# Brain dumps Not all notes need to have structure. There are cases where messy brain dumps are useful. I generally store mine in my daily notes, but from time to time, I also like to use a note I call "Top of mind", also famously known as a "notes.txt" file. In such a note, you just write down whatever is on your mind right now. Things you don't want to forget, links to resources you want to look at in the next few days, etc. This is just a safe place where you can dump information without worrying too much. There are two main situations where I find those useful: dumping what I was working on at the end of the day so that I can restore my mental context on the next day. For instance, I might store file names, links, ideas I have on my mind, links I wanted to look at next, small tasks I need to focus on next, etc. The goal here is just to put it all somewhere to continue where you left off. The other case is simply storing stuff that you might want to look at later, but wouldn't mind forgetting about because they're not crucial. Having such a note can be interesting to reduce the burden on your brain, and let go of things you store in your short-term memory (and probably forget). The place where you store that note is not important either. I store mine in a "Meta" folder, but I could also put it within the root folder or somewhere else. What matters is knowing its name and being able to quickly access it. There are various ways to do that. You can use a name you remember such as TODO, or NEXT. You can also pin it or bookmark it. You can also add a link to it at the top of your daily note. Note that you may not need such a file. I mostly use it out of laziness, but I could also store that information in my daily notes. One important point is to avoid storing too much for too long in that file. I'm currently culprit of this. Mine has grown to thousands of lines, containing quotes, paragraphs about various topics, links, and tons of other things. I know that nothing is there is of the utmost importance, but it's still just a mess. Ideally, you just want to store information in there for 1-3 days, then either move it and organize it, or ditch it. ## Related - [[Top of mind note]]