PARADOXMental model
Brain dump template
Get everything out of your head onto one page, then map it into a chart or a model.
Free. Works in your browser. No card needed.
What is the brain dump?
A brain dump means writing down everything on your mind, without sorting, judging or editing. It clears your head so you can see what is actually there. In PARADOX you dump line after line, then map it in one tap: your own words grouped and linked on a board, with nothing added and nothing lost.
When to use it
- Your head feels full and noisy
- You have too many ideas and no order
- You want to start planning but do not know where to begin
How the template works
Dump
Write every thought on its own line. No sorting, no judging.
Map it
One tap groups your lines and links what affects what.
See it
Your thinking laid out on one board, in your own words.
Move
Drag, rearrange and pick the first step.
What you leave with
Everything out of your head and onto the page, ready to map into a chart or a model.
More mental models
Eisenhower Matrix
Sort everything by impact and urgency, then find the one thing that makes the rest easier.
SWOT analysis
Map what helps and hurts you, inside and out, then make the four boxes talk to each other.
First principles thinking
Strip a goal, problem or skill down to what must be true, then rebuild from those pieces only.
OODA loop
See it, make sense of it, choose, act, and go round again before the situation changes.
Circle of competence
Map your edge, the edge of your competence, and what is not your thing. Then move one thing inward.
Debrief
Take a finished task, project or goal apart: what you meant, what happened, why, and one change.