3Phase 3 · The System
Module 8 · Life & Bandwidth

Brain Dump → Triaged Action List (incl. Decision Fatigue)

Lesson 8.5 2 screens · the unstuck move

The Brain Dump

Open a fresh chat. Voice mode is great here. If you'd rather type, type. The point is to get everything out, in any order, with zero editing. Then the prompt below does the sort.

The Brain Dump → Action List prompt
I'm about to brain-dump everything that's on my mind right now: assignments, errands, group-chat stuff, decisions I'm avoiding, things I owe people, random worries, all of it. Don't fix anything yet. Don't reassure me. Don't suggest anything until I'm done. When I say "ok done," sort everything I dumped into exactly four buckets: 1. ACT THIS WEEK: things only I can do, that have a real deadline or consequence in the next 7 days. Order these by which one unblocks the most other items. 2. DEFER: things that matter but don't need this week. Put them in a "next week" or "this month" list with a one-line trigger for when to revisit. 3. DELEGATE / ASK: things that aren't mine to solve alone. Group-project stuff someone else owes, things I need to email a prof or boss about, decisions I need someone else's input on. 4. VERIFY: things where I'm not sure of the actual deadline / requirement / fact. List the question I need to answer and where to go for it (syllabus, professor, group chat, parent, doctor's office, etc.). For each item, keep my words. Don't reword to sound nicer. If something is genuinely unclear from what I said, put it in VERIFY with the clarifying question, don't guess. End with a single line: the ONE thing from ACT THIS WEEK to do first today. Pick the one that unblocks the most other stuff or removes the most anxiety, your call. Ready when I am. Just say "go ahead" and listen.

A real worked example: what a triaged dump actually looks like.

The dump (what the student said into voice mode)

"OK so I have a chem lab due Thursday, I haven't done the calc problem set, my group for the marketing project hasn't picked a topic and Sara still hasn't responded, my mom keeps asking about Thanksgiving flights, I think there's a discussion post due tomorrow but I'm not 100%, I owe Jess $40 for the concert, I have a shift Friday I might want to swap, the financial aid form is sitting in my email, my advisor wants to meet about whether I'm switching my minor, oh and I have a quiz in poli sci sometime this week I think Wednesday, I haven't been to the gym all week, I want to apply for that summer internship by the deadline but I don't even remember what the deadline is, and my roommate wants to know if I'm renewing the lease."

What Claude returns

ACT THIS WEEK

  • Chem lab: due Thursday (deadline locked, blocks weekend)
  • Calc problem set: start Tuesday night so it doesn't stack on chem
  • Pick group topic for marketing: message group with 3 options, not "thoughts?"
  • Financial aid form:15 minutes, not optional, do not let this one slide

DEFER

  • Thanksgiving flights → next Sunday, after midterms calm down
  • Lease renewal → revisit when roommate brings it up again, by Nov 15
  • Gym → restart Monday, not a now problem

DELEGATE / ASK

  • Sara not responding → text the group chat, not Sara individually
  • Friday shift swap → text the work group chat tonight
  • Mom re Thanksgiving → text "looking at flights this weekend, will send options Sunday"
  • $40 to Jess → Venmo right now

VERIFY

  • Discussion post: check the LMS tonight, you said "I think tomorrow"
  • Poli sci quiz date: same, check LMS or syllabus
  • Summer internship deadline: find the listing, screenshot the deadline
  • Advisor meeting re minor: actually a Lesson 8.6 question; book the meeting, don't decide alone

Do first today: Venmo Jess $40. It's 30 seconds and takes one item permanently off the list. Then open the LMS and verify the three dates so you stop panicking about them.

Notice what just happened

Sixteen things. Felt like 40. Once they're sorted, exactly four are this-week's actual problem and one of them (the financial aid form) is a quick task you'd been avoiding for weeks because it lived in your head as "ugh, big thing."

Up next: 8.6: Big Calls: Thinking Tool, Not Decider

Last lesson of Module 8. Claude as a thinking tool for the bigger calls (change a major, drop a class, internship A or B, gap year): the "ask me 5 clarifying questions before suggesting anything" pattern that sharpens the call without making it.

Continue to 8.6 → Big Calls