start.
Try it once on a morning that already feels crowded. See whether the first hour feels less like swimming and more like walking.
For a lighter follow-up, see Prep for a 1:1 and A simple weekly review.
FAQ
How long does the brain-dump prompt take?
About five to ten minutes, including typing the dump and picking three actions.
Do I need a special AI tool?
No. Any chat AI works. The value is the scoring rules, not the app.
What if more than three things feel urgent?
Keep three for today. Park the rest in a later list so the morning stays clear.