apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Good idea! A nice way to let it all go. Hopefully this will keep me from dreaming about all the things I need to do or forgot to.

OMG... this is just what I needed. Thank you! I'll try anything at this point to "drain my brain."

In addition to the attractions of the internet, I have to work eight hours a day. Plus obtain food, and throw away the newspapers and magazines. Any suggestions?

"luxury"

great idea! i will try it tonight :).

A spreadsheet works great for me. I've got lists for DVDs to rent, gifts to buy, Halloween costume ideas, home & art projects etc. Its my external brain.

Yes, I will try this. Thanks!

I do this ALL the time, espcially when I was working on conceptualizing interior design projects. I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and HAVE to write it down, otherwise I was a afraid that I would lose this great idea overnight while sleeping - only to try and hold on to the idea and lose many hours of sleep trying to remember this idea for the next morning.
Also as I'm developing floor plans I have a tendency to deeply marinate the traffic flow and furniture arrangment while I'm drifting off to sleep that i end up somewhat consciously doing a 3d walk through of my floor plan - if things don't work out in the dream (like I want to turn left, but if I did I would bump into a wall) I sometimes will wake up (if I can't figure it out in my dream) and write down the corrections or at least the area I need to take a look at in the morning.

I love doing this, my boyfriend hates it.lol because he'll wake up in the middle of the night to a night light/flashlight and his girlfriend sitting next to him writing frantically in her notebook, sketching, or drawing, next thing you know I'm pulling out fabric swatches and reworking the whole entire color scheme. LOL

I write in a journal before bed, I wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise. My day would just continue to buzz around in my head. Getting it down on paper gives me permission to forget about it.

I think regular "brain drains" are healthy, but I already use my (paper) journal for this. It started out as just a record of my day, but now I throw in everything: ideas for projects, to-do lists, random musings, gift lists, etc. It's interesting to look back months (or even years) later to see what was going on in my head/life, and you can't do that with a dry erase board (my only objection to this idea). And, yes, I do write out song lyrics, too. I can't believe I have "Disturbia" stuck in my head...

Writing things out doesn't drain my thinking, it expands it! If I did this exercise, I'd be up all night, writing. Instead, I carry a notebook (one of those small, black-bound, artist's sketch books) around all day, and write out notes and ideas as they occur. This way, as new activities come up, I can move on to other things knowing my thoughts are stored for future use (or not, if they're kinda dumb). No dam -burst thinking at bedtime for moi!

I know this is a wee bit off topic and I'm sorry to report, but what's going on in that closet/room with all that junk in the background? Clean up a bit, a tidy house helps foster a tidy mind.

I used to have pretty severe insomnia because I would lay awake at night not being able to fall asleep because I had so many thoughts that just keep racing through my head so now I keep a notepad and pen next to my bed so I can take quick notes and go back to them in the morning. This board is definitely another great solution to this problem! So glad to know I'm not crazy. :)

I use my cell phone's To Do list feature to write shopping lists and ideas at night. Comes in handy when you forget to print off your spreadsheet list of craft supplies, but you have your cell!

I have a little paper notebook called "Apartment Therapy" where I actually write down keywords or website addresses for decor ideas. It's a lifesaver when search engines aren't reliable.