The Curse of the 10-Page Brain Dump

I have a problem. It’s mine to deal with, but more often than not, others get dragged into it too.

I need to get my ideas on paper to make sense of them. If I don’t, they just swirl around in my head like an endless stream of consciousness, looping and tangling until I have no idea where one thought ends and the next begins.?

When I get in the zone, I don’t just jot down a few ideas—I go off. I’ve written 10, 20, even 30 pages of thoughts in one sitting. And, because I’m wired to share and collaborate, I send these epic word dumps to people. Sometimes it’s a 3-page email (not great). Other times, it’s a novella disguised as “feedback.”

This habit has been brought to my attention—repeatedly.

It turns out not everyone finds my 10-page masterpieces as productive as I do. Apparently, people prefer 10 bullets, not 10 pages. Worse, I’ve learned that my magnum opuses don’t just frustrate—they get talked about. As in, “Can you believe that long whatever-it-was he sent?”

To make matters worse (and, yes, it gets worse), I hold my team to the exact opposite standard. I’ve told my direct reports—multiple times—that I want three bullets. Bing, bang, boom. No fluff, no essays. Just give me the essentials.

Hypocritical? Oh, absolutely.

And yet, I never thought my habit was a problem. For me, it worked. It’s how I process, reflect, and clarify my thoughts. But then came the 274th scolding from my longtime business partner, Constantin. “I can’t believe you spend most of the day on that. What a waste of time.”

The thing is, for me, it’s not a waste. It’s something I’ve always done, and honestly, I didn’t think there was another way to do it. It’s just how my brain works—or so I thought.

The Aha Moment

In the middle of his frustrated lecture (something about “yet another manifesto”), I had a sudden realization: I wasn’t just writing memos or emails. I was journaling.

I know. Obvious, right? But it hit me like a ton of bricks.

What I’ve been doing this whole time is keeping a diary. Or, let’s call it what it really is: a journal. A space to spill my thoughts, work through ideas, and, honestly, just think. But here’s where I went wrong: I was treating my journal like a public document.

No wonder people were frustrated. They didn’t need my raw, unfiltered stream of consciousness. They needed clarity, not catharsis.

Why This Was Hard to Admit

For me, the idea of journaling always felt… well, unnecessary. Growing up, journaling wasn’t something the guys I knew did. It was something girls did, with a little pink notebook and a lock. And let’s be real—society didn’t exactly encourage the idea of boys sitting down to write about their feelings.

So, I just never considered it. And yet, here I am, decades later, realizing that journaling is exactly what I’ve been doing—and it’s exactly what I need to keep doing. The only difference? Now I know those journal entries are for me, not my inbox.

The New Rule: Journal First, Share Second

This was a big shift for me. Instead of hitting “send” on a 20-page email the second I finish it, I’m learning to pause. I pour my thoughts out into a journal first, get it all down, and then distill it. What’s the actual takeaway? What do I need to communicate, and how can I do it in three bullets instead of 30 pages?

It’s not easy. Writing everything down has always been how I make sense of the chaos in my head. But that’s my process. It doesn’t need to become their problem.

And let’s be real—those 10-bullet memos aren’t going to write themselves.

The Takeaway

The irony of all this isn’t lost on me. I spent years asking my team to give me three bullets while writing mini-novels for them in return. But now I see the difference: journaling is for me. Communication is for them.

Maybe this resonates with you. Maybe you’ve sent your own epic “brain dumps” and wondered why they didn’t land. Or maybe you’re just sitting there, shaking your head at how long this post is. Either way, I’m working on it.?

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” -Blaise Pascal

So, here’s to journals, clarity, and saving the 10-pagers for myself.