Short answer
Spend five minutes capturing the open tasks. For each important item, write the next action and when you will return to it. Put your chosen work block on Domi’s timeline and use the focus timer to begin.
Capture what keeps interrupting you
Write down the tasks that are pulling your attention, without trying to finish them in the middle of your work. Include the small ones: a message to answer, a form to submit, a question to ask someone.
Keep the capture short. If you spend the whole morning designing the perfect list, the list has become another project. Domi’s Brain Dump gives you one place to describe what is on your mind and turn useful suggestions into tasks.
Add a return point
A list says something exists. A plan tells you what happens next. In a series of experiments published in 2011, Masicampo and Baumeister found that specific plans for unfinished goals reduced their interference with unrelated tasks. That research supports giving a task a next step and a return time; it did not test Domi.
Try this sample before a writing session. The return point can be later today or another date you can realistically keep.
| Open thought | Next action | Return point |
|---|---|---|
| I need to pay that bill | Open the bill and check the due date | After lunch |
| Sam needs an answer | Reply to Sam’s deadline question | The 11:30 admin block |
| I have to finish the proposal | Draft the opening paragraph | This focus session |
Choose one task for the next block
Put the proposal action on your timeline. Keep the other tasks visible in their own slots rather than opening them during the writing block.
Choose a focus interval you are willing to start. Domi offers 1–60 minute sessions, so the first block can be short when the task still feels unclear.
- Capture the loose tasks in Brain Dump.
- Add the suggestions you want to keep.
- Give each important task a next action and time.
- Start a focus session for the task you chose.
Catch new thoughts without switching jobs
If another task comes to mind, capture a short note and return to the current action. You can decide where it belongs when the block ends.
At the end, write a restart note: “Next: add the pricing section.” Your next session now has a starting point, and you do not need to remember where you stopped.
Questions
Is writing everything down enough?
Capture is the first step. Add a clear action and a realistic return point for the tasks that matter, then choose what you will work on now.
How long should the brain dump take?
Try five minutes before a work block. Keep it short enough that you still have time to do the task you planned.
